Certain first names, although very common in France, seem unpronounceable among our foreign neighbors. This is the case of this male first name which had its heyday in the 80s.
The pronunciation of the first name is often an essential criterion for parents. “I chose the first name Gabriel for my son, so that it would be pronounced as well in my family as in his father’s.”, tells us Bruna, of Brazilian origin. But some first names are more difficult to pronounce than others, depending on the language and origins. As French people, for example, it is difficult for us to correctly call a child with the Irish first name Sean or the Italian first name Francisco.
The WordFinderX site recently analyzed more than 12,000 first names, then established a ranking by referring to the Forvo site (“the largest pronunciation dictionary in the world”), in order to determine those which were the most mispronounced. Also included are the first names Xuxa, Victoria, Plato, Anne or Anna, Estrella, Alexander, Benjamin, Michael, Maria, Xavier, Thomas, David, Mary, Laura, Juan and Saoirse.
A male first name which enjoyed real success in the 1980s – with an average of 8,754 births per year between 1980 and 1986 – is one of the most mispronounced first names around the world. And we understand why. The first name Guillaume, which has been in decline in recent years, is difficult to pronounce for foreigners. Indeed, the two letters L are silent and are pronounced “Y”. They are followed by the syllables A and U which are pronounced “O”, without forgetting the letter G which is guttural. Three exceptions in a single first name, enough to make anyone who tries to call a little boy Guillaume lose their minds…
And if you are wondering what is the most mispronounced female name in the world, it is the first name Anne. According to the study, few people know how to pronounce the last letter, with a tendency to anglicize the first. Which gives versions like: “Annie, Ayne, Aynie, Annay”. This pronunciation difficulty is not a minor detail. It often influences parents’ choices. They are looking for a first name that is easy to pronounce in several languages, to avoid confusion and errors. This becomes even more important in a globalized world, where multicultural interactions are common. First names like Emma or Leo, simple and universal, then become popular choices…