Her mother’s maiden name was Beyincé; Beyoncé was named for her mother’s family (my 2 minutes of Googling to check my facts didn’t turn up a reason for the i/o substitution).
Why is Beyoncé an “accent mark fail”? It shows that the “e” is voiced, not that it is stressed. In other words, it’s “Be-YON-say” rather than “Be-YONCE”. I think you might be getting confused between French and Spanish diacritics.
I take your point about the others, though. I don’t know how Khloé Kardashian pronounces her name, but I assume it is “CLO-ee” rather than “CLO-ay”, so the accent should be a diaeresis, to separate out the vowel sounds. The usual accented spelling is Chloë.
On a related note, Janelle Monáe’s faux-cent has always bugged me.
We had two Masons in my very small hometown. They would have been born in the 30’s, probably.
I’m partially guilty for the popularity of Abigail last year, but we picked it because of its meaning. Her middle name isn’t in the top 1000. As far as our son, we picked his name a decade before he was born. It’s a combination of naming traditions on both sides of our families and popularity had nothing to do with it.
My wife is a teacher and sees all kinds of fun names like Rajemon, Shanique/Shanickqua/Shaneekwa, and Jesus/Gesus. Yep, Gesus.
I work in a children’s hospital, and it’s common knowlege that the the Nevaehs and Miracles do poorly. They generally are the ones fighting the biggest odds (extreme prematurity, for example) and so have worse prognoses than other kids.
Can’t believe Nevaeh has been Top 50 for past 6-7 years (including a Top 25 in 2010). It’s not unique anymore…
There apparently was a “La-a” around the hospital a few years ago. I thought it had to be an urban myth, but more than one reliable person has commented to me about taking care of that baby.
La-a is pronounced “ladasha” because the dash isn’t silent.
But that has to do with the parents who give their kids those names, not the names themselves. Those same parents would have kids fighting the same odds, even if they chose more mainstream names. Extreme prematurity is not caused by bad baby names.
(But I’m taking no chances- no Nevaeh or Miracle as a name for my baby.)
We have a Chloë. The two dots do not make an umlaut; rather, it is a dieresis. It tells you the second of two consecutive vowels should also be pronounced. So it’s “Chlo-ee” rather than “Klowe”.
Same deal with “cooperate” in the New Yorker always used to have the dots above the second “o”.
I don’t think you meant to quote me. I was pointing out that Beyoncé has an accent because Beyincé has the accent. I agree that it’s not an accent mark fail.
Don’t you mean “the dash * don’t be * silent”? That’s how the story is usually relayed. Perhaps by now it’s widespread enough that someone’s decided to use it for real, or perhaps your reliable sources aren’t as reliable as you think.
When we were picking baby names, we found this site to be endlessly fascinating:
http://www.babynamewizard.com/voyager#ms=false&exact=false
Our daughter’s name was apparently semi-popular around 1890 before falling completely into obscurity.
Oh my wife ran across a Ladasha on a list a few weeks ago. Alas, not La-a, but still. A real, honest to goodness Ladasha. I wonder if the “d” is capitalized.
My friend, who’s a teacher, taught a kid about two years ago whose name is pronounced “Absedah”
Want to guess how you spell it?
Go on. You know you want to.
Abcde.
No, Really. I shit you not. A. B. C. D. E.
My best friends named their daughter Isla. I think the difference in popularity in the US vs. the UK (and Canada, I suppose) is most likely down to it being a so darned Scottish.
I think it has to do with the babies being born early, and the parents don’t have names picked out just yet. So, they are counting on a miracle for their extremely premature baby to survive (without neurological insult); hence the hastily-conceived names Nevaeh or Miracle. I’ve also seen the more traditional (spelling, not name) Heaven.
Perhaps. I wouldn’t put it past anyone to pass on an entertaining urban legend. The fact that it’s a fairly well-known urban myth certainly raises the suspicion that someone was yanking my chain.
The two sources did seem sincere, though (one a nurse, the other a respiratory therapist).
I had a co-worker a few years back who insisted he knew of a real Abcde. This guy also claimed that there were twins with the names Lemonjello and Orangello. I didn’t believe him.
I have seen a first name with two apostrophes, however. It’s been a few years, but I think it was La’Qua’Niesha
(??? not entirely sure, definitely a girls name and definitely two apostrophes though).
That would make sense, too. There’s a Jewish practice of giving a sickly baby the name Chaim (for a boy) or Chaya (for a girl). Both names mean “life”. I could imagine someone doing that for a very premature baby.