# The bizarre pronunciation of certain English surnames

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bizarre-pronunciation-of-certain-english-surnames/7594>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 19, 2000, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bizarre-pronunciation-of-certain-english-surnames/7594 "2000-02-19T09:08:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 6

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**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bizarre-pronunciation-of-certain-english-surnames/7594/101 "2017-06-08T12:52:08Z")

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> [@Senegoid](#):
>
> And in Texas, a twisted wire with little points sticking out of (commonly used as fencing material) is called “bar-war” (both syllables rhyme more-or-less with “car” or “tar”), or maybe more like “bahr-wahr” or “bawr-wawr”

I’m not from Texas but I’ve never heard it pronounced that way. Bob Wahr on the other hand…

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**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\
**Post date:** [June 8, 2017, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bizarre-pronunciation-of-certain-english-surnames/7594/102 "2017-06-08T18:11:18Z")

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> [@BwanaBob](#):
>
> My often pasted quote from Wikipedia because its needed so often:
> 
> The street’s name is pronounced “HOW-stən”, unlike the city of Houston in Texas, which is pronounced “HYOO-stən”. This is because the street was named for William Houstoun, whereas the city was named for Sam Houston.
> 
> Also the street predates the founding of the city of Houston.

That doesn’t necessarily follow. There’s a set of streets in my town that are named after people associated with the Gunpowder Plot (one of whom apocryphally lived nearby). One of them is Ryves Avenue, which I had only ever heard pronounced to rhyme with “knives” but I have since found ought was named after someone whose name is pronounced “Reeves”.

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**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\
**Post date:** [June 9, 2017, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bizarre-pronunciation-of-certain-english-surnames/7594/103 "2017-06-09T01:12:49Z")

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> [@DSYoungEsq](#):
>
> Then there is Cairo, Illinois. Pronounced KAY-roh. Like the corn syrup.
> 
> And Genoa, Nevada. Pronounced Geh-NO-ah.
> 
> Americans love to mess up words. It’s like an artform for us. 😃

In Long Beach, California, there’s a street that a Spanish-speaking personally would naturally (and correctly) pronounce “he-MEN-oh”. However, almost any longtime LB resident would look at you strangely and ask what you mean; when you reply that you’re referring to the street about four blocks west of Pacific Coast Highway, he’ll reply, “oh, you mean EX-im-en-oh.”

(Ximeno).

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