# What is the correct pronunciation of the name Arkady? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 2, 2004, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997 "2004-08-02T17:38:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/21 "2014-07-27T03:13:27Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > There’s a Russian programmer named Arkady on one of my projects, and everyone pronounces his name ar- **kay** -dee. I’ve never heard him correct anyone on that, so I’d guess that’s how it’s supposed to sound. (Although come to think of it, I’ve never heard anyone correct _his_ pronunciation of _anything_ in English … But then, that would pretty much stop down any conversation he was involved in, so it may just be an efficiency issue. 😃 ) Ar-kaa-dee (with the accent on kaa). And with a rolling r. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/23 "2014-07-27T03:16:15Z")
> [@rocking\_chair](#): > > i’d go with ahrkahdee, kinda roll that r a bit. > > vowels in russian don’t change within (or out) of words. an a is “ah” all the time. Yes, buy “o” can be pronounced “a” if it is not in an accented syllable. Like in the “pochemu” pronounced “pahchemoo”. Or “posuda” (“pahsooda”). Depending on the regional accent of course. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/24 "2014-07-27T04:00:58Z")
In Russian, it is accented on the second syllable, but no Russian vowels are pronounces exactly the same as any English ones, so when speaking English and using the name, just make sure it is accented on the second syllable. To the English tongue, the closest would be something like /ar-caddy/. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/25 "2014-07-27T04:16:50Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > In Russian, it is accented on the second syllable, but no Russian vowels are pronounces exactly the same as any English ones/. This I doubt. English has about 40-50 different vowel sounds (and Henry Higgins would say many more). Some of them must be like the few in Russian. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/26 "2014-07-27T04:25:45Z")
I wonder how the story turned out. TEN YEARS AGO. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/27 "2014-07-27T04:30:35Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I wonder how the story turned out. > > TEN YEARS AGO. LOL. I swear, the board software should put a big red banner up top that says “Zombie Thread” if there is a gap of more than a year between two recent posts in the thread. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/28 "2014-07-27T14:11:54Z")
> [@OldGuy](#): > > This I doubt. English has about 40-50 different vowel sounds (and Henry Higgins would say many more). Some of them must be like the few in Russian. That plethora of English vowel sounds occurs because English vowels are colored by the adjacent consonants, like the A in cake, cane and care. In Russian, a vowel might be identical to one of your English vowels, but not as an adjacency to the same consonant, so you would be unable to say it in a way that would seem native to a Russian speaker. Go to Google Translate, enter Arkady in English, and ask for a translation into Russian. Then hit the audio icon on the Russian side and listen to it. See if you can make exactly the same vowel sounds. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/29 "2014-07-27T14:17:27Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > LOL. I swear, the board software should put a big red banner up top that says “Zombie Thread” if there is a gap of more than a year between two recent posts in the thread. You may be right, but it doesn’t, so once a zombie is resuscitated, you cannot blame people who continue to treat it like a new thread. By the way, if a topic has been discussed in the past, what is the correct procedure: 1. Bring it back as a zombie, and have every other post reminding you of that 2. Start it anew, and have somebody remind you (with a link) that it was discussed before 3. Consider it to be topic that is verboten to ever again be discussed in this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/30 "2014-07-27T14:25:52Z")
I had marked half a dozen other replies with which I was going to agree until I encountered the one from **Q.E.D.** at which point I knew I had stepped on a zombie’s dick. So I’ll make this short and sweet. The [FX Network’s _The Americans_](http://www.fxnetworks.com/theamericans) has a Russian character with that name and they pronounce it ar-Kah-dy. That’s all I know. ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/31 "2014-07-27T15:42:58Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I wonder how the story turned out. > > TEN YEARS AGO. Well, unlike most zombie cases, the OP is still active. Maybe we’ll get an update. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/32 "2014-07-27T16:56:53Z")
Well, crap. I knew the answer to this one. Ar-KAH-dee. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/33 "2014-07-28T11:39:03Z")
> [@bobkitty](#): > > Well, unlike most zombie cases, the OP is still active. Maybe we’ll get an update. 😃 Oh, I very much hope we do. And if the OP comes back and says _I realized that if the pronunciation of my character’s name is giving me trouble, it’s going to be no less confusing to my readers, so I decided to call him Boris,_ I’m gonna just _laugh_, and _laugh_. . . 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/34 "2014-07-28T12:05:44Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Oh, I very much hope we do. And if the OP comes back and says _I realized that if the pronunciation of my character’s name is giving me trouble, it’s going to be no less confusing to my readers, so I decided to call him Boris,_ I’m gonna just _laugh_, and _laugh_. . . > > 😃 Indeed! And there’s always Anatoly. What’s up with that? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/35 "2014-07-28T12:05:49Z")
> [@SCSimmons](#): > > There’s a Russian programmer named Arkady on one of my projects, and everyone pronounces his name ar- **kay** -dee. I’ve never heard him correct anyone on that, so I’d guess that’s how it’s supposed to sound. Very bad assumption. Most immigrants I know give up correcting people’s pronunciation because (1) it gets boring, (2) there’s other stuff to move on to, (3) 90 percent of the people are never going to get it right anyway, so it’s futile, and (4) other things. I’m the child of immigrants, and I give someone about two chances when I first meet him or her to do the “no, I want to learn how to pronounce it correctly” bit. After that—if I detect no special ability to learn pronunciation—no matter what they say, I say “Yes, that’s perfect.” It’s particularly irritating when I have to play that game with someone I’m trying engage in a simple transaction with or customer service. I’m hoping I never have to speak to you again, so I really don’t care if you pronounce my name correctly. Stop asking me to pronounce my name for you and let’s get on with it. ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/36 "2014-07-28T13:33:59Z")
Oh crap. I answered this question twice. Ten years apart. Good to know that my essence never changes. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/37 "2014-07-28T15:43:32Z")
The Russian guy who gave me some of his furniture (nice stuff too) when he moved told me his name was “ar Kay dee”. I had to get an interpreter ( a friend who spoke fluent Yiddish) to learn more because He didn’t speak much English and I know just a handful of Russian words. But, according to the experts in this thread (and I defer to them), it’s pronounced “ar kah dee”. Is it a regional variation? Had he given up on Americans pronouncing his name properly? I am confused (more than usual). ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/38 "2014-07-28T15:46:17Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > The Russian guy who gave me some of his furniture (nice stuff too) when he moved told me his name was “ar Kay dee”. I had to get an interpreter ( a friend who spoke fluent Yiddish) to learn more because He didn’t speak much English and I know just a handful of Russian words. > > But, according to the experts in this thread (and I defer to them), it’s pronounced “ar kah dee”. Is it a regional variation? Had he given up on Americans pronouncing his name properly? He had given up on Americans pronouncing his name properly. The name is: Аркадий - see that second “a”? In Russian it would never be pronounced “ay”. Not in any regional dialect. I have known Russians whose first name was Arkady change their name in US to “Alex” - easier. ---
**Author:** ![DocCathode](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doccathode/32/18773_2.png) [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/39 "2014-07-28T15:53:20Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > He had given up on Americans pronouncing his name properly. > > The name is: Аркадий - see that second “a”? In Russian it would never be pronounced “ay”. Not in any regional dialect. > > I have known Russians whose first name was Arkady change their name in US to “Alex” - easier. That makes sense. Here in Philly, the pronunciation of Dauphin street has shifted from “Dough fan” to “Doff in” and the various things named after Von Neumann have shifted from “Noy mun” to “New min” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2014, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997/40 "2014-07-28T16:32:49Z")
> [@DocCathode](#): > > Had he given up on Americans pronouncing his name properly? > > . Very likely. Also, Americans have an oddly insistent attitude towards “proper pronunciation of my name” that doesn’t necessarily exist in quite same way in other societies. There’s a lot more flexibility of the “pronounce it however it works for you” attitude, especially when it comes to people who are outside your immediate family or social group. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-the-correct-pronunciation-of-the-name-arkady/257997.md?page=1)