What would be the standard pronunciation of this family name in American English? Is is “Tookh-Man”, with the kh representing the /x/ sound that it has in German, where the name comes from? Or would it be “Took-Man”? And is the vowel a long u as in “boo”, a short u as in “took”, or an /ʌ/ as in “tuck”?
(In case you’re wondering, the Mr Tuchman I’m interested in is Peter, a floor trader at the NYSE whose face can frequently be seen in stock photos illustrating financial markets coverage in the media.)
It seems to vary. I couldn’t find anything for the specific named person you mention, but for others with the same surname, here are some examples of people saying the surname (not necessarily saying it right): Tuchman | 30 pronunciations of Tuchman in English?
Most American speakers are totally unfamiliar with the /x/ sound. My family surname is German origin and ends with that sound. It’s impossible to get most Americans to even hear it. It’s always elided.
Only way I’ve heard it pronounced. If that was your name you’d be sorely disappointed if you tried to get Americans to pronounce it any other way. Maybe someone would say ‘touch-mun’, but names like that are pronounced the like -uck and are well known.
In the comedy Used Cars the antagonist was named Roy L. Fuchs, they pronounced it like ‘Fukes’ in the movie as part of the joke.
I’m not sure that the standard pronunciation in “American English” would apply in this case. According to Wkipedia , he was born in NYC. I have lived in NYC my entire life, and I’m pretty sure the way I’ve always heard it pronounced is close to the way you describe it. (although probably not exactly) In the interests of full disclosure, though, I grew up in a neighborhood where a lot of my friends went to German school after regular school let out.
