I have heard this pronounced Gwen-ah-veev in the American South. Personally my favorite because all else sounds too Jennifer-ish and I despise that name.
― Anonymous User 7/27/2024
-1
Well I think any pronunciation sounds good as long as it's not pronounced by an asian living in Asia! I've got people calling me “jennabee”, “jenabebe”, “jennavee” and the worst... January.
There seems to be some odd argument over how this name should be pronounced, though I would remind the readers that Anglophones do not speak French.The name should be pronounced as [dʒɛnəvi:v] in English or as [ʒɛ:nəvjɛv] in French. I think that both are beautiful names, but also that it is really quite silly to argue over them.If you wish to complain about the IPA symbols I use, please note that I am not spelling English words and need them to transcribe sounds that do not exist in English at all.
All the South African Genevieves I've ever known have used a "JEN a veev" pronunciation; one of them was nicknamed Jenny. Not much French is taught here; same with the USA, no doubt. Same with Why-vonny (which is rare) and Helloiz, and Charl for a man to prevent the -es from being sounded!
I don't think there is a "correct" or "incorrect" pronunciation. It's simply pronounced differently in different languages, as most names are, and parents have a choice as to whether they'll use the French or English pronunciation. Either way it's a beautiful name!
My two friends who have the name Genevieve pronounce it jenna-veev. I was surprised to find it was actually a mispronunciation, but I guess they like it that way.
― Anonymous User 8/15/2006
1
The way I pronounce the French way of saying Genevieve is the way you say 'Jean' in French and then VYEV. I'm pretty sure that's right.