After a discussion on Facebook, I've come to realize people are getting seriously deluded about what it is appropriate to name children and how those names "should" be spelled. I place "should" in parentheses because I realize that a lot of people just want a unique name for their child and come up with a spelling that still has a logical pronunciation.
I also realize that different languages pronounce and spell similar names in different ways:
Obviously Jorge is pronounced "Horr-hay" in Spanish but is George in English or Grete is Germanic and pronounced "Greta". I'm not ignorant of this fact. I think there are many common examples from foreign languages, but I feel like that's different than just inventing a name and using foreign languages after the fact to justify why "Cherry" should be pronounced "Sherry" for example. Sorry, but if you hail from an English-speaking country and plan on raising your child there, I think it should logically follow that for the rest of your child's life, people will equate that name with a small, red, round stone fruit.
The debate in particular centered around a friend of mine who named her child "Maize."
I fucking kid you not. A few people tried to talk her out of it by pointing out that "no one should love corn that much," but she kept insisting that she would pronounce it "Maisy" and since she had never heard that "Maize" was a term for corn that most other people probably wouldn't know that either. Eventually she unfriended people for questioning her judgement. I'm sorry, but in no way does anyone with a basic understanding of English pronounce it that way. Sure, Zoe, Chloe and Phoebe are pronounced with hard a "E," but they also have Greek roots. Would anyone pronounce Joe, Moe, or Lace as Joey, Moey, Lacey?
So out of curiosity, how would you pronounce the following names?
Rachelle
Cherie
Aysia
Chair
Xavior
Halley
Chair? :confuse:
QuoteSo out of curiosity, how would you pronounce the following names?
Rachelle
Cherie
Aysia
Chair
Xavior
Halley
Rah-shell
Cher-ie
Asia
Chair (exactly like the furniture)
x-zay-vyer (like charles xavier, mutant telepath)
Hay-lee
Quote from: TomFoolery on January 30, 2016, 10:13:45 AM
After a discussion on Facebook, I've come to realize people are getting seriously deluded about what it is appropriate to name children and how those names "should" be spelled. I place "should" in parentheses because I realize that a lot of people just want a unique name for their child and come up with a spelling that still has a logical pronunciation.
I also realize that different languages pronounce and spell similar names in different ways:
Obviously Jorge is pronounced "Horr-hay" in Spanish but is George in English or Grete is Germanic and pronounced "Greta". I'm not ignorant of this fact. I think there are many common examples from foreign languages, but I feel like that's different than just inventing a name and using foreign languages after the fact to justify why "Cherry" should be pronounced "Sherry" for example. Sorry, but if you hail from an English-speaking country and plan on raising your child there, I think it should logically follow that for the rest of your child's life, people will equate that name with a small, red, round stone fruit.
The debate in particular centered around a friend of mine who named her child "Maize."
I fucking kid you not. A few people tried to talk her out of it by pointing out that "no one should love corn that much," but she kept insisting that she would pronounce it "Maisy" and since she had never heard that "Maize" was a term for corn that most other people probably wouldn't know that either. Eventually she unfriended people for questioning her judgement. I'm sorry, but in no way does anyone with a basic understanding of English pronounce it that way. Sure, Zoe, Chloe and Phoebe are pronounced with hard a "E," but they also have Greek roots. Would anyone pronounce Joe, Moe, or Lace as Joey, Moey, Lacey?
So out of curiosity, how would you pronounce the following names?
Rachelle
Cherie
Aysia
Chair
Xavior
Halley
Many recent African-American personal names (hard even for them to correctly pronounce) are political statements against their current slave masters (note ... not past ...).
I am not a good example, since I am influenced by Spanish and French:
Rachelle = ray-Shell (il est français)
Cherie = sheh-Ree (il est français)
Aysia = Ay-shah (voilà afro-américaine)
Chair = Shayr (voilà afro-américaine)
Xavior = Sav-war (il est français)
Halley = Hay-lee (voilà Anglais)
Rachelle - this woman insists her daughter's name is Rachael. Ruh-shell in French of course, but Rachael in English? So if Michelle is Muh-shell in French, does that mean it's Mee-chell in English?
Cherie - it looks French so I would be inclined to say Sherry, but I could see the argument for Cherry also.
Aysia - I rolled my eyes and guessed Asia, but apparently she pronounces it "Ah-see-ah." Stupid me.
Chair -it's fucking chair. It's in the dictionary. I went to basic training with a Chair who insisted her name was pronounced "Shire."
Xavior - X-avier. Apparently, wrong again. This is really how you spell "Savior."
Halley - It looks like Hah-ley. Like Haley's comet.
Given that French and Ebonics handle consonants and vowels differently than American English ... it is natural to be confused. It get shit from my boss all the time, if I mispronounce someone's name (he's a self-righteous authoritarian). One can simply ask how they pronounce it ... but we don't ask every new person this question if it seems obvious. Then the problem remains, if I see them next, 6 months from now ... I won't remember if it has a special pronunciation.
I think many of our darker sisters love to come up with ridiculous names to see how it sounds if and when they ever make it to sports:
And theres go Lanikiquanalanal down the sidelines, he could go all the oh no, he got tackled…..
Quote from: TomFoolery on January 30, 2016, 10:13:45 AM
So out of curiosity, how would you pronounce the following names?
Rachelle
Cherie
Aysia
Chair
Xavior
Halley
Chair?? I suppose it would be Schar or Share, but regardless of the pronunciation, do you really want to name your kid Chair? On occasion, often in public, the names will be read out loud. Picture a teacher struggling with Chair and trying not to embarrass the kid on his first day at school.
Quote from: Hydra009 on January 30, 2016, 10:22:44 AM
Rah-shell
Cher-ie
Asia
x-zay-vyer (like charles xavier, mutant telepath)
Hay-lee
Like Hydra's.
But I'd attempt Chair as 'Cher' with a long e.
This reminds me of the story told me about a girl named Le-a... where the teacher kept pronouncing her student's name like Leia and then the mother came in, yelled at her, and said "It's le DASH ah. The dash isn't silent!"
I have a hard time believing that story is true, but it does remind me of that story.
Quote from: Baruch on January 30, 2016, 11:21:38 AM
Given that French and Ebonics handle consonants and vowels differently than American English ... it is natural to be confused.
Fiji is interesting in its pronunciation of certain letters.
c makes a 'th' sound, and b has an 'm' sound in front of it.
So.. if we look at famous rugby players, for example:
Sireli Bobo is pronounced Sireli Mbombo
Bill Cavubati is pronounced Bill Thavumbati
Rupeni Caucaunibuca is pronounced Rupeni Thauthaunibutha
I don't know if this is just Fiji or other Polynesian islands too.
I can't remember the name of the movie now, but in one of those coming of age plots, a high school geek pairs up with another eccentric misfit but loveable class mate name Sam, who spells her named S a 5 m, claiming that the 5 is silent. They eventually rise to stardom and become popular and all the other girls start spelling their names in absurd ways with silent numbers, hyphens, asterisks, and so forth, and the guy hooks up with his Idol, David Bowie, who wants to back his talent for managing a band.
Wait, is Cahir pronounced 'Kair' or like 'Ker'?
Quote from: SGOS on January 30, 2016, 01:22:14 PM
Picture a teacher struggling with Chair and trying not to embarrass the kid on his first day at school.
This exactly. I've encountered two types of people with unusual names: the ones that are super arrogant and sanctimonious about it (my name might
look like Bucket, but it's
obviously pronounced Bookay you uneducated troglodyte!"), and the ones who accept their fate and hate their parents for cursing them with a name that they have to explain to literally everyone they encounter.
Quote from: SGOS on January 30, 2016, 01:22:14 PM
Chair?? I suppose it would be Schar or Share, but regardless of the pronunciation, do you really want to name your kid Chair? On occasion, often in public, the names will be read out loud. Picture a teacher struggling with Chair and trying not to embarrass the kid on his first day at school.
Eh, he/she could grow up to be the head of a department. Its chair, if you will. :P
I met a man recently whose name was U-Neek pronounced like "unique." Unique has always struck me as a stripper name.
[/quote]
Quote from: Hydra009 on January 30, 2016, 02:39:18 PM
Eh, he/she could grow up to be the head of a department. It's chair, if you will. :P
I know. I thought of that. When I worked at the University of Maine, I developed a theory that people's names must influence their careers, because the lady than ran the student cafeteria was Mrs. Lunch, the administrator of the university motor pool was Mr. Trip. There were also a couple of others that followed that pattern, but I can't remember now what their names were or what they did.
Quote from: Hydra009 on January 30, 2016, 02:39:18 PM
Eh, he/she could grow up to be the head of a department. It's chair, if you will. :P
Giving your child names that are normally considered titles is awful and so limiting. I've met a few women and girls named things like Princess and Queen. I also heard of someone naming their son Magistrate but I can't confirm that directly. But what if your last name is a common male surname like Henry or Thomas? Princess Thomas?
I'm all for expanding gender identities, but let's be honest, with a name like Princess Thomas you're setting your kid up for failure.
Quote from: GSOgymrat on January 30, 2016, 02:47:50 PM
I met a man recently whose name was U-Neek pronounced like "unique." Unique has always struck me as a stripper name.
Yeah, you might want to think twice about naming your little girl Bubbles or Fanny.
I have a relatively unusual name: Ford. I like it as an adult but as a child it was annoying. I've heard every car reference imaginable, however when I meet someone who says "like Ford Prefect?" I know I have met a kindred spirit.
Quote from: TomFoolery on January 30, 2016, 02:49:50 PM
Giving your child names that are normally considered titles is awful and so limiting. I've met a few women and girls named things like Princess and Queen. I also heard of someone naming their son Magistrate but I can't confirm that directly. But what if your last name is a common male surname like Henry or Thomas? Princess Thomas?
I'm all for expanding gender identities, but let's be honest, with a name like Princess Thomas you're setting your kid up for failure.
So, no chandler, clark, dexter, duke, dean, marshal, parker, regina, rory, or sigourney?
My name is Mert; I love my name and its meaning...
It's not a coincidence that it resembles the word mort'al and simply means ''mortal''...
It has acquired some nuanced meaning like ''brave'', ''hero'', ''valiant'' but actually comes from ''to die''
indo-european: *mer-: to die;
latin: mori: to die
latin: mortuus: dead
english: murder: to make someone be dead...
Quote from: Hydra009 on January 30, 2016, 03:07:31 PM
So, no chandler, clark, dexter, duke, dean, marshal, parker, regina, rory, or sigourney?
I think the key word was
normally.
Like "officer" or "sergeant" or "archbishop."
Duke is kinda iffy. That sounds more like a dog's name than a human one.
Quote from: GSOgymrat on January 30, 2016, 03:01:33 PM
I have a relatively unusual name: Ford. I like it as an adult but as a child it was annoying. I've heard every car reference imaginable, however when I meet someone who says "like Ford Prefect?" I know I have met a kindred spirit.
Ford Tough
Quote from: SoldierofFortune on January 30, 2016, 03:29:06 PM
My name is Mert; I love my name and its meaning...
It's not a coincidence that it resembles the word mort'al and simply means ''mortal''...
It has acquired some nuanced meaning like ''brave'', ''hero'', ''valiant'' but actually comes from ''to die''
indo-european: *mer-: to die;
latin: mori: to die
latin: mortuus: dead
english: murder: to make someone be dead...
In swedish "mert" (or more exactly "mört") is a small fish noone but the cats like...
I knew a girl named Honeybee. For some reason she hated her father.
Gotta be careful though. Name your kid Chair, they might start going by their middle name. Better make it Couch to cut that off at the pass.
Chair Couch Daniels.
Rolls right off the tongue.
Quote from: stromboli on January 31, 2016, 12:13:22 AM
I knew a girl named Honeybee.
Was she African, European, or Japanese?
Quote from: stromboli on January 31, 2016, 12:13:22 AM
I knew a girl named Honeybee. For some reason she hated her father.
I wonder why? Using her as a pawn in an effort to be clever?
Quote from: Nonsensei on January 31, 2016, 12:14:00 AM
Chair Couch Daniels.
Rolls right off the tongue.
Chair Leg Daniels
Quote from: GSOgymrat on January 30, 2016, 02:47:50 PM
I met a man recently whose name was U-Neek pronounced like "unique." Unique has always struck me as a stripper name.
Like Moan-ique ;-(
Quote from: Youssuf Ramadan on January 30, 2016, 01:55:41 PM
Fiji is interesting in its pronunciation of certain letters.
c makes a 'th' sound, and b has an 'm' sound in front of it.
So.. if we look at famous rugby players, for example:
Sireli Bobo is pronounced Sireli Mbombo
Bill Cavubati is pronounced Bill Thavumbati
Rupeni Caucaunibuca is pronounced Rupeni Thauthaunibutha
I don't know if this is just Fiji or other Polynesian islands too.
I would guess there are E African immigrants in Fiji. Mb- and Nd- are E African consonants found in Swahili.
Quote from: SoldierofFortune on January 30, 2016, 03:29:06 PM
My name is Mert
Oh so you are a Mert. Nice one. Much better than new trendy ones. Hani şu eski (güya) isimleri koyuyolar ya...Bogatay, Batıray, Tonguçhan... Bi' de o kız isimleri ne öyle yav... Ceylin, Cansın, Ahsen, Ahueda...vs. :lol:
Quote from: drunkenshoe on January 31, 2016, 02:09:40 PM
Oh so you are a Mert. Nice one. Much better than new trendy ones. Hani şu eski (güya) isimleri koyuyolar ya...Bogatay, Batıray, Tonguçhan... Bi' de o kız isimleri ne öyle yav... Ceylin, Cansın, Ahsen, Ahueda...vs. :lol:
: )
Dünyaya ve insanlığa -sonsuz zaman boyutunda ''an'' teşkil eden ömürlerimiz zarfında- bir bakış attığımız yaşamımızda adım bana bir ateist olarak ölümlü olduğumu anımsatıyor : ) Bir de evrenle kıyaslayınca boyutlarımız bir zerre oranında bile değil...Bence bunlar insanı mütevazi kılıyor...
Aynen sırf kuran'da geçtiği için aslında mana ifade etmeyen isimler koyuyorlar...En saçması ve popüler olanı bence ''aleyna''...isim bile değil :D selamun aleyküm(selam/barış üzerine (olsun)' deki ''üzerine'' :D
Quote from: SoldierofFortune on January 31, 2016, 02:51:41 PM
Aynen sırf kuran'da geçtiği için aslında mana ifade etmeyen isimler koyuyorlar...En saçması ve popüler olanı bence ''aleyna''...isim bile değil :D selamun aleyküm(selam/barış üzerine (olsun)' deki ''üzerine'' :D
Hadi ya, Aleyna'nın anlamı o muymuş? puhahaha..lol Bence onu kuranda geçiyor diye değil de, klasik Batı dillerindeki isim ve kelimelere benzeyen bir ses ahengi var diye koymuşlar da sonra kılıf uydurmuşlar. Bizde vardır ya o tarz özentiler tüm 'alt sınıf halklar' gibi. Hani işçi sınıfı ile burjuva da farklı isimler koyar falan... Aslında belki yargılamak kötü, ne istiyorlarsa koysun insanlar da...çok eğreti-özenti geliyo kulağa be. "Aleynaaa gel kızım, yemek hazır." Ne biliyim.
My name is pronounced Martin, but I spell it Zybhinxchsdi. The zybhxchsd and I are silent. The Mart is infered.. Actually it's what my signature sort of looks like in a dark room at night to a blind person..
I was just spouting off on this to my family the other day. Well, not this, in general, but a specific name I have trouble taking seriously. "Megyn Kelly". That Y pisses me off. I don't know why, but I simply can't take someone named "Megyn" seriously. I know nothing about her, but in my head she's an idiot bimbo. Well, to be fair, I know she's on Faux News, so that may have something to do with my impression of her.
Quote from: widdershins on February 01, 2016, 04:16:27 PM
"Megyn Kelly". That Y pisses me off. I don't know why, but I simply can't take someone named "Megyn" seriously.
I'm not exactly sure when the movement to upgrade Y, the sometimes vowel, to Y, the WHY NOT? vowel became so prevalent. I always wonder what parents were trying to prove when you encounter a name that should have two or three As, Is, or Es, and they've all been replaced with the letter Y.
Why choose a boring name like Madeline when you can have a Madylyn instead?
Quote from: TomFoolery on February 01, 2016, 05:15:37 PM
I'm not exactly sure when the movement to upgrade Y, the sometimes vowel, to Y, the WHY NOT? vowel became so prevalent. I always wonder what parents were trying to prove when you encounter a name that should have two or three As, Is, or Es, and they've all been replaced with the letter Y.
Why choose a boring name like Madeline when you can have a Madylyn instead?
To be fair, I gave my first daughter an unusual name. It's actually a Russian man's name, and a kickass space telescope. But, dammit, I didn't fuck with the spelling! And I went to school with a girl with that name and always liked it.
Quote from: Baruch on January 31, 2016, 12:23:58 PM
I would guess there are E African immigrants in Fiji. Mb- and Nd- are E African consonants found in Swahili.
Could be. I didn't know that. :biggrin:
Hercules Grytpype-Thynne: :97: "My plan to increase demand for Y's is coming to fruition!"
My name is Brett. Short, simple, and to the point right? Not so, many people (not just foreigners) have trouble pronouncing it.
Sent from Hell