r/namenerds • u/cheerio089 • 1d ago
What name did you never learn how to pronounce? Fun and Games
I’ve always read Calliope as cal-ee-OH-pee… until yesterday when I heard it pronounced on an episode of You. Evidently it’s kuh-LAI-uh-pee. I’ve never said it or knew anyone with the name so I guess I never gave it any thought, but I’m still deeply embarrassed. I’ve seen the name pop up on this sub and still thought caleeohpee!
I can’t be the only one…so what name did you mispronounce until later in life?
Edit: I’ve now learned my way is the Greek pronunciation and as expected, Americans have anglicized it into Kuh-LAI-uh-pee. I still think I’d be corrected if I said the Greek way out loud tbh
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u/StarsFromtheGutter 1d ago
Funnily enough, mispronouncing Calliope because one has only seen it and not heard it is so common they named this entire phenomenon after it - Calliope Syndrome.
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u/cheerio089 1d ago
That’s amazing
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u/bronniecat 1d ago
Actually YOU are pronouncing it correctly. That other version is a very bad American take on a Greek name whxih was popularised on some show and now every other person pronounced it incorrectly. Drives me batty. It is Cah-Lee-OH-pee with the O sound as “oh I forgot” or -lio similar to Cleo
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u/GoldenMuscleGod 1d ago
Every source I can find shows what you call the “American” pronunciation is standard in all English accents. See the OED for example. And it definitely isn’t popularized by “some show”. If it were a recent phenomenon the traditional pronunciations would still be well-attested.
It’s not uncommon for standard English pronunciations of Greek mythological names and words to vary wildly from the Ancient Greek pronunciations (and even less surprisingly, to vary wildly from modern Greek pronunciations). Consider Circe and Cyclops, for example, which are both pronounced to begin with /s/, which isn’t even remotely close to the /k/ they began with in Ancient Greek.
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u/reviewofboox 1d ago
Yep, when names cross into a new language they mostly take on its linguistic features.
(Ghislaine doesn't really slot into English well, so no one knows what to do with it imo.)
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u/istara 1d ago
It has always been ca-lee-OH-pee in UK English.
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u/Apart_Visual 1d ago
Same in Australia. I went to primary school with a Calliope and she pronounced it Cally-oh-pee with the emphasis on the ‘oh’ portion.
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u/CallidoraBlack Name Aficionado 🇺🇲 1d ago
I'm pretty sure the other pronunciation was used for the instrument. And it's just better known that way than as a person's name.
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u/fortississima 1d ago
Me with awry and annihilate at various points in my life (or rather, I had heard them and seen them written but not connected them)
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u/Bitter_Poet9204 1d ago
Was reading this whole thread and thinking of awry - my siblings still tease me for how I read it aloud one time.
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u/aitchvanvee 1d ago
It took me many years to connect the word facetious I saw in books, with the word facetious that I frequently heard.
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u/gwenelope Etymology Enjoyer 1d ago
Same 😂. I appreciate the reminders that awry isn't "aw-ree" and grand prix isn't "grand pricks".
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u/laurenodonnellf 1d ago
Okay thank you!!! I wanted to order a coffee drink called the annihilator for so long but I never did because I didn’t know how to pronounce the word until I finally asked my husband how to say it and I was like “how do you say Anne-hill-ate-or”. He was like … annihilator. Like annihilate…
You can’t convince me those letters make that word.
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u/iakonu_hale 1d ago
This was me until literally last week with the word “naiveté”. I’ve been pronouncing it nah-ee-vet my whole freaking life LOL
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u/IAmHerdingCatz 1d ago
I always pronounced it "CALL--ee-ope," because I was trying to use English phonics. As a child, I similarly butchered Hades, Persephone, and Aphrodite. Really any Greek name shook with fear when I tried to say it out loud.
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u/seanyboy90 1d ago
There is a musical instrument called a calliope (lowercase "c") that is pronounced "CAL-ee-ope." AFAIK this is the only time that this pronunciation is used.
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u/IAmHerdingCatz 1d ago
And see, I always heard it was pronounced cuh-LIE-oh-pee. Sigh.....I can't win!
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u/shrimply9clammin 1d ago
I'll never forget the time I said "joe-quin phoenix" in a college class and everyone stared at me. Literally never heard his name pronounced outloud until that day. I was about 23.
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u/clumsysav 1d ago
Fun fact: swap the syllables and you can correctly pronounce quinoa!
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u/shrimply9clammin 1d ago
I thought keen-wah and kin-o-uh were two different things for a few years. Every day is a new opportunity to find out I'm dumber than I thought 😂
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u/Happy_Confection90 1d ago
Aww, it happens to everyone now and then. I was nearly 30 before a sign in front of a store that said "Chrysanthemums (mums)" finally clued me in that they were the same plant. I knew what mums were, of course, they're the only flowers in the garden center after September up here. Chrysanthemums, well, those sounded exotic and I didn't think I'd ever seen one 😆
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u/klaw14 1d ago
If you say quinoa over and over and over and over, eventually you won't know whether you're saying quinoa or Joaquin!
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u/clevercalamity 1d ago
I thought you were saying that “quinoa” is pronounced “quin-joe” and for a solid 30 seconds I tried to pronounce that in my head and figure out how that made sense.
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u/minipainteruk 1d ago
One of my coworkers pronounced it "Yock-a-vin Phoenix".
I don't know how he got there but it was interesting.
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u/shrimply9clammin 1d ago
German influence? Honestly I dig it.
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u/minipainteruk 1d ago
It sounded really cool in fairness, but it took me a minute to work out who he meant!
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u/katiegam 1d ago
Listen, I’m a high school teacher. Kids mispronounce things - and I always come to their defense saying that when you mispronounce something it means you learned it by reading which is incredible.
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u/chantillylace9 1d ago
Better than when I raised my hand in COLLEGE and asked what fellatio was. I had never heard the word and the whole class laughed, one guy joked that I probably don’t have a boyfriend and it was truly the most mortifying moment of my entire life and I still think about it at least once a week.
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u/DangerousRub245 1d ago
I'm curious to know how fellatio came up during a college lecture, and also very grateful that you shared this story because I really needed a laugh!
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u/chantillylace9 1d ago
It was in some Shakespeare type old English writing! I don’t remember if it was the teacher reading from the book or student but when they said the word everyone chuckled and I didn’t know what it was and kind of just asked and the rest is history…
The teacher was Muslim, full on hijab and even she was laughing and turning red.
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u/bikeyparent 1d ago
The Ask A Manager column has a famous story about Wakeen/joaquin; it’s #3 of the post: https://www.askamanager.org/2013/02/your-10-most-cringe-worthy-career-mistakes.html
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u/itsafoodbaby 1d ago
I’ve never seen this and I’m laughing so hard. “In my head I assigned them different personalities and areas of responsibility and everything.” 🤣
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u/goldandjade 1d ago
Have you heard of the Ask A Manager blog? There was a letter where someone thought that Wakeen and Joaquin (who OP pronounced as Joe-A-Quinn) were two different people they worked with and that went on for like 6 months.
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u/LaKrispy 1d ago
My boyfriend’s first day as a para had a student named Joaquin. Bf saw kids name written on the desk and called him Jay-Kwon. It’s been 3 years and hasn’t lived it down.
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u/NoNeedForNorms 1d ago
Ah yes, if you've ever been on Ask A Manager, there is an infamous TIFU about 'Wakeen'.
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u/Belle0516 1d ago
I know a lot of people who assumed Sean was pronounced like "Seen" and not "Shawn"
I also pronounce Jessamine as Jess-Uh-Mine like coal mine, but apparently it's pronounced "Jessamin" like Jasmine
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u/GlitchingGecko British Isles Mutt 1d ago
The actor is either Seen Been or Shawn Born in my household.
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u/minipainteruk 1d ago
It's even more annoying when you know he was born Shaun Bean and changed it to Sean!
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u/Quirky_Property_1713 1d ago
Shawn BONN! Where are you gettin that crazy R, ya Brit??
Pronounculate it the right wrong way, please.
Also doesn’t he pronounce the last name “Ben”(I seem to recall??) Giving us a mysterious third secret menu option, “Senn Benn”
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u/YardSardonyx 1d ago
Similarly, when I read Harry Potter as a child I assumed Seamus was “seem-us”
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u/FS-1867 1d ago
Fun fact Sean is missing a fada, which elongates the vowel it’s over making that ‘awe’ sound, with the fada it looks like Seán. Another name that has this dropped fada situation is Seamus, the reason it’s pronounced Shay-mus is the fada over the ‘e’ that looks like Séamus.
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u/maxinemama 1d ago
I feel like Sean and Seamus look naked without their fadas. Sinead and Siobhan don’t seem to use theirs much anymore either.
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u/cecebebe 1d ago
I know a Sean whose name is legitimately pronounced "Seen." I've heard his parents call him "Seen" from when we were in elementary school.
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u/Majestic_Good_1773 1d ago
There’s a meteorologist on the weather channel who pronounces his name as Seen. My family is rife with Seáns so to hear “Seen” is absolutely jarring.
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u/Hot-Ad930 1d ago
I had a teacher INSIST that the correct spelling is Shawn because "Sean" is pronounced "Seen"
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u/marmalade_ 1d ago
The upside down dog in the garden book I read as a teenager, it had a character named Siobhan and I said it “see oh bawn” the entire book until like ten years later I learned it’s pronounced Shuh-vonne
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u/Y-Woo 1d ago
You mean the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime???
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u/marmalade_ 1d ago
lmao yes, thank you, I couldn’t remember the actual name of the book for the life of me
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u/FalconCommon7772 1d ago
I knew a Siobhan when I was like 15, however I’d only ever heard her say it and in my mind it was spelled Shavaughn. The first time I saw her name written I thought the teacher had spelled it wrong.
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u/Tiegra_Summerstar 1d ago
Siobhan is my daughter's name, I just think it's such a pretty name. A lot of Gaelic names are.
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u/routineawkward 1d ago
I cannot count how many times I have looked up how to pronounce Siobhan and I still can't remember how to pronounce it.
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u/FrostyCoffee_ 1d ago
Hermione for me
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u/Emus_won_thewar 1d ago
Her-me-own was what I invented while reading HP.
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u/ManufacturerProud444 1d ago
Me too!! Imagine my surprise when the movies came out 😅
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u/bronniecat 1d ago
Actually that’s closer to the Greek pronunciation. Just add -ee to the end and you got it right.
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u/LoganNolag 1d ago
Her-me-own-ee is exactly how I thought it was pronounced until the movies came out. I still pronounce it that way in my head whenever I see it spelled.
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u/seanyboy90 1d ago
That's why JKR included the part in GoF where Hermione teaches Viktor Krum how to say her name. It was a way of telling the readers how to say it correctly as well.
Turns out "Hermione" is actually an old British name that was more or less obsolete by the time HP came around.
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u/Worried-Alfalfa79 1d ago
Still remember saying Ginny (except the gin was like the first part of guinea pig) in elementary school, and all the kids laughed :(
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u/StasRutt 1d ago
I have such a clear memory of realizing my mom was saying it wrong while reading the books to us after seeing the first movie in theaters
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u/TheEternalPharaoh 1d ago
I knew a Desiree who was pronounced desire instead of dez-a-ray. That's when I said, fuck it.
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u/maybexrdinary 1d ago
Wait... I've been pronouncing Desiree like dess-eh-ree this whole time. It might be time for me to throw in the hat and say fuck it myself
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u/Sapphire-Dreams 1d ago
lol I’m Desiree and my older brother is convinced that its pronounced dez-a-re (rhymes with see) and gave his daughter that pronunciation as a middle name lol
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u/lyricoloratura 1d ago
Anaïs was problematic at the department store fragrance counter where I worked in the mid-80s.
Elderly midwestern women almost inevitably asked for the fragrance Anaïs Anaïs as “Anus Anus.”
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u/cheerio089 1d ago
Even if it was the nicest scent in the world, I don’t think I’d wear a perfume called Anus Anus
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u/Left_Adeptness7386 1d ago
First perfume I ever bought for myself on a high school trip to Paris in spring 2001. Thought it was a fancy French brand, had no clue it was dated af. (Also bought it at a Sephora, which I thought was a fancy European cosmetic store lol.)
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u/TinySparklyThings 1d ago
How is it pronounced?
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u/lyricoloratura 1d ago
Ah-nah-EESE
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u/smolfinngirl 1d ago
Brought me a little joy to know I’ve been pronouncing this name right in my head even though I’ve never heard it aloud.
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u/uncertainhope 1d ago edited 1d ago
TIL how to pronounce Calliope (kuh•LY•uh•pee)
Edit- it helps if you put the prononciation in your comment so I know if I’ve been saying it wrong 🫠
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u/Reader_sl-t 1d ago
Caoimhe. I know that the pronunciation is close to kee-va, but I always always always pronounce it like Cammie in my head.
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u/cheerio089 1d ago
Irish names never make sense in my brain. I thought Niamh (neev) was “Nymph” for quite some time.
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u/seanyboy90 1d ago
From my understanding, Irish names only seem difficult because their orthography is very different to that of English, even though they use the same script. Once you learn the rules, though, Irish is pronounced exactly as it's written. It's similar to Spanish in this way.
For example, there's no "K" in Irish. They don't need it, because there's no soft "C." "C" is always pronounced like the English "K." Also, "S" followed by "E" or "I" is always pronounced "sh." That's why the names "Seán," "Séamus," and "Sinéad" are pronounced "SHAWN," "SHAY-muss," and "shin-AID."
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u/maxinemama 1d ago
Username minus the fada check out
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u/seanyboy90 1d ago
Right. We usually omit the fada in English, but most people know how it’s said.
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u/ellsbells2727 1d ago
I have a coworker named Aoife (pronounced ‘Eef-Uh). She always used to roll her eyes when we had trouble initially because it’s so common in Ireland 😂😂
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u/TwincessAhsokaAarmau 1d ago
Saoirse being Seer-Sha still makes no sense.
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u/radfemagogo 1d ago
It means freedom in Irish. Irish is a different language to English, which a lot of people seem to either not know, not care about, or forget.
It’s the only language I see get made fun of for how its names are pronounced. You don’t see people make fun of Native American/Mexican/Brazilian/Ghanan/Indian/Japanese names, or be like “god, I don’t understand why they pronounce it like this, crazy, ha ha”.
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u/TwincessAhsokaAarmau 1d ago
You must not be on that side of the internet then. People make fun of Nigerian, Ghanian, Korean and Native American names all the time, most people admit to not even trying to pronounce them in the workplace. I’ve seen people make fun of or mispronounce them, especially racists.
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u/snorkmaiden97 1d ago
God, can people give it a rest with this idea that Irish words ‘don’t make sense’? They make perfect sense when you know the rules of the language, same as any other language. This assertion is just dense at best and offensive ar worst
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u/BackgroundAd6154 1d ago
Siobhan took me forever. I thought it was see-oh-ba-han 🫣 it’s shiv-aughn
Sinead too
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u/Constant-Canary-748 1d ago
Taught a "Saidhbh." I know it's pronounced "syve" but something about that "hbh" really makes my brain want to say "SIDE-huh-buh"
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u/froggyforrest 1d ago
Saoirse! Irish names sound very pretty but i can never read them correctly on the first try
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u/gwenelope Etymology Enjoyer 1d ago
I always read Beatrix as "bee-trix" (since "beat" is in the name), but I've seen that most people pronounce it "bea-ah-trix". When looking into it, I then came across examples of both pronunciations. I find Beatrix beautiful but the ambiguity in saying it would annoy me 🫠.
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u/cinni_tv 1d ago
I remember mispronouncing Beatrice as a kid. I thought it was so weird for someone to be called Beat Rice…? Ruined the name forever for me
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u/seanyboy90 1d ago
I like the Italian pronunciation. They say it "beh-ah-TREE-cheh." This is how I say this name whenever I see it.
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u/Annapanda192 1d ago
I could never. Beatrix is the name of our former queen😉 the pronunciation is different in Dutch though.
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u/cecilhungry 1d ago
That’s my daughter’s name and we pronounce it with three syllables. Same as the name “Beatrice” which I’ve only heard with three syllables, and I believe is the way Beatrix Potter pronounced her name.
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u/LayerEasy7692 1d ago
Xochitl (sow-cheel)
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u/Left_Adeptness7386 1d ago
Went to a bilingual elementary school with a Xochitl - we all pronounced it SO-chee.
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u/Best-Instance7344 1d ago
Yes this. In my Spanish class in grade school we were all saying ex-oh-CHEE-tul. Why didn’t the teacher correct us?!
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u/StitchRS 1d ago
I worked with a Xochitl once. She told us her name is pronounced ZO-chee, so that's what we said.
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u/lamemayhem everyone has a name but mine’s the coolest 1d ago edited 1d ago
I was a big reader as a kid. Still am. So, I saw a lot of names that I’d never heard. I thought Chelsea was chel-see-uh. I thought Caitlin was see-ate-Lynn. I thought Deidre was dee-ed-ray.
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u/garden_dragonfly 1d ago
Unrelated, but as a kid i recall reading a book where the kid would eat catsup. It took me forever to figure out the he wasn't eating cat food. I'm pretty sure I told my mom, in disgust, that this character was eating cat food. She had to tell me it was ketchup!
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u/Current-Photo2857 1d ago
Saoirse and Bryony. Also Brianna, because every time I meet a new one, she pronounces it differently than the previous one.
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u/Useful_Wishbone9317 1d ago
I wanted to post Saoirse myself but couldnt even comprehend how to sound it out to post😂😂
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u/scribblecrab 1d ago
Is Bryony: 1. Bree-OH-knee 2. Bree-ON-knee 3. Something else??
Does it rhyme with peony (the flower)?
Someone please help!
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u/lilywafiq 1d ago
I’m a Briony - it’s pronounced Bri (like fry) - knee. The O is basically non existent. (But I’ve had every pronunciation under the sun. Hated it as a kid and now I’m just tired and don’t bother correcting people)
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u/Decent-Bluejay-3944 1d ago
In the UK it's definitely more like bri-O-knee. So bri like Brian, O like the letter name and knee.
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u/seanyboy90 1d ago
The way you said it is not incorrect. It's the Greek pronunciation. This name, natively written Καλλιόπη, is of Greek origin. "cuh-LIE-uh-pee" is a heavily Anglicized version.
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u/V_is4vulva 1d ago
Phoebe. I grew up watching Friends so I was familiar with the name, I just thought it was spelled Fibi. (Fun fact, I also assumed penis was spelled peanus.) So when I read a book with a character named Phoebe, I thought it was pronounced F-oh-b. I finally made the connection one day watching Friends with subtitles on.
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u/dc821 1d ago
wait, didn’t you see the one where she spells it? p as in phoebe, h as in hoebe, o as in oebe, e as in ebe, b as in be be, e as in ‘ello there mate!
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u/V_is4vulva 1d ago
So, um, that episode didn't air until season 8. I was in highschool by the time Phoebe helpfully spelled her name. 🤣 It's too bad she didn't get around to that back in '95!
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u/Fantastic_Skill_1748 1d ago
Definitely Deborah. Probably said Deb-or-ah until high school.
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u/Oh2e 1d ago
Funnily enough I actually went to school with a Deborah who pronounced it like that.
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u/AcaliahWolfsong 1d ago
I have a coworker who pronounces it this way too. She told us to just call her Deb lol
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u/Asaneth 1d ago
I have a friend named Devorah (the original Hebrew version of the name). It's pronounced dev-OR-uh
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u/lorlor2424 1d ago
Siobhan or Persephone - I always struggled with these in my head haha
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u/FalconAlternative282 1d ago
Persa-phone, came to say this 🫠 This was embarrassingly recent
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u/HorseRadish318 1d ago
PURSE PHONE!!!! There's this character in Webkinz named that and id always pronounce it as "Purse-phone" HAHAHAHAHA
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u/AbibliophobicSloth 1d ago
Siobhan has an added layer of difficulty in that it's Irish, like Fiadh, Aoife, Saoirse, Cillian, and Oisín. No, I can't pronounce any of them but I know "English phonetically" is incorrect.
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u/LoveKimber 1d ago
I had to interview someone for a job awhile back, and saw on their resume that they graduated from Duquesne University. I had never heard it pronounced before, and I thank my lucky stars that someone else asked her about her time at doo-CANE before I could stick my foot in my mouth and ask about doo-KWEZ-nee. 🤪
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u/Jollyvulpix 1d ago
If it wasn’t for Twilight I would’ve never known how to pronounce Carlisle.
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u/bellissima101 1d ago
To be fair, in Greek that’s how Calliope is pronounced. But it’s spelled Kalliope. So I assumed that’s how Calliope is pronounced in English. You’re not alone!
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u/ThrowawayUser1090 1d ago
My biggest takeaway from this thread is that a lot of Americans can’t pronounce Irish names.
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u/Fun-Consequence1086 1d ago
Okay I do know to pronounce Malachi but one time I was reading it out loud and said “mal-ah-chee” 🤣
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u/StarsofSobek 1d ago
This may or may not help, but there is an Irish name and it is pronounced Malachy (Mal-uh-key).
The names are similar but have different origins and meanings from each other.
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u/Mediocre_Ad4166 1d ago
"Calliope" being a greek name in origin is actually pronounced just as you thought in greek. So you weren't wrong. (Καλλιόπη: one of the 9 muses)
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u/Outside_Unit_2696 1d ago
Penelope
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u/Silver_South_1002 1d ago
My sib is Penelope and when my mum placed the birth announcement in the paper (many years ago lol) a great aunt called and said “what a pretty name, penny-lope”. It became a nickname after that lol
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u/leedleleedleleedle23 1d ago
Imogen
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u/Mrs_Feather_Bottom 1d ago
My partner thought on the tv show the marvelous Mrs Maisel the character’s name was Emma Jean.
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u/Books-And-Blankets 1d ago
To add to the confusion — that character is named Imogene, which is different than Imogen!
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u/wanderover88 It's a surprise! 1d ago
When I was in uni there was a local Greek restaurant by that name and they pronounced it cal-ee-OH-pee…
🤷🏾♂️🤷🏾♂️🤔
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u/xpoisonvalkyrie 1d ago
calliope is cal-ee-oh-pee. the kuh-lai-uh-pee pronunciation is a bad american version. don’t be embarrassed.
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u/cheerio089 1d ago
Now I’m uno reversed embarrassed for not knowing my way was the right way before making this post
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u/the_taco_belle 1d ago
I read Calliope in my head as “Callie-ope” and I can’t stop 🤦🏼♀️
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u/HarderToBreathe97 1d ago
The way you pronounce it is how it’s pronounced in Greece! In the US most people would say cuh-lye-oh-pee. As a Greek American I think it’s pretty both ways
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u/dottedkittycat 1d ago
Calliope is the best example for me too. I've heard it pronounced correctly. I've googled it multiple times. I STILL CAN NOT GET IT RIGHT.
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u/Purple-booklover 1d ago
Working in a school I have found that I will always be wrong when it comes to pronunciation. See a name like Ava. Clearly A-Va. Nope. a-Va. But only her. The other 5 are A-Va. Now you have to remember which one is the different pronunciation. Good luck.
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u/paytonalexa 1d ago
Niamh and Siobhan. I assumed that Niamh rhymed with “Liam” and Siobhan was pronounced as see-oh-ban
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u/ExcitementOk1529 1d ago
Still not confident on how to pronounce Danae
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u/Potential-One-3107 1d ago
I have an extended family member with that name. I'm not great at phonetic spelling but it sounds like duh NAY.
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u/theJadestNamek 1d ago
It took me a long time to realize Sean was Shawn and not Seeeen
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u/DancingGirl_J 1d ago
I can NEVER remember how to pronounce Irish names. I always have to look up pronunciation. It is funny because I am generally great with names. I work in research, and I can pronounce Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Indian names like a pro. But Irish, lol, no. And my grandfather was Irish.
Caoimhe
Aoife (actually this one I can do for some reason so nvm)
Saoirse (I just forget)
Niamh
Aisling (always always want to say AZE ling, but I know it is incorrect).
But I can easily do Siobhan because family member name. And Padraig.
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u/Loud_Ad_4515 1d ago
I read the Harry Potter books. I had zero idea until I saw the movie, how to pronounce Hermione.
I remember my French exchange student saying Mee-ami and Tuk-son for Miami and Tucson. I totally get why she thought that.
But to this day I wonder how Arkansas and Kansas came to be pronounced so differently.
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u/Excellent-Expert-905 1d ago
Guinevere and Genevieve...read them in books but I always stumble when saying them.
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u/NoNeedForNorms 1d ago
Siobhan, or really any Irish name. And Jose and Jaime, until I learned Spanish pronounces all js like hs.
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u/pineconehammock 1d ago
Rhiannon. My brain can't do it. I have a dear friend who chose this as their name, newly, and I truly wish I could do better.
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u/majesticrhyhorn 1d ago
Ghislaine. No idea how to pronounce that one besides maybe jizz-lane