Mayflower Team | Tuesday, February 7, 2017
HALL OF FAME
“A good name is more desirable than great riches”, says the old adage. To be more specific, we believe that a good name which is properly pronounced is even more desirable. Names make people unique among all others and for that reason many individuals strongly identify with their names. When we forget or mispronounce them, it may be perceived as a sign of disrespect and bad manners, and bad command of English in case of language learners. Therefore it should be avoided at all costs.
For us, learners of English, the pronunciation of foreign names is not an easy skill to master because in English the pronunciation does not correspond to the spelling, and there are no ready-to-use solutions to fall back on. Below we present a list of the most frequently mispronounced English names with their phonetic transcription. It is the first part in our series Pronunciation Hacks, in which we are going to present lists of some of the most difficult or trickiest words to pronounce. In the meantime, study the list or visit our Grammar Resources section where you can find a free printable “English Nouns of Foreign Origin” with a pronunciation guide. Come back for more tips on learning English soon.
- Austen /ˈɒstɪn/ e.g. Jane Austen, an English novelist
Apache /əˈpæʧɪ/ - Beckham /ˈbɛkəm/
Bieber /ˈbiːbər/ - Caesar /ˈsiːzə/; /ˈkaisar/
- Disney /ˈdɪzni/
Donne /ˈdʌn/ e.g. John Donne, an English poet - Ewing /ˈjuːwɪŋ/
- Fiennes /ˈfaɪnz/ e.g. Ralph Fiennes (pronounced /ˈreɪf ˈfaɪnz/), an English actor
- Graham /ˈɡreɪ.əm/, /ˈɡreəm/
- Holmes /ˈhəʊmz/
- Irving /ˈɜ:(r)vɪŋ/
Isaac /ˈaɪzək/ - Juliet /ˈdʒuːlɪɛt/; /ˌdʒuliˈɛt/, /ˈdʒuljət/
- Knowles /ˈnəʊlz/ e.g. Beyoncé /biːˈjɒnseɪ/ Knowles, an American singer
- Leigh /ˈleɪ/
Levi /ˈli:vaɪ/
Lewis /ˈluːɪs/ - Moses /ˈməʊzɪz, -zɪs/
Murdoch /ˈmɜːrdɒk/ e.g. Iris Murdoch, an Irish novelist or Rupert Murdoch, a media mogul
- Napoleon /nəˈpəʊlɪən, -ljən/
- Ophelia /ɒˈfiːlɪə/, /əʊˈfiːlɪə/, /əˈfiːlɪə/
- Pepys /piːps/ e.g. Samuel Pepys, an English diarist
Phoebe /ˈfiːbiː/
Prestley /ˈprɛsli/ - Quayle /ˈkweɪl/
- Ralph /'rælf/, /ˈreɪf/
Roosevelt /ˈrəʊzəvəlt/ - Scorsese /skɔːrˈsɛsi/
Seamus /ˈʃeɪməs/ e.g. Seamus Heaney, an Irish poet
Shakespeare /ˈʃeɪkspɪər/ - Tolkien /ˈtɒlkiːn/
- Ulysses /juːˈlɪsiːz/, /ˈjuːlɪsiːz/
Usher /ˈʌʃər/ - Vaughan or Vaughn /ˈvɔːn/
- Waugh /ˈwɔ:/ e.g. Evelyn Waugh, an English writer
Windsor /ˈwɪnzər/ e.g. Queen Elizabeth II’s last name - Xerxes /ˈzɜ:ksɪz/
- Yeats /ˈjeɪts/ e.g. William Butler Yeats, an Irish poet
- Zeppelin /ˈzep.əl.ɪn/
Zeta /ˈziːtə/ e.g. Catherine Zeta-Jones, a Welsh actress