Pronunciations

[piperdbh]

Family names pronunciations always makes me think of Mrs Bucket

"The Bucket residence, the lady of the house speaking!"

[dfmacliam]

LOL... Boo Kay....LOL... I always liked "Keeping Up Appearances"

[SoulFyre777]

Alright... So we named our daughter 'Ailidh' and we've always pronounced it 'AY-lee'... Like 'Hailey' without the 'H'... I also sometimes tend towards almost a glotteral<sp?> stop on the 'dh'; ALMOST 'AY-leh' but not quite... I believe our pronunciation to be correct but would love the opinion of those better acquainted with the Gaelic tongue to chime in on it... She's only 1 1/2... We COULD still correct it!

[Jock Scot]

You have it sir. Just like Hailey, but without the "H".

[davedove]

How a man pronounces his own name is down to the individual.

And this is really the only correct answer. I would never presume to tell a man that he was pronouncing his name wrong.

One family may pronounce their name one way and another family, just down the road, may spell their name the same, but pronounce it differently. (Of course, we also have to remember that standard spellings are a recent inovation.)

Now, if you are trying to pronounce a clan name correctly, I would say that however the clan chief pronounces it would be the "right" way. But again, someone else who happens to share the same name may pronounce it differently.

Isn't language fun?

[ali8780]

And this is really the only correct answer. I would never presume to tell a man that he was pronouncing his name wrong.
.....

can you imagine that conversation?

[Peregrinus]

Now, if you are trying to pronounce a clan name correctly, I would say that however the clan chief pronounces it would be the "right" way. But again, someone else who happens to share the same name may pronounce it differently.

Indeed. I'm a McClure, part of MacLeod. I'm pretty sure our clan Chief pronounces it "mac-loud", whereas I pronounce it "son of ugly".

--Jonah

[SoulFyre777]

You have it sir. Just like Hailey, but without the "H".

Thank you very much, Sir! Glad to know that even though others will horrendously mispronounce her name the rest of her life.... WE won't! haha

As far as how a Gaelic speaking person would pronounce it, are there any nuances (such as the glotteral stop I described) to pronouncing it as it's 'meant' to be said?...... or am I overcomplicating it???

Thanks again!

And may I also say I'm certainly glad to see your triumphant return to the board! As a bit of a kilt newbie (gave my measurements out for my first one today! YES!!!), I would feel my 'kilt-ucation' incomplete without the input of a sage such as yourself!

Fine fine... I'll stop grovelling now... lol

[slohairt]

Thank you very much, Sir! Glad to know that even though others will horrendously mispronounce her name the rest of her life.... WE won't! haha

As far as how a Gaelic speaking person would pronounce it, are there any nuances (such as the glotteral stop I described) to pronouncing it as it's 'meant' to be said?...... or am I overcomplicating it???

Thanks again!

And may I also say I'm certainly glad to see your triumphant return to the board! As a bit of a kilt newbie (gave my measurements out for my first one today! YES!!!), I would feel my 'kilt-ucation' incomplete without the input of a sage such as yourself!

Fine fine... I'll stop grovelling now... lol

In any variety of Gaelic, I would say it is pronounced as AL-EE, but obviously that is up to you (and her eventually!)

By the way, my daughter's name is Siobhán (pronounced SHIV-AUN) so you can just imagine the mangled forms my wife and I hear on a regular basis!

[Jock Scot]

Thank you very much, Sir! Glad to know that even though others will horrendously mispronounce her name the rest of her life.... WE won't! haha

As far as how a Gaelic speaking person would pronounce it, are there any nuances (such as the glotteral stop I described) to pronouncing it as it's 'meant' to be said?...... or am I overcomplicating it???

Thanks again!

And may I also say I'm certainly glad to see your triumphant return to the board! As a bit of a kilt newbie (gave my measurements out for my first one today! YES!!!), I would feel my 'kilt-ucation' incomplete without the input of a sage such as yourself!

Fine fine... I'll stop grovelling now... lol

Ok, right, you can stop all this grovelling forthwith! Not my style. Thank you for viewing my comments with such reverence( some don't!), but in all honesty my comments are only based on what I have seen, heard and gleaned over a fairly long life, nothing more, but thank you for the compliment anyway.

As to your daughter's lovely name; you have got it right, don't get all wound up and over complicating things.