What's in a name
A close relative is a head teacher at a small North Yorkshire primary school. She has commented how in recent years the names of some of her charges have become more and more bizarre. Or at least in terms of the spelling and pronunciation.

Things came to a head just before Christmas when she was angrily confronted by the mother of one child at the end of a day.

"Can you PLEASE get my daughter's name right, she is coming home very confused. Stop calling her Siobhan, her name is Sigh-Oh-Ban."
(TalkbackStuck making obscene phonecalls since, Fri 19 Mar 2010, 15:49, 11 replies)

*cringe*

( whenanimalsattackhumans clad in global hypercolour, Fri 19 Mar 2010, 15:52, closed)

Another teacher I kow had similar conerns.
Apparently, "Yvonne" is pronounced "Why-vonny".
(ThomsonsPier consumes, Fri 19 Mar 2010, 15:53, closed)

A cousin of mine called her two sons William and Liam.
Her only excuse can be that we're not Irish.
(Juan Quar is clinging to her front teeth on, Fri 19 Mar 2010, 17:31, closed)

Heh!
This is nothing recent - I know two brothers called Gareth and Gary. And they're both well ofver thirty. When I heard they had a sister I fully expected her to be called Garethina or something (no - Michelle).
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Mon 22 Mar 2010, 19:06, closed)

one of my mates had a very brief gf called Siobhan
who we all delighted in calling C-O-Ban
(bamboozled Can hear you getting fatter, Fri 19 Mar 2010, 17:33, closed)

Most Americans do that all the time.
I always find it hard to work out how Americans pronounce their surnames. As an example, I'm fairly sure that the ancestors of the Wakowski* brothers pronounced their name Vakovski (or Vakovska or Vakowsi as appropriate).
At least when I see a Slavic name and the person is from Eastern Europe I know I'll struggle to pronounce it correctly.
Same goes for German, Freanch and even English names in the US -- they even deliberately mis-pronounce Iran and Iraq.

*probably showing my own ignorance here in not spelling their name correctly.
(Me, I'm not... in any way intoxicated, Fri 19 Mar 2010, 17:56, closed)

Brilliant!!
Not a family from Burton-on-Trent were they? When I was at Uni. I lived in a shared house with a bloke from Burton-on-Trent and he had a sister called Siobhan, who he and all of his family called Sigh-Oh-Ban!!

Funny as fuck. As the only Southerner in the house (of 6 blokes) I kept quiet. Thing is, no-one else batted an eyelid.
(Tighthead, Fri 19 Mar 2010, 19:10, closed)

But what I want to know is
do these people choose a name that they have only ever seen written down?

Of course there is the other side of the coin which is people called Shervorn, and my hair dresser who is called Sharn.
( Mrs Entity is in hiding., Sat 20 Mar 2010, 13:27, closed)

Sion a Sian
An American friend of mine (from the mid-West) simply can't tune her ear to the difference between the first names of Sean Connery and Sian Phillips. They sound, and are pronounced, exactly the same.
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Mon 22 Mar 2010, 19:05, closed)

A baby...
...of my acquaintance was named Hadden. Like the composer.
(Trauma, Tue 23 Mar 2010, 12:48, closed)

...
I know a bloke who comes in my pub with his delightful* partner. They've just had a baby called "Dolce-lee". Of course, this is pronounced "Dolsy-lee". They didn't even know what Dolce meant.

*May not be true
(BelladonnaAnodyne Melissa's gonna wet herself, I swear..., Wed 24 Mar 2010, 16:40, closed)