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HelpRe: The use of names you cannot pronounce.
in reply to a message by Array
Hmmm...that's a really good question. Very thought provoking.
Personally, I don't think I could use a name I couldn't pronounce. I would just feel embarassed every time I said it, wanting to add, "I know this isn't right! I'm trying!" just to make sure everyone knew. I just wouldn't feel good about it. Actually, I've crossed a name off my list that way. I like Harvey, but I cannot say HAR-vee. It comes out HAH-vee, with a nasally Bostonian sort of A. So I wouldn't name a kid that, even as a middle name, because then I wouldn't be able to say my own kid's name.
On the other hand. I am not sure how different your pronounciation of Ruxandra is from the right one, but I think it would be okay for you to use it without being able to pronounce it exactly. A lot of names that get adopted do develop alternate English pronounciations, Marlene for example. The -ette names also sound a bit different. So it doesn't seem horrible.
I think it's obviously personal, whether you're okay with it not being quite the right pronounciation. And I'm wondering, does not having the right pronounciation mean you'll be stumbling on the name, or do you say it clearly and consistently, just differently? Because when I can't pronounce a name right I often stumble on it, and if you're doing that, then it's probably not a good idea to use it.
But presumably, you do have clarity in your pronounciation, since otherwise I doubt you'd be asking. Hmm. Well, sorry this post is so babbly. In short, the answer is that I don't really know, it depends on the name and on your feelings. But those are my thoughts.
Personally, I don't think I could use a name I couldn't pronounce. I would just feel embarassed every time I said it, wanting to add, "I know this isn't right! I'm trying!" just to make sure everyone knew. I just wouldn't feel good about it. Actually, I've crossed a name off my list that way. I like Harvey, but I cannot say HAR-vee. It comes out HAH-vee, with a nasally Bostonian sort of A. So I wouldn't name a kid that, even as a middle name, because then I wouldn't be able to say my own kid's name.
On the other hand. I am not sure how different your pronounciation of Ruxandra is from the right one, but I think it would be okay for you to use it without being able to pronounce it exactly. A lot of names that get adopted do develop alternate English pronounciations, Marlene for example. The -ette names also sound a bit different. So it doesn't seem horrible.
I think it's obviously personal, whether you're okay with it not being quite the right pronounciation. And I'm wondering, does not having the right pronounciation mean you'll be stumbling on the name, or do you say it clearly and consistently, just differently? Because when I can't pronounce a name right I often stumble on it, and if you're doing that, then it's probably not a good idea to use it.
But presumably, you do have clarity in your pronounciation, since otherwise I doubt you'd be asking. Hmm. Well, sorry this post is so babbly. In short, the answer is that I don't really know, it depends on the name and on your feelings. But those are my thoughts.
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I say it clearly and consistently if I just pronounce what I'd consider a similar but Americanized version--rook-SAHN-dra, with the "oo" somewhere between the "oo" in "rook" and the "oo" in "tool". I can't really describe the differences from the Romanian prn, I'm afraid, and I don't have a sound file to link to. D:
The answer "I don't really know" is the same one I've got at the moment. This will take some thought.
Array
The answer "I don't really know" is the same one I've got at the moment. This will take some thought.
Array
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