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I worked with a lady named Rhea (American Southerner born about 1950) who pronounced it simply Ray

I'm from England and I pronounce it Ree-Ah but there was also a girl in my high school class with this name. I'm unsure if it was the same spelling (could have been Ria which is technically a different name), but it was pronounced Ree-Ah.

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I think the Ray-uh pronunciation is the American one, saying "ray" instead of "ree" tends to be in my experience

Rhea Perlman

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I pronounce it REE-ah. I'm basing that largely on the actress Rhea Perlman. I've always heard her name pronounced this way.

Ree-uh

Southern v Northern

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I grew up in the American South, and most Southerners say REE-uh, likely because of our accent. I've noticed they tend to say ray-uh in the North and Midwest. Personally, I prefer to use classical Greek pronunciations for Greek mythological names (pretentious, I know), so I say REH-A, (A as in bAT.) I also adore the Greek variant spelling, Rheie, though it is much harder for people who aren't Greeks, classics students, or name nerds to pronounce.

Since I'm not a native English speaker, I've always pronounced it the Classic Creek way, the way I've always seen it pronounced to me, which is 'reh-a' as it says clicking on the Classical Greek pronunciation guide. Like Rhea rhyming with Leah. It just seems more correct to me since it's from Greek- and Roman Mythology and that's how they pronounced it.

This message was edited 8/5/2020, 5:01 AM

I say it RAY-uh

I pronounce it "Rey-Ha" or "Rey-Ah".

The correct pronunciation is “Ray-uh”. “Ree-uh” is incorrect, though it’s not necessarily the American pronunciation.