Danaë

Pronounced "Duh-NAY"

Pronunced "DAN-ie".

On British (BBC) television there's a major quiz show called "Mastermind" - one of this evening's questions concerned the mythological Danae - the question master pronounced it Dan-eye (and the contestant knew exactly who he meant, giving the correct answer about her). The BBC prides itself on pronouncing names correctly, so I presume the question master got it right.
It's a lovely name.

Well, this looks to be the Latinized version of Danaoi, which may either have been DAHN-ee or DAHN-ah-ee. However, in Latin "ae" was pronounced like "eye," although there is an accent above the "e." My best guess as to the pronunciation is DAH-nie-ay.

The Classical Greek pronunciation is 'DAN-ay-ee' and the Modern Greek is 'dah-NAH-ee'.
I like both but I lean towards the Modern Greek, personally.

In Greece Danae pronounced da-NAE (d- is like th- in that).

Danaé is a beautiful name. :-))
Pronounced as "DAH-na-ai".

Danaé´s pet forms are Dana, Danka, Danaika, Danila. Pronounced as "Dah-nah-aa".

I pronounce "Danae" the way the Merriam-Webster dictionary folks say to do it: DAN-uh-ee. Someone earlier mentioned on this board that it should be pronounced DAN-ee or dan-EE, since it's a classical name; however, I think the poster was referring to Latin and not to Greek. The Latin pronunciation would indeed be DAN-ee or dan-EE (and not to put too fine a point on it, the second syllable is clasically pronounced among Latin scholars as a long "I" as in "island", but nobody ever pronounces it that way in general modern usage -- but if people did, it would be DAN-eye or dan-EYE). All this Latin discussion is, however, irrelevant, since "Danae" is a Greek name and not subject to the same rules. Furthermore, take a look at the name. I'm not able to insert a diaeresis (those little double dots above a given vowel) with this keyboard, but the webmaster of this site was able to. You'll notice at the top of the page a diaeresis above the "e" of "Danae," which means it's supposed to be pronounced as its own vowel and not as part of a diphthong, or to be ignored as a silent letter. Perhaps the most famous example of a diaeresis is that of the literary sisters, the Brontes. (Again, I'm unable to add that special marking above the "e".) In conclusion, that is why Merriam-Webster correctly states the pronunciation as DAN-uh-ee, since the "e" with its diaeresis means it is neither silent nor part of a diphthong. I hope this settles the matter, but since the people who visit this site like a good spirited discussion, I doubt it will! :-)

I have heard DAN-ay-ee (by the BtN pronunciation guide).

I have heard that this name rhymes with Renee.

The pronunciation of the name is actually just DAH-nai. I would know, it is my name after all. in Greek, it is something like THA-nai.

The name is pronounced DAH-nai-ay according to my Latin teacher who has her doctorate in the Classics. She becomes irate when she hears it pronounced any other way.

According to my Latin teacher (who, honestly, is probably a great deal less reliable than yodelleaheywho's), this name is pronounced DAWN-a-ee with the accent mark. Without the accent mark, it should be (at least in Classical pronunciation) DAWN-ie or DAN-ie.