Names in English speaking countries

[Booklet1]

I imagine that name is inoffensive to much of the world's population. I'm not in favour of controls - I just feel it's unfair if a child will be made fun of for years because of its name.

Hey , Has anyone an idea why they call inspector Dalziel (of that British TV series Dalziel and Pascoe) DL and Pasco ?

[Tdol]

I imagine that name is inoffensive to much of the world's population. I'm not in favour of controls - I just feel it's unfair if a child will be made fun of for years because of its name.

They were not allowed to use it, so it was likely to be somewhere where the meaning was known. I would not have liked to go through school with that as a name.

[emsr2d2]

Hey , Has anyone an idea why they call inspector Dalziel (of that British TV series Dalziel and Pascoe) DL and Pasco ?

Because, bizarre though it may be, the name which is spelt "Dalziel" is pronounced "Deeyell" (it's a Scottish name). "Pascoe" is pronounced exactly as one would expect.

We have some surprising pronunciations with English names - "St John" is pronounced "Sinj-uhn", "Menzies" is pronounced "Ming".

[Booklet1]

Hey, thanks for the reply. Is there a software programme with which one could check it first, in case of doubt. Let say, how should one pronounce Gee willikins (American name) or Gee Willikins. /dje: wi’lekens /

[Esgaleth]

"St John" is pronounced "Sinj-uhn.

Is it a general tendecy to pronouce 'St.' this way or only in this particular name?

[bhaisahab]

With a few exceptions, parents in the UK can name their child anything at all. It doesn't have to be a name or even a word. People invent names all the time. In recent years, we have seen "Apple" (Gwyneth Paltrow's daughter), "Chardonnay" (lots of young girls have been named after this white wine), Fifi Trixibelle (Bob Geldof's daughter) and a whole range of other names which parents seem to choose in an effort to make their child more individual. Many of them seem to be unaware of the fact that the main result will be that people will make fun of the child because of their ridiculous name.

There is no national list of acceptable names. As I said at the beginning, there are some names which are not permitted. At the moment, I can't find the details but, for example, you can't call your child "Queen Elizabeth the Second". You are not allowed to use a first name which is also a title, as it could be assumed that you are trying to claim some kind of aristocratic title to which you are not entitled. So Mr and Mrs Smith can't name their son "Lord Smith".

One of my ancestors, whose family name was George, was given the first name King. This was during the reign of George IV.

[Tdol]

Hey, thanks for the reply. Is there a software programme with which one could check it first, in case of doubt. Let say, how should one pronounce Gee willikins (American name) or Gee Willikins. /dje: wi’lekens /

Software- not that I know of, bu8t some dictionaries have names.

/dje: wi’lekens /- I'd use /dje: wi’likins /

[probus]

There are plenty of people in Canada named Menzies. We pronounce it phonetically as one would expect. If we ever knew the Ming thing we have forgotten it.

Thinking of weird English name pronunciation, don't forget Cholmondeley, pronounced Chumley I believe by the English.

[probus]

Hey, thanks for the reply. Is there a software programme with which one could check it first, in case of doubt. Let say, how should one pronounce Gee willikins (American name) or Gee Willikins. /dje: wi’lekens /

Here you go Booklet1.

List of names in English with counterintuitive pronunciations - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia