My name is Mhairi and yes in Scottish Gaelic it's pronounced Va-ree but the way I pronounce it is Mah-ri not Mori or Mary or even Mihairy! English people are always pronouncing it Mori but I can tell ya it's Mah-ri!
― Anonymous User 3/21/2018
2
Mhairi should only be pronounced as Varry when one is speaking directly to the person, eg "Varry, can you stop going on about your name, please?" If you're talking about the person, it's pronounced marry, eg "Marry hates it when people say her name wrongly."
My name is Mairi (as in will you Marry me!) but if used in spoken Gaelic it would be a' Mhairi pronounced a' Va-thee. Ciamar a tha thu a' Mhairi? How are you Mairi? My mother tongue is Gaelic and I didn't speak English until I went to school on an island in the Western Isles. Other names are affected this way such as Morag becomes a' Mhorag and Domhnaill (Donald) becomes a' Domhnaill.
It's definitely pronounced with a 'v' at the start. In Scottish Gaelic, where the name derives from, 'Mh' is the equivalent of 'v'. I think the name is awesome pronounced properly. Like many here, my sister is called Mhairi. Hers is pronounced properly. What a lot of people are talking about here is just idiotic anglicising.
My name is Mhairi (Va-ree), never Mahree! I'm Scottish but never met anyone else with the name Mhairi until I was 11 - so I did get teased a bit at school. I've been called quite a few different things, mainly Mahree (grrrr!), Marie and even Mairead! I used to work for someone who's mother had English as a second language so I actually went by Barry for a while, though I had to laugh as my sister had to put up with Carrot! I've also noticed that people with a really thick Scottish accent pronounce my name Va-ray (which I rather quite like), but because I work for people from nearer London I use my nickname of Mollie as it saves lots of hassle and I don't have to listen to the same old phrase of "Oooh, what an unusual name - whatever does it mean?"
― Anonymous User 10/30/2011
3
The 'mh' in Gaelic is pronounced as 'v' so the name should be properly pronounced with a 'v'. My best friend is called Mhairi and everyone I know pronounces it VA-ray. Maybe it's just my accent!
My sister is named Mhairi, and it is true that the correct Scots pronunciation is Va-Ree, but both my sister and a school friend use Ma-Ree so this is purely dependant on personal choice.