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[Opinions] Need assistance with the pronunciation and origin of a name
I've been working on this character for a few days, he's pretty small so I guess this doesn't matter that much bit I'm struggling a lot with his name. Originally I was going to name him Montique because it fits with his with his time origin and I thought it sounded pretty cute. The whole time I've been pronouncing it mont-e-que and only now an I finding out it's pronounced mon-teek. I feel a kinda dumb but to be fair there aren't many usages I could go off of, I did a little digging and found monticue instead. I know it's usually used as a surname but that hasn't stopped be in the past. I assumed it sounds how it's spelt but I can't really find much on it and I'd really appreciate some help.

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I like Montique. Why not use that still? Maybe with the NN Monty if you don't like the eek sound. I do assume mon-teek; it's like the ending of antique or boutique, and people are reasonably familiar with French *ique names (where I live anyway). I don't think it really matters if a reader mispronounces a name either; I mispronounced Hermione when I read first Harry Potter, and it was whatever. I would pronounce Monticue as you'd expect but don't really like that spelling unless "cue" is some kind of word play related to the character or something (because if not, I think of curlicue, barbecue, Monticello...it just looks a bit off, and I'd prefer Montague).There's also Montaque which seems potentially Spanish to me (might be the pronunication you want while not calling so strongly to Shakespeare as Montague seems to). Some people might pronounce that mon-tack (same ending as plaque), but oh well.

This message was edited 9/14/2024, 5:13 AM

I was thinking it was a unique spelling of Montague
My wild uneducated guess about Monticue, is that it could be a respelling of Montague, invented by a US Montague family who did not want their name to make people think of Romeo & Juliet. Or maybe they didn't like people mispronouncing Montague as "Mon-TAG." I've heard of surnames being respelled for trivial reasons like that, before, anyway. "MON-ta-ghew" is the usual English pronunciation of Montague.I think if you meant to use a recognizable but somewhat unusual name, you probably want Montague. It's been used for more things than just R&J and would not seem weird to use for a minor character. Monticue kind of reminds me of barbecue, and as a reader I think it'd distract me by being so similar to Montague.
I've heard of Montague and I think it's a pretty cool name. I've never heard of Montique.
I would have guessed it was pronounced Mon-TEEK. I have never heard it as a first or a last name, pronounced either way. If I had to make a guess as to its use I would have said it sounded like an Afro-American first name that would have been used in the seventies or eighties. Like Montrell or Montell or Montez.I think you may be going for a very different vibe, and I would suggest Montague instead, which is pronounced much like what you had in mind for Montique but which is much more familiar and easier to say.
Montique is pronounced like Monique ("teek")Montecue is usually a surname. I would pronounce it as "MAHN-tuh-cue". A similar name is Montague and it's pronounced "MAHN-tuh-gyoo". It's an aristocratic name so you have to pronounce it with a posh accent and your nose in the air.😃

This message was edited 9/12/2024, 4:56 PM