Anonymous wrote:Any last name with a Germanic guttural "ch" sound is impossible for Americans to pronounce.

What if they are Americans who speak German?

OP, I have a difficult-to-pronounce first name, and I've never, never in my life been offended by someone politely asking how to pronounce it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Isla (EYE-la)

I never know if last names ending in "stein" are pronounced "steen" or "stine" and same thing with wiess. Is it "wees" or "wise"?

Growing up, I knew a lot of people with a "stein" last name (Waldstein, Goldstein), and they all pronounced it "steen"....but Albert Einstein, it's pronounced "stine"...so maybe it depends on what the first syllable is?

Nope. 'Stein' is German--it means 'stone'. It's pronounced 'schtine', regardless of how you've heard it. Many people who have it as part of their names have had the pronunciation changed over the years, frequently through the loss of original language skills (meaning immigration) or courtesy of Ellis Island.

It would be pronounced 'schteen' if it were spelled 'stien'. But that is not a standalone word.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Joachim

Is Joaquin : whah-keen? Joachim : wham-keem?

No to Joachim. It's German (see PP about how non-German speakers can't pronounce the 'ch'). It's pronounced Yo-ah-chim...but the 'ch' is from the back of the throat, kind of rolling. Most Americans turn it into a 'ck' sound like in.... 'ick'.

Anonymous wrote:Isla (EYE-la)

I never know if last names ending in "stein" are pronounced "steen" or "stine" and same thing with wiess. Is it "wees" or "wise"?

Growing up, I knew a lot of people with a "stein" last name (Waldstein, Goldstein), and they all pronounced it "steen"....but Albert Einstein, it's pronounced "stine"...so maybe it depends on what the first syllable is?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you pronounce Nguyen?

I've always had trouble with that one. We actually had quite a few people with that last name in my high school. I pronounced it like "new-yen" and no one ever corrected me--but maybe they were just trying to be polite!

I know a couple of people with this last name. Some pronounce it "win". Some pronounce it "new-in"

Any last name with a Germanic guttural "ch" sound is impossible for Americans to pronounce.

Isla (EYE-la)

I never know if last names ending in "stein" are pronounced "steen" or "stine" and same thing with wiess. Is it "wees" or "wise"?

I have a friend from Sweden named Asa. I was pronouncing it Ay-sa for the longest time but I heard her say it and it's apparently Ah-sa.

Anonymous wrote:How do you pronounce Nguyen?

I've always had trouble with that one. We actually had quite a few people with that last name in my high school. I pronounced it like "new-yen" and no one ever corrected me--but maybe they were just trying to be polite!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you pronounce Nguyen?

Gwen.

New Inn

Daffyd = David
Rhys = Reese
Gwynnedd = GWIN-eth

Lanai's (A-Na-Ees.)

Anonymous wrote:Joachim

Is Joaquin : whah-keen? Joachim : wham-keem?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you pronounce Nguyen?

Gwen.

No...not a hard 'g' sound. It's more like "wen".

I've heard different people with that name say "gwen", "wen" and "nwen"

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you pronounce Nguyen?

Gwen.

No...not a hard 'g' sound. It's more like "wen".