# The name "Graham": How do you pronounce it? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 5, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854 "2015-02-05T01:13:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/61 "2015-02-08T14:38:53Z")
Gray-um. Definitely two syllables. US, grew up in the Midwest. Every Graham(e) I have known, first name or last, pronounces it that way.\* Not that this is a huge sampling of people, of course. \*I did know a Graham who was the younger brother of a friend. The kids were both born in the UK and came to the US as small children. Everybody at school and in the neighborhood called Graham “Gray-um,” and Graham introduced him that way too. But my friend (his brother) called him “Gram.” Might’ve been a family nickname, or it might’ve been the way they said the name in Britain. I’ll probably never know :(. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/62 "2015-02-08T18:43:17Z")
> [@Bootis](#): > > Surprised there’s just the 2 options mentioned so far. It’s definitely not “gram” , but certainly not “gray-um” either. The correct answer is “gra-um” (short A as in grass, not long A as in gray) it sounds awfully close to “gram” but with a very slight pause in the middle I guess I’ll have to tell my cousin we’ve been mispronouncing his name since he was baby. Or Graham Nash. (Seriously, I’ve never heard it pronounced any other way than the cracker.) ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/63 "2015-02-08T19:53:49Z")
I suspect that there’s a clue in the spelling Graeme in that the ‘ae’ is a dipthong. A quick Wikipedia search shows that Graham and Graeme both appear to descend from Grantham or variants of that. I’m of the Grayem as a single syllable pronunciation group. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/64 "2015-02-08T20:05:35Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > I guess I’ll have to tell my cousin we’ve been mispronouncing his name since he was baby. Or Graham Nash. > > (Seriously, I’ve never heard it pronounced any other way than the cracker.) Seriously the only time I’ve ever heard it pronounced as “Gram” is watching Canadian golfer Graham DeLaet and have the American announcers mangle his name into “Gram.” You say Gram Nash? Really? I wonder how Gram Parsons gets pronounced now. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 9:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/65 "2015-02-09T09:51:59Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > Gray-um. Definitely two syllables. US, grew up in the Midwest. Every Graham(e) I have known, first name or last, pronounces it that way.\* Not that this is a huge sampling of people, of course. > > \*I did know a Graham who was the younger brother of a friend. The kids were both born in the UK and came to the US as small children. Everybody at school and in the neighborhood called Graham “Gray-um,” and Graham introduced him that way too. But my friend (his brother) called him “Gram.” Might’ve been a family nickname, or it might’ve been the way they said the name in Britain. I’ll probably never know :(. Don’t worry, you will know! It’s not said that way in Britain. Either it was a family thing or it was because of wherever their parents were from - was it England or elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/66 "2015-02-09T13:17:36Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > (Seriously, I’ve never heard it pronounced any other way than the cracker.) That doesn’t really help, not knowing how you pronounce the cracker. Is that “gram” or “gray-um”? Incidentally, I checked [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/graham?s=t), and the “gray-um” pronunciation was the first listed one, followed by “gram.” Same with [Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/graham), although that one also includes an option schwa on “gram,” reflecting the pronunciation **Bootis** was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2015, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/67 "2015-02-09T14:28:45Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > You say Gram Nash? Really? > > I wonder how Gram Parsons gets pronounced now. Yes – they both get pronounced Gram. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/68 "2015-02-10T00:55:13Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > You say Gram Nash? Really? See if you can find a youtube interview where someone _doesn’t_ call him Gram Nash. I listened to several and even in the British interview I listened to the host said Gram. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/69 "2015-02-10T02:38:24Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > See if you can find a youtube interview where someone _doesn’t_ call him Gram Nash. I listened to several and even in the British interview I listened to the host said Gram. I looked. I hear Grey’im. ---
**Author:** ![Lobot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ce7236/32.png) [@Lobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobot)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/70 "2015-02-10T02:47:19Z")
I’d be curious to hear this myself if there’s a link. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/71 "2015-02-10T16:50:49Z")
My brother’s name is Graham, and whenever he’s speaking English it’s Grayum. But we live in Montreal, where native French speakers pronounced it Gra-AM with a horrible gargling noise in the middle. Gra (choking/gargling) AMMM! Graham tries to get them to eliminate the gargling noise, especially with his in-laws. Until a few years back and I heard him trying to correct someone. I looked at him and said he should tell them it’s closer to Guillaume (hard G. Gee-yohm). ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2015, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/72 "2015-02-10T22:49:14Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > Well, I asked the Kiwi to confirm, and he confirms he pronounces his name “gram” and that it’s common where he’s from. However, he does spell it Graeme, so maybe there’s the difference? Dueling anecdotes then… Kiwi here whose father’s name is Graeme. 🙂 Best attempt I can make to represent the sound is: Gra’him, where the underlined “h” isn’t fully sounded / is partially “swallowed”. In any case, I’d be a little surprised to hear a Kiwi pronounce the name (either spelling) exactly the same as the metric measure of weight. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 10:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/73 "2015-02-11T10:07:38Z")
> [@Lobot](#): > > I’d be curious to hear this myself if there’s a link. [Here’s one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSYUOWx0qz8) I can’t hear anyone in there (not even Kevin Bacon) pronouncing it as if it were a unit of weight. Pretty much “grayum” and variations thereof. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/74 "2015-02-11T10:22:50Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > [Here’s one.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSYUOWx0qz8) I can’t hear anyone in there (not even Kevin Bacon) pronouncing it as if it were a unit of weight. > > Pretty much “grayum” and variations thereof. Particularly at around 19 seconds in, Kevin Bacon sounds like he’s saying Gram, but the rest of the people are definitely saying gray’um (I didn’t watch to the end). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/75 "2015-02-11T14:22:32Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Dueling anecdotes then… Kiwi here whose father’s name is Graeme. 🙂 > > Best attempt I can make to represent the sound is: Gra’him, where the underlined “h” isn’t fully sounded / is partially “swallowed”. > > In any case, I’d be a little surprised to hear a Kiwi pronounce the name (either spelling) exactly the same as the metric measure of weight. [Here’s a sound sample](http://www.forvo.com/word/graeme_rowland_base/#en) of one Kiwi pronouncing “Graeme” and it’s also a two-syllable or one-and-a-half syllable pronunciation. Or, whatever the case, it’s not “gram.” ---
**Author:** ![MrsTime](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@MrsTime](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrsTime)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/76 "2015-02-11T15:44:10Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > Gram. Like the cracker. Same here, Gram. ---
**Author:** ![racepug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@racepug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racepug)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2015, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/77 "2015-02-11T21:10:25Z")
Hmm, let’s see…like “gray-em”. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2015, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/78 "2015-02-12T20:10:08Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > [Here’s a sound sample](http://www.forvo.com/word/graeme_rowland_base/#en) of one Kiwi pronouncing “Graeme” and it’s also a two-syllable or one-and-a-half syllable pronunciation. Or, whatever the case, it’s not “gram.” I think “one-and-a-half syllable” is an excellent description. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e79b87/32.png) [@actualliberalnotoneofthose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/actualliberalnotoneofthose)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/79 "2015-02-13T02:43:11Z")
In my experience, outsourced telephone customer service people use 2 syllables and everyone I know native to the U.S. says “Gram.” This happened on the phone yesterday and reminded me of this thread. I do not mean to say that phone customer service people are the only people I deal with from outside of the U.S. For quite some time I was rather prolific in international relations of a sort. In fact, I found my niche was dealing exclusively with non-U.S. social partners. But they always took my lead on the pronunciation, and if I said it was “Gram,” they said “Gram.” ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2015, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854/80 "2015-02-13T03:18:48Z")
How you pronounce it isn’t important, just so long as you make sure to warn Graham about the [POISONOUS snake](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrFcWcRmjec). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-name-graham-how-do-you-pronounce-it/711854.md?page=3)