forenames (first names)

[Erik P Conard]

We got all kinds of names given to kids today. Some are hard to
pronouce or figure out. Oprah Winfrey said her mom could not spell "Orpha" her intended first name and hence "Oprah"
I know kids who use different pronunciations for the same spelling so I toss this out to you-all for comment
Michael, Micheal..is it "My-kul" or "Mi-kee-yul"?
Sean, Shawn...are both "Shawn" or one "Seen"
Ian, is it E-yun or I-yun or John?
Gerald, is is Jerald or Gare-eld?
Xavier, mis-pronounced X-ay-vee-ur should be Zay-vee-ur
Then there are those born who were named for heroes of sorts,
like Francis Marion...of the Rev War, and some changed to Frank
Is it Francis or Frances? Generally Frances is a female.
Bishop Francis Asbury, often spelled Asberry
no problem with the Rev War sergeants Jasper & Newton, or was
it Newton and Jasper?
And, of course, in Greekdom we have Phi, Xi, Iota, Upsilon, and
Tau, which should rhyme with "paw" is sometimes "tauw" rhyming with cow.
Harry S Truman had only S, so no problem there
The study of onomastics and anthroponymics in itself is an interesting adjunct to genealogy. Then we have preachers who
write names in the family bible (mom & dad can't write) and they
misspell...fun...
And we have not addressed surname spelling, perhaps next time.
Genealogy is a personal encounter with history.

[OPhiARen3]

People always think that me, my brother, and my sister can't pronounce our own names right, or that we can't spell them. This is the most annoying thing. I mean, I think that we would know better than they would ...

[PhiPsiRuss]

What does this have to do with Greek Life?

[Tom Earp]

I watch FOX every Sun. Morning and wonder where in the Heck some of these names come from or Movie Actors who name their Children with No thought of when they grow to Adulthood.
Kind of rememind Me of Vanity Plates that I cannot figure out!

Greek Lettering can also be a major Problem, "Phi" Fe Fo Fum?

Xi, Tau. Always interesting ones!

Thank goodnes some like Lambda Chi Alpha and Others are easy to remember and dont have to think to hard!

[axidgl]

Haha Tom...you say Lambda Chi Alpha isn't hard? I love to hear people butcher it with Lambda "Chee" Alpha...you'd think people would know better...

[AZ-AlphaXi]

Originally posted by Erik P Conard
Sean, Shawn...are both "Shawn" or one "Seen"

Having a son named Sean ... both are pronounced "Shawn" ... in Gaelic SE is the SH sound. Shawn is the anglicized spelling.

[NebraskaDelt]

Originally posted by AZ-AlphaXi
Having a son named Sean ... both are pronounced "Shawn" ... in Gaelic SE is the SH sound. Shawn is the anglicized spelling.

My Pike friend spells his name Shon. What region does this spelling come from?

[Erik P Conard]

you flunked reading, too. Please re-read my message and you
will see a Greek connection. You awake or somethin?

[PhiPsiRuss]

Originally posted by Erik P Conard
you flunked reading, too. Please re-read my message and you
will see a Greek connection. You awake or somethin?

I'm sorry. Your post was so poorly written and edited, that I didn't get to that part.

[Erik P Conard]

why don't you wrap yourself in that big-ass endowment fund and
try to be a bit civil to us'ns, the healots, the unfortunates

[AlphaFrog]

Originally posted by Erik P Conard

Xavier, mis-pronounced X-ay-vee-ur should be Zay-vee-ur

Depending on the language Xavier can be CORRECTLY said "Hav-yer"

[ejbiff]

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by Erik P Conard

Xavier, mis-pronounced X-ay-vee-ur should be Zay-vee-ur

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


I did know a boy who's name was Xavier and it was pronounced X-ay-vee-ur. I think pronounciations depend on the parents & family.

[honeychile]

Originally posted by AZ-AlphaXi
Having a son named Sean ... both are pronounced "Shawn" ... in Gaelic SE is the SH sound. Shawn is the anglicized spelling.

Okay, I can said something like five words in Gaelic (Nollag Dhuit, btw!), but I get confused with the "sh" sound - how does Siobhan get to be pronounced "Chev-on"? And how are Maeve & Mairead pronounced?

I honestly think that some parents who were saddled with common names as kids go out of their way to make their own children's name a little different to make them stand out. Unfortunately, it just makes them look like poor spellers (or worse!).


And Erik, yes, genealogy DOES personalize history! I intend to make it my second career!

[Erik P Conard]

Having brought up first names as a result of genealogy and its
influence, I am happy with the responses. On Xavier, though,
the X would indeed be different for the French and Spanish, and
the X in old Spanish was "sh" a sound no longer extant today in
Spanish. But in English...do we play the "ex-zile-o-phone?" But
we are entitled to any pronunciation we want. In long lists of
students, I found an italian, surnamed Dighero callin' it Digerryo
and think the the footballer, Favre....because it is difficult for us
English speakers to sort that out. Some even say "favor."
And my English writing critics...there are a goodly number of us who may not be so talented, even with a PhD, but...clown...you
are not my peer and never will be.
Again, in genealogy, we can bite off a big chunk if'n a mind to, and our growth in terms of humankind, geography and history will
point out our dedication. Many of you have learned considerable
by simply sharing what we say/do on this site, warts & all...LOL

[AGDee]

Don't forget about the immigration officers at Ellis Island who changed a lot of people's names! My maternal grandmother was Ignazia Tirrito. When her family came to the US in the early 1900's, some of them became Territos and some became Territas. Nobody in our current generations were ever sure which was correct. For family reunions, the newsletters/info packets were like this Territ@ to encompass both the 'a's and the 'o's. They changed her first name to Nancy. When the Ellis Island site came online, I was bound and determined to find their manifest, which became quite a challenge. My Uncle Salvatore had the same intent and also had a hard time finding my maternal grandmother's family on the site. He ended up in touch with someone from the Son's and Daughter's of Sicily out of Chicago and found out then that the correct spelling was Tirrito. We have since found a website that has all the surnames of everybody who lived in the small town in Sicily that they are from and confirmed this. On the Ellis Island site though, some of them are listed as Eirrito! They were tough to find. Similar things happened with my paternal grandfather's family. He went from Vincenzo to Jim at immigration. Some of his family is DiFranco, some are DeFranco. DiFranco is correct. It definitely makes the genealogy difficult. In following Italian tradition, the first born son is to be named after the paternal grandfather and the second born son is to be named after the maternal grandfather. So, I have a cousin Jim (named after my paternal grandfather) and my brother Vince (named after the SAME paternal grandfather).