View Message

My name is also Brianne, pronounced bree-in, and has always been confusing to people. I was also named after Brianne Leary born 1982

Replying to this zombie thread because I just saw Brianne Leary as a CONTESTANT on the game show Match Game. She told Gene Rayburn that her name was Irish and was properly pronounced BREE-in, and Gene pronounced it that way throughout her run.

---

BUT: When she came back later as a celebrity panelist while she was on CHIPS,Johnny Olson pronounced it bree-ANN in the credits and Gene pronounced it that way throughout the show. I think when she became a celebrity, she got tired of correcting pronunciation and just accepted the way people read it. Maybe her agent told her to do that.

---

But she definitely pronounced it BREE-in before she was famous and it changed to bree-ANN after she was famous.

I was named after Brianne Leary too. I've only ever met 1 other person who says AND spells their name like mine.

---

I have friends who gave their kids all Gaelic Irish names and this pronunciation makes sense since it's an Irish name. Their names aren't at all pronounced the way they're spelled. It drove me crazy as a kid but now I love my name.

I too am from an Irish-American family and have always been told I was named after Brianne Leary from CHIPS as well.

Phonetically, "BREE-in" really doesn't make a lot of sense in English. Maybe your parents preferred just this unusual pronunciation or maybe they listened to a similar name and spelled it Brianne.