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I've discovered the less common a name is, the more one can get away with using the traditional pronunciation. If a name is common, then it takes much more effort. For example, my youngest dd is named Anna. When she was born, my dh and I used the flat American a sound. When she began kindergarten, her teacher had a bff named Anna (pronounced AH-nuh) and she began calling Anna by that pronunciation. All of the kids followed suit as did the principal, vice principal, cafeteria lady and bus driver. We thought it was cute but didn't give it much thought until the next year of school when Anna began introducing herself to her new teacher as AH-nuh and since there were old classmates in her new class who had already called her by using that pronunciation as well, the name took off. At the end of that year, she asked us to begin calling her AH-nuh and I'll be honest and say that I didn't want to and I didn't care for it at all. Still, I figured it was her name and her choice and after guaranteeing a promise from her that she would correct those who got it wrong the first time -- especially in this country -- our family agreed to call her AH-nuh. I'd say it took about a year to get it right consistently and now the flat a sounds dead wrong. She's 16 now, btw.

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Having said that, there are names I love enough where I'd use the traditional pronunciation: Eliana (or any 'ana' name pronounced AH-nuh), Saoirse, Rhys, Catriona or Caitriona, Marisa (long e sound), Teresa (Spanish pronunciation), Tamara (tah-MAR-uh), Anneliese, etc.

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As for the examples you gave:

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Ottilie- OH-til-lee
Ophelie- OH-feh-lee
Lucia- loo-SEE-uh
Helena- HEH-len-uh or heh-LAY-nuh because I realize both are common pronunciations where I live (US South)

This message was edited 10/25/2014, 11:07 AM