# Spanish-speakers, how do you pronounce the name "Jaime"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018 "2019-02-05T18:12:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/1 "2019-02-05T18:12:46Z")
I knew a Mexican guy with this name years ago and he pronounced it: “hah-MAY” I’ve just met a guy from South America who pronounces it: “HIGH-mee” I know a person is the ultimate authority on how to pronounce his own name, but how do other Spanish-speakers pronounce it? \*\*Note \*\*that this is not the Anglo name “Jamie” (which can be male or female) and is the name of the Commissioner’s son on _Blue Bloods._ ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/2 "2019-02-05T18:18:04Z")
I don’t think I’ve heard either, though it’s hard to be sure what you mean without IPA. ---
**Author:** ![Stinky\_Pete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Stinky\_Pete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stinky_Pete)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/3 "2019-02-05T18:23:46Z")
I live in California which is more than 50% Latino. The name is not rare out here and I’ve only heard the second version used. High-Mee I suspect the guy you knew called hah-May was part of a minority. I’ve on rare occasions run into people who pronounce their name a bit different than the common usage in the US too. Once knew a girl with name spell Dana. Which I’ve only heard pronounced Day-Naw but this girl wouldn’t tolerate that way of saying Dana and said her name was Dan-Naw Don’t know why. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/4 "2019-02-05T18:31:23Z")
> [@Stinky\_Pete](#): > > Once knew a girl with name spell Dana. Which I’ve only heard pronounced > > Day-Naw > > but this girl wouldn’t tolerate that way of saying Dana and said her name was > > Dan-Naw > > Don’t know why. That would be the Hebrew “Dana”. I guess “Jaime” is also originally Hebrew, but so morphed that even just in Spain/Portugal there are at least half a dozen variants. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/5 "2019-02-05T18:31:24Z")
> [@Stinky\_Pete](#): > > High-Mee Yes, but that seems like an Anglicization to me. ---
**Author:** ![x-ray\_vision](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/x-ray_vision/32/351_2.png) [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/6 "2019-02-05T18:38:52Z")
Pronunciations from Chile, Argentina and Mexico: > **[Jaime pronunciation: How to pronounce Jaime in Spanish, Portuguese, German,...](https://forvo.com/word/jaime/)** > > Pronunciation guide: Learn how to pronounce Jaime in Spanish, Portuguese, German, French with native pronunciation. Jaime translation and audio pronunciation I’m hearing the “may” ending from all three speakers (Argentina debatable). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/7 "2019-02-05T18:42:56Z")
I’m not a Spanish speaker, but the only pronunciation I remember hearing is “HIGH-MAY” (i.e. like the English words “high” and “may,” with a roughly equal accent on both syllables), in reference to people like [Jaime Escalante](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IM6blsMhPRQ) (the high school math teacher who was the inspiration for the film _Stand and Deliver_) and Jaime Garcia (MLB pitcher from Mexico). ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/8 "2019-02-05T18:51:40Z")
J = somewhere between an English “H” and “K”. (If you want to be catty, you can describe it as the sound you make when you hawk a loogie.) A = as in English “father” I = as in English “machine” M = pretty close to the English “M” E = somewhere between an English “short E” and “long E” When you say the “A” and “I” quickly, you get an English “long I”. So most English speakers will hear the first syllable as “high”. The “E” doesn’t quite match any English letter. To my ear, it sounds close to an English “long A”. So, I would render it as “high-may” Unless there is an accent mark to indicate otherwise, Spanish words stress the second-to-last syllable. None of the Jaimes I know stress the last syllable. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/9 "2019-02-05T19:02:13Z")
> [@ThelmaLou](#): > > I’ve just met a guy from South America who pronounces it: “HIGH-mee” Where in South America? Because it’s also a Portuguese name (although IME that’s more like “zhamie” - that Brazilian Portuguese s/z thing) ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/10 "2019-02-05T19:14:52Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > I don’t think I’ve heard either, though it’s hard to be sure what you mean without IPA. It’s perfectly obvious to everybody (except IPA snobs) what she meant. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/11 "2019-02-05T19:18:49Z")
Also in California, and I’ve only heard High-Mee. I just asked my Costa Rican friend, and she said High-Mee. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/12 "2019-02-05T19:32:55Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > So, I would render it as “high-may” > > Unless there is an accent mark to indicate otherwise, Spanish words stress the second-to-last syllable. None of the Jaimes I know stress the last syllable. I agree with high-may as being the best English words description of the pronunciation of the name. However, in Spanish for a word with no accent marks, you stress the LAST syllable of a word unless the word ends in a vowel or n or s. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/13 "2019-02-05T19:39:27Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > J = somewhere between an English “H” and “K”. (If you want to be catty, you can describe it as the sound you make when you hawk a loogie.) > > A = as in English “father” > > I = as in English “machine” > > M = pretty close to the English “M” > > E = somewhere between an English “short E” and “long E” > > When you say the “A” and “I” quickly, you get an English “long I”. So most English speakers will hear the first syllable as “high”. The “E” doesn’t quite match any English letter. To my ear, it sounds close to an English “long A”. > > So, I would render it as “high-may” > > Unless there is an accent mark to indicate otherwise, Spanish words stress the second-to-last syllable. None of the Jaimes I know stress the last syllable. That’s what I am used to hearing in LA. A couple of those sounds aren’t typical in the standard American pronunciation set. ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/14 "2019-02-05T19:44:03Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > It’s perfectly obvious to everybody (except IPA snobs) what she meant. Not necessarily. The OP is using \*English \*short-hand to refer to a _foreign_ language. When that happens, these threads often just go around in circles, because what “XX” means to one person, might not be the same for another. You can’t just assume, when referring to a foreign language. Sorry–it’s not about being a snob; it’s just about being clear, and not second-guessing what’s going on in another person’s head. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 7:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/15 "2019-02-05T19:52:32Z")
/'[xai.me/](http://xai.me/) Two syllables, stress on the first. The first syllable is a dypthong, the vowels sound as the English word “I”. The second syllable has a single vowel. Americans tend to turn it into a dypthong, but it’s not. It’s like the “eh” in those bad Canadian jokes: /e/, not /ei/. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/16 "2019-02-05T20:52:08Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Yes, but that seems like an Anglicization to me. (Referring to “high-mee”) _High-mee_ sounds Yiddish to me. > [@MrDibble](#): > > Where in South America? Because it’s also a Portuguese name (although IME that’s more like “zhamie” - that Brazilian Portuguese s/z thing) Colombia This is really interesting. It sounds like it’s pronounced both ways in different places. Thanks, y’all. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/17 "2019-02-05T20:54:00Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > /'[xai.me/](http://xai.me/) > > Two syllables, stress on the first. > The first syllable is a dypthong, the vowels sound as the English word “I”. > The second syllable has a single vowel. Americans tend to turn it into a dypthong, but it’s not. It’s like the “eh” in those bad Canadian jokes: /e/, not /ei/. This how I’ve heard native Spanish speakers pronounce it. But when saying their name to a native English speaker (here in California), I often hear people anglicizing the pronunciation. I have a good friend from Nicaragua who’s been in the US since early childhood and has a completely unaccented American English accent. He would always introduce himself as Fernando with the ‘a’ pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘apple.’ ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/18 "2019-02-05T20:55:09Z")
> [@guizot](#): > > Not necessarily. The OP is using \*English \*short-hand to refer to a _foreign_ language. When that happens, these threads often just go around in circles, because what “XX” means to one person, might not be the same for another. You can’t just assume, when referring to a foreign language. Sorry–it’s not about being a snob; it’s just about being clear, and not second-guessing what’s going on in another person’s head. The problem is not referring to another language, the problem is that different English speakers will use different transliterations for English itself, and have different notions about whether Mary, marry and merry are pronounced the same or not. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/19 "2019-02-05T20:57:45Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > This how I’ve heard native Spanish speakers pronounce it. > > But when saying their name to a native English speaker (here in California), I often hear people anglicizing the pronunciation. I have a good friend from Nicaragua who’s been in the US since early childhood and has a completely unaccented American English accent. He would always introduce himself as Fernando with the ‘a’ pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘apple.’ Ehm… which ‘a’ in ‘apple’? Is that like the “a in ‘cat’” my bilingual Collins used as the reference for the Spanish /a/, or is it a schwa? Which dialect of English? To my Spanish ears, the biggest differences between Fernando in Spanish and the _Feh. Nan. Dou._ I’ve most often encountered in Anglospanish isn’t the sometimes-overly-open a, it’s the disappearing r, the extra vowel at the end, and an absurd overstressing of the syllables which I expect a Nicaraguan won’t suffer from. ---
**Author:** ![I.Dunno](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9f8e36/32.png) [@I.Dunno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I.Dunno)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018/20 "2019-02-05T21:59:06Z")
When MLB pitcher Jaime Garcia (a Mexican) was playing in my town, the radio and TV announcers pronounced it High May. There was _maybe_ a slight accent on the first syllable. I never heard Garcia himself pronounce it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spanish-speakers-how-do-you-pronounce-the-name-jaime/829018.md?page=2)