Unique pronunciation of name

[2sweetgirlz]

Does anyone have a unique way to pronounce your child's name? Our daughter's name is Clara it was my great grandmothers name.  My husband and I are 100% Portuguese and we pronounce it KLAH-RAH. We have never said it the American way. She does not answer to it. We speak Portuguese and Spanish with our girls. So far people have been OK with pronouncing it (our friends and family)

Are we wrong for wanting to keep up our traditions of my great grandmother? And what happens when she starts school and I can't be her advocate?

Anyone have any advice on this, or have been through it

Much appreciated,
Jennifer

[shakesrear]

There's almost nothing you can do, I think except introduce your child the "right" way and see if people respect that. My husband's name is Lionel and it is pronounced "LEE-YO-NELL" in French, but my American friends still call him "LIE-AH-NEL". It just depends on the person saying it. I always try to respect the way people pronounce their names.

BTW, that's how Clara is pronounced here in France too.

[ChristophsMama]

My name is Sonja and people have always pronounced it differently in American than in German.  I have gotten used to it.  If people ask me how to say my name, I tell them both the correct English way and the correct German way.  Most people think it is unique and special.

My son's name is Christoph, and I call him the German way.  I think your daughter will probably get used to people calling her differently than her family.  Just teach her to politely tell people the correct way to say her name when she gets older.  It is always good to keep your traditions within the family, but there is not too much you can do out in public.  I'm sure it will work out well.

 

[Grant04]

For some bizarre reason people can't pronounce or understand the name Agnes????  They think it's very foreign??  Witch is not, lol.
But our son name is Jakob and is pronounced as YA-Q-OB and I will not let anyone call him anything else.  Many people start by saying Jacob and I say to them his name's JAKOB (YA-Q-OB).  All our friends say his name right and when he starts school I will make sure that the teacher and that he tells his teacher to say his name right.

[savvymama]

We've had some interesting experiences in this area.  All three of our kids have German names:  Liesl Eva, Karl, and Katrina Elyse.  Karl and Katrina are easy enough for people to say.  But Liesl (pronounced like an "easel" that you paint on) is not very common here in the States.  When Liesl was born, people had one of two reactions:  either "HOW COULD YOU name your child such a name?"  or "What a beautiful name!!".  Even people in our immediate family (like my mom!) objected strongly to the name Liesl   But we loved the name, and stuck with it.  Some said, "kids are so cruel, they'll always make fun of her, calling her Liesl weasel!".  So we decided to take care of that problem by calling her Liesl weasel ourselves, and made it a term of endearment!  That way she would never be offended if it came out of anyone else's mouth! haha! 

I think you are absolutely right to pronounce her name "klah-rah", the way it would be pronounced in your homeland.  When she goes to school she will undoubtedly run into teachers and friends who can't say it properly.  But again, even tho Liesl was always our shyest child, and always a pleaser, she was never shy about finding a nice way to let friends and teachers know the correct pronunciation of her name. There are so many unique names these days, it is not unusual to have to learn new names all the time, and to learn to pronounce them as the person wants them to be pronounced.  Surely she will grow up proud that she was given such a beautiful and unique name from her portugese great-grandmother, and she will be proud to tell her friends how it is to be pronounced!

Interestingly enough, my Aunt's name was Clara, pronounced the american way.  My cousin (also her niece) adored Aunt Clara, and wanted to name one of her girls after her.  But she chose the name Lara, pronounced "Lah-rah", as she thought the name Clara was a bit outmoded at the time ( this was 30+ yrs ago now.)  Lara has always had trouble with people wanting to call her "Laura", too...

Glad to see you choosing such a fine name for your child.  As long as you and she find a gentle way to let people know how the name is correctly pronounced, I don't think you will have to worry. 

[yakamoz]

This is a topic that is close to my heart.  I'm an American and my husband is Turkish.  We're trying to conceive our first, but the name game is not going to be easy.  I'd like to find names that work in both English and Turkish, but that will really limit us since Turks cannot pronounce "th" (and I love names like Nathaniel, Ethan, and Meredith) Also, the way that Turks and Americans pronounce "r"s is completely different!  This makes names like "Lara", which look normal on paper in both cultures, a pronunciation nightmare.  One more wrench to throw in the works is the fact that Turkish has some letters that English doesn't (a dotted o, a dotted u, an undotted i, a letter that represents the (ch) sound and a letter that represents the (sh) sound.  Additionally, the Turkish "c" is pronounced like the "j" in jam, and the Turkish "j" is pronounced like the "s" in pleasure). 

There are a lot of beautiful Turkish and English/American names we would have to toss out for pronounciation reasons, but there are a few I have found that I think are do-able.  If you saw these names on a class roster, for example, how would you pronounce them?

Aleyna
Elisa
ilayda

Turkish boys' names are a bit more difficult...I have yet to find one that sounds like a boys' name in both languages.

One of the closest I've come up with is Deniz, but it sounds more like Denise than Dennis, since the accent is on the second syllable.
 "Jem" is a great boys' name, and they have the identical name in Turkish, except it is spelled "Cem".  People in America would end up calling him "sem" or "kem" if we spelled it the Turkish way, and people in Turkey would call him "zhem" if we spelled it the American way. 

Anyway, on the three girls' names above, please take a stab at the pronunciation.  How would you pronounce them and on which syllables would you place the accent?

[Romansmami0412]

My son's name is Roman Isaiah. I pronounce both the english and the spanish way so that he will be accustom to hearing it both ways. I like it both ways. Ro-MAHN Y-SAI-yah. If you want your children's names to be pronounced a certain way, make sure that you tell your children's teacher the correct pronunciation. I am a teacher and I make sure that I know the CORRECT way to pronounce all names, accents and all. I just think its extra special. 

[_Majka_]

My sons name is Nikolaj Aleksandr. NOT NICHOLAS ALEXANDER.....It drives me friggen nuts. It's pronounced Nee-ko-lie Ah-lex-ahndr with a rolled r. For a girl I like Chaya Anastasija. Pronounced either Cha-ya or the hebrew way, and not Anastazuh. lol. Ah-nah-stah-seeya