Anonymous wrote:After reading this thread, I have only one question: why the hell is wrong with the Irish?

They had their own language before the English oppressed them, forced them to speak English, cut down their forests, forced them to eat potatoes, and destroyed church records. That's what the Hell is wrong with the Irish.

Try the Welsh. No vowels a'tall.

My last name is also hard to pronounce, and I'm fine when someone asks but I also just don't expect anyone to pronounce it correctly.

However, having lived 47 years telling people how to say my last name, I would *never* give DC a name that isn't easy/obvious to pronounce.

It's a sad day when your snark comes out wrong. WHAT the hell is wrong with the Irish?

And now I'm eyeing the Germans suspiciously.

After reading this thread, I have only one question: why the hell is wrong with the Irish?

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?

''

I was taught that stien is STEEN and stein is STINE (e.g. ie = long e, ei = long i) and generally use this rule unless the person pronounces it for me.

Anonymous wrote:A lot of times J is pronounce like a Y
Sonja is Sonya

THANK YOU! I'm so tired of people calling me San-jay. The name comes from a language where nj make one letter/sound and it's like the Spanish enye.