# Pronunciation of names **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 30, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062 "2008-11-30T16:44:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/1 "2008-11-30T16:44:48Z")
Something that puzzled me for most of my life: I have loved the music of, and read about certain artists for a very long time, but I’ve never heard their names pronounced. So, is David Freiberg (Quicksilver etc) Free-burg or Fry-berg? Is John Cippolina (Quicksilver again) Sippolina or Kippolina, or may be even Chippolina? Is Carlos San-tan-a or Santarna? Is his band member Hosay Chepito Ar ree ass? Is it El-vis…no, only joking… ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/2 "2008-11-30T18:46:17Z")
The group’s name is pronounced San-Tan-a, so I’d assume that’s what Carlos uses (and I believe I’ve heard him pronounced that way. I have heard QMS members pronounced as David Free-Berg and John Sippolina, but that may not be definitive, much like Davie Bowie seems to be prounounced both Boh-wee and Bough-we. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2008, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/3 "2008-11-30T20:26:24Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Is Carlos San-tan-a or Santarna? Why would a guy from Mexico add a gratuitous [r] to the pronunciation of his name? If this is just a British way of indicating different kinds of [a] sounds, his name is pronounced with the ‘flat’ [a] (IPA æ) in English, and with the standard Spanish [a] in Spanish. As he is bilingual, he uses both. ---
**Author:** ![Dartanian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dartanian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dartanian)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2017, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/4 "2017-11-29T23:55:19Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Something that puzzled me for most of my life: > > I have loved the music of, and read about certain artists for a very long time, but I’ve never heard their names pronounced. > > So, is David Freiberg (Quicksilver etc) Free-burg or Fry-berg? Is John Cippolina (Quicksilver again) Sippolina or Kippolina, or may be even Chippolina? > > Is Carlos San-tan-a or Santarna? Is his band member Hosay Chepito Ar ree ass? > > Is it El-vis…no, only joking… From one who knows them both (RIP John) It’s David FRY-BERG and John CHIP-O-LINA FYI ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/5 "2017-11-30T06:23:29Z")
Okay, I encountered a guy named Sciocchetti. How do you think he pronounces THAT? ShoKETTy ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/6 "2017-11-30T06:31:29Z")
But how do you pronounce Wojciehowicz? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/7 "2017-11-30T08:22:28Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > But how do you pronounce Wojciehowicz? Differently, depending on whether the person I’m speaking to expects me to speak English or Polish. In short, a person’s name is what he says it is. “Valles” would be pronounced quite differently in several different Latin American countries where it occurs regularly as a surname… Maybe /va-jes/, maybe /bye-ayz/. The common English surname Turner is, in non-English countries, pronounced /toor-nair/, with trilled Rs. Years ago I met a Danish woman who married a Swazi, and they had been living together for five years in Southern Africa. She had not yet learned to pronounce her own name, which had several clicks in it. ---
**Author:** ![tsigili](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbce88/32.png) [@tsigili](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tsigili)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 8:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/8 "2017-11-30T08:28:10Z")
Wo-ja-hoe-witz Heres one for you: Wojtysiak–my grandfathers surname ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 8:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/9 "2017-11-30T08:39:18Z")
No _Barney Miller_ fans here, then? ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/10 "2017-11-30T17:12:40Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Okay, I encountered a guy named Sciocchetti. How do you think he pronounces THAT? > > ShoKETTy Not a surprise at all. That is the correct Italian pronunciation (rendered in an American approximation). The surprising one is Brett Favre. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/11 "2017-11-30T17:13:48Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > No _Barney Miller_ fans here, then? 🙂 I used to know Max Gail Sr. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/12 "2017-11-30T17:19:11Z")
> [@tsigili](#): > > Wo-ja-hoe-witz > Heres one for you: Wojtysiak–my grandfathers surname Voy-ti-shak. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/13 "2017-11-30T17:38:24Z")
> [@Dartanian](#): > > From one who knows them both (RIP John) It’s David FRY-BERG and John CHIP-O-LINA FYI I have been a massive fan of Quicksilver and the West Coast cabal (PERRO and all that) that David was with. I have just wiki-ed him and - would you believe it - the first thing it says is how to pronounce his name! I’m sure that wasn’t there nine years ago. Wiki also says ‘Once described as “the nicest guy in the San Francisco music scene,” Freiberg holds the singular distinction of having been associated with more of the original San Francisco bands than any other individual.’ If you don’t mind me asking: how do you know him (and John)? ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/14 "2017-11-30T18:00:14Z")
It’s actually pronounced “Throatwarbler Maaaangrove.” \ ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/15 "2017-11-30T18:22:50Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > But how do you pronounce Wojciehowicz? The way it’s spelled. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/16 "2017-11-30T18:35:57Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > But how do you pronounce Wojciehowicz? Incorrectly. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2017, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/17 "2017-11-30T19:38:20Z")
> [@CookingWithGas](#): > > Not a surprise at all. That is the correct Italian pronunciation (rendered in an American approximation). > > The surprising one is Brett Favre. He’s so dumb, he can’t spell “Farv.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/18 "2017-12-01T16:31:14Z")
> [@NineToTheSky](#): > > Something that puzzled me for most of my life: > > I have loved the music of, and read about certain artists for a very long time, but I’ve never heard their names pronounced. > > So, is David Freiberg (Quicksilver etc) Free-burg or Fry-berg? Is John Cippolina (Quicksilver again) Sippolina or Kippolina, or may be even Chippolina? > > Is Carlos San-tan-a or Santarna? Is his band member Hosay Chepito Ar ree ass? > > Is it El-vis…no, only joking… For your next lesson you will pronounce Jorma Kaukonen ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/19 "2017-12-01T16:42:44Z")
Yorma Koe-koe-nen? ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2017, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062/20 "2017-12-01T16:51:04Z")
The way I’ve heard it is more like Yorma COW-ka-nen [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-names/475062.md?page=2)