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[Opinions] Re: Names you have mispronounced or misunderstood
I say Gemini as JEM-in-eye. Never heard GHE-.
I thought Remedios is reh-MEH-dee-ohs.Evelyn pronounced EEV-el-in or EEV-lin bugs me. It's EV-el-in to me.
Aaliyah looks like ALL-ee-a to me, not a-LEE-a.
I prefer the English prn of Genevieve.
Can't stand Phaedra pron. FAY- or FEE-. Should be FED-ra.
Sarai looks like SAY-rye to me. not sair-EYE
I wasn't aware until fairly recently that Maurice could be prn like Morris.
How the hell do you say Elias. That name is annoying. It's worse than Isaiah. wtf. Eye zye uh? Is eye uh? Eye zay uh? Ee sigh Ee uh?

This message was edited 6/25/2013, 1:04 AM

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Elias and IsaiahThe way I've always pronounced them is
El-EYE-us and EYE-zay-uhAlthough I have heard them prn various different ways
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Gemini IS JEM-in-eye. I've never heard this "Geh" pronunciation before. Elias is EE-lye-us. Isaiah is EYE-zay-uh.
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Yeah. I've only ever heard JEM-in-eye for Gemini.
I've ever heard EEV-el-in for Evelyn, but if I did it would probably bug me!
I also pronounce Aaliyah (and Alia, etc) as AH-lee-uh. Although, if it has a "y" in it (Aaliyah, Aaliya, Aliya) then I'm okay with the a-LEE-a pronunciation. Alia is totally ALL-ee-a though. :P
Haha, I've only ever heard eye-ZAY-uh for Isaiah.
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Maurice is always said like Morris here, afaik.
Totally with you on Evelyn. EEV lin makes me wince.
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I have always understood Elias to be pronounced "uh-LYE-is". I have known a couple of people with Elias as a surname who pronounced it this way, and I went to the same high school as an Elias who I'm pretty sure pronounced it that way as well (I didn't know him personally, however, so I may be wrong about that). I'm not sure if this pronunciation is actually the most common/ the most accepted, or it's just a coincidence that it's the only one I have encountered.As for Isaiah, I have a cousin with the name who pronounces it eye-ZAY-uh. I also grew up in a Catholic household as a child, and always heard it pronounced that way in my religious education classes and at church. Again, I'm not sure how common that pronunciation is overall- there's always the possibility that this is a just a regional pronunciation or something.I hope this helps you to some extent!
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I know an Aaliyah (parents are from Pakistan) who pronounces it ALL-ee-a. I think that is the correct Arabic / Urdu pronunciation.
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In Britain the name Isaiah is always Eye-zye-uh but I recently heard an American say Is-ay-uh I think or maybe it was Is-eye-uh. Either way I thought it was odd so now if I met an American Isaiah I wouldn't have a clue how to say their name!I feel the same about the name Aaliyah too. I think it's having two As at the start makes you want to stress that syllable. Also Evelyn. I grew up saying Ev-lin or hearing Ev-el-in but my friends call their daughter EEV-lin so I have to always remind myself to say it that way.
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