Should you tell a mother that she is pronouncing her baby’s name wrong?
In an era where it is growing increasingly popular for parents to experiment with baby names, it can be easy to land yourself in trouble for inquiring about their decision.
A Mumsnet user found herself in an awkward predicament when her friend had a baby girl and named her Anaïs.
“Lovely name," user MrsLeighHalfpenny wrote, "but they pronounce it Annay, and not An-eye-ees.
"I saw it written down before I heard them say it, and said 'I love the name Anaïs' to the grandmother (also my friend). She told me that that’s not how it should be pronounced. Should I explain what a diaeresis is for?"
A diaeresis is the two little dots above the ‘i' that indicate that the vowel is sounded separately.
However, in a society where parents are creating their own names, do parents have the last say on name pronunciation?
"Eeeeek. I see loads of YouTubers pronouncing it Annay as well (when referring to the brand Aden + Anais). I'm assuming this is where people get that pronunciation from," wrote one commenter.
“I would read it as An-eye-ees which is the correct French pronunciation, and how the perfume should be pronounced too. Yes, she will have a lifetime ahead of her explaining the pronunciation (especially if she ever moves to an area with a reasonable sized Francophone population – which could of course mean London!) You will have to grit your teeth and pronounce it as requested (if it's possible to say anything through a clenched jaw) or never refer to her by name (often easier than you'd imagine, sweetie).”
Eventually, MrsLeighHalfpenny decided to not confront the parents about the pronunciation.
"I’m verging on keeping my mouth shut, which will be fine as long as I never actually have to address the child by name, or refer to her by name. Might get away with that… hope the girl learns Spanish instead of French in school!”
Have you found yourself in a situation like this before? Tell us about how you handled it in the comments below.