Pronunciation - Names
- Thread starter snuggles
- Start date
carang
Registered User
i'm from canada and i would have said- carrie-lynn...but my mum's name is wenonah and my daughter's middle name is sinead (shin-aid) so, maybe i'm not the best person to ask!
name your daughter whatever you like. just make sure you correct people if the say it incorrectly. my son's name is liam and i'm always correcting people that call him william.
name your daughter whatever you like. just make sure you correct people if the say it incorrectly. my son's name is liam and i'm always correcting people that call him william.
Snuggles... my hubby is German and he's just told me that it's the Eastern German spelling for the U.S/English pronunciation for Carolyn. Hence, when I asked, he pronounced it as Carolyn.
:Butbut when I first saw the spelling, I (am English/Australian) educated, pronounced it Carrie-lyn like CaraNg did.
Honestly though, spell and pronounce however you like as it's your special bub.
:Butbut when I first saw the spelling, I (am English/Australian) educated, pronounced it Carrie-lyn like CaraNg did.
Honestly though, spell and pronounce however you like as it's your special bub.
I'm American and I thought Kare-i-lyn. I think it is the middle "i" that makes the difference. Why would you see that "i" and pronounce it like "o"? kar-I-lyn, car-O-lyn. But the sound is close and you are looking more for "kar-ee-lyn".
Usually when you have a vowel-consonant-vowel construction, especially in the middle of a longer word, the first vowel is long. In this case "Kar-eye-lyn" doesn't sound right so I corrected to "Kar-ee-lyn".
But I am willing to bet you will hear it both ways forever because it is so close and there is nothing to force the reader into making the "i" into that "ee" sound you are looking for; unless you use the hyphen.
PS. Yes, fourth grade and high school summer school.
Usually when you have a vowel-consonant-vowel construction, especially in the middle of a longer word, the first vowel is long. In this case "Kar-eye-lyn" doesn't sound right so I corrected to "Kar-ee-lyn".
But I am willing to bet you will hear it both ways forever because it is so close and there is nothing to force the reader into making the "i" into that "ee" sound you are looking for; unless you use the hyphen.
PS. Yes, fourth grade and high school summer school.
I would definitely have assumed it was a weird spelling of 'carolyn'.
Sleuth, your pronunciation logic only applies if you're American (I guess?). Australians don't pronounce the 'o' in Carolyn, it's more of a schwa, so it's understandable to assume Karilyn was pronounced the same. We also wouldn't say 'care' for 'kar' in a name. EG, my friend Kara nearly always gets 'Car-a' from Australians and Britons, but 'kair-a' from Americans/Canadians.
Snuggles, if you really want the baby to be called 'Kari-Lynn' and not have to always correct people, then maybe spell it as it sounds. It's a made up name anyway, right?
Our friends' little girl is named Zara but you pronounce it 'Sarah'. I find that very confusing and can't see the point of spelling it a different way to how you want it to be pronounced.
Sleuth, your pronunciation logic only applies if you're American (I guess?). Australians don't pronounce the 'o' in Carolyn, it's more of a schwa, so it's understandable to assume Karilyn was pronounced the same. We also wouldn't say 'care' for 'kar' in a name. EG, my friend Kara nearly always gets 'Car-a' from Australians and Britons, but 'kair-a' from Americans/Canadians.
Snuggles, if you really want the baby to be called 'Kari-Lynn' and not have to always correct people, then maybe spell it as it sounds. It's a made up name anyway, right?
Our friends' little girl is named Zara but you pronounce it 'Sarah'. I find that very confusing and can't see the point of spelling it a different way to how you want it to be pronounced.
Personally I think it doesn't matter cos of the different accents you will get different pronunciations. If you don't mind people getting it wrong, then that's fine. But just think your daughter will have this same problem (probable mispronunciation)for the rest of her life.
I don't know how people get 'carolyn' from that. I think you'll find that most names get confused by people all the time out of sheer laze or just because they read too quickly. People don't actually read entire words when they read, they just glance at something. I get many variations of my name, some i just don't know how they got to. I really hate it when people get names wrong, it's such a sign of disrespect, like i don't care enough about you to learn your name! I don't think you should change the spelling so people get the name right. It won't work anyway and you won't be giving your daughter the name you wanted to!
Yes, American. And I would have said kair-a.
But, as you can tell from the wide variety of opinions and accents, the name in question will never be pronounced correctly by everyone. Especially on the first go.
Now the question becomes, "Do you care?"
I have a friend who gets really upset when his (last) name is mangled (and it often is); my last name is mangled all the time and it hasn't bothered me in ages.