Comments on: Fighting the name change

By: madhu

madhu — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 01:23:08 +0000

Hey, I agree, but I think in the UK it is just a given thing that you can westernise your name. I have had two british asian teachers, and they have both called me “mad-oo”. I guess when I was younger, I got used to being called mad-oo and letting them call me it that it seemed inappropriate to suddenly introduce the correct pronounciation. I am 19 now and have always pronounced it incorrectly so I feel it is a bit late to suddenly introduce the proper pronounciation. Most asian people in the UK do seem to have been given names that are easy to pronounce – there are countless “nisha”s and “priya”s, so I guess it is just a given thing that if you have been not given a simple name than you can just westernise it.

By: Paalak Kaa Saag

Paalak Kaa Saag — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 16:03:59 +0000

I agree with you in principle madhu, but white people go out of their way to pronounce French and Spanish names correctly…so why should you not insist, or politely correct?

By: madhu

madhu — Sun, 04 Jul 2010 15:51:41 +0000

I am a nineteen year old girl born and bred in the UK, my name is madhu and I have always mispronounced my name.

there is no equivalent for the "dh" sound that is in hindi in english, and english people commonly say the "uh" sound in hindi as "ah."

English speakers would never know how to pronounce my name properly as it consists of two phonetics which are not similar in our language. As a young teenager in britain, it is simply easier to take the english pronounciation rather than the hindi one. At the end of the day, we are minorities in an english speaking country. I pronounce my name mad-oo, and it makes my life a lot easier.

By: boston_mahesh

boston_mahesh — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 18:09:34 +0000

I used to be in a rap group and the Dj (he was Irish-Madagascari) would always mispronounce my real name “Mahesh” as “Myhash” and my rap name “Vadapavarotti” as “What A Poverty”. It could be worse. My friends got their names demolished by white folks and other non-desi understanding brown folks alike: Basim and Arun – Boss him and Ar Jew and Praful and Farooq – Pro-Fool and F*ck were the fun times to be had with them. Sucks! I think it’s okay to change your name to avoid confrontation.

By: Kanwar

Kanwar — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 17:34:35 +0000

some interesting points made here. what i think is insane, is when Desi’s make up a name…like Jaren, and Taren and Paren, where do they get this from? Son: “dad, what does my name mean?” Dad: “ermmm god knows, it can be pronounced..who cares” Son: “the name Ranjeev can be pronounced, why didnt you call me that?” Dad: “ermm, im off to work , bye son”

By: beoram

beoram — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 18:56:16 +0000

Tamil doesn’t have the sound ‘bh’ in native words, but it has borrowed words (from Sanskrit etc.) with ‘bh’. Of course, these may or may not be given the ‘bh’ pronunciation in Tamil depending on the speaker.

By: Jaya

Jaya — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 20:58:10 +0000

Huh, I am Tamil, and one of my aunts is named Bharathi. My mother’s name is Bhagyalakshmi (spelled without the “h” in the US). There’s no trouble pronouncing it at all, because everyone understands the pronounciation is implied rather than explicitly given by a “bh” letter combination in Tamil.

By: khoofia

khoofia — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:32:25 +0000

Melbourne Desi: I am sure folks in Tamilnadu and Kerala can pronounce BH without any effort. Moreover, I am told that Bhaskar or Bhaskaran is usually last name down South, rather than first name, as in my case.

Hey! I can attest to that. the ‘Bh’ phoneme does not exist in tamizh. For that matter, the ‘h’ sound is itself a challenge. Boston Magesh might attest to that. But if you thought that was bad, try Anbazhagan.

personally i am not attached to names. If compelled to change names to something more latinesque, i’d rather be a manuel or a yiping or a vlad than a chuck. i cant see myself as a chuck. i’d make a great vlad. imagine the wanton impaling.

By: Yo Dad

Yo Dad — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 15:11:46 +0000

Suki Dillon: Now that you have refreshed my memory, yes I remember Greg Cook. He was an undergraduate when I was a Master's candidate. Melbourne Desi: I am sure folks in Tamilnadu and Kerala can pronounce BH without any effort. Moreover, I am told that Bhaskar or Bhaskaran is usually last name down South, rather than first name, as in my case. I think Sakshi @ 64 has best explanation why it is difficult to say BH for most non-asians. Indeed it is difficult to train the tongue and lips to make a particular sound. Thanks

By: Samir

Samir — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 13:00:40 +0000

Most Chinese in Australia some how cant say "Samir" they end up saying "Samil" while I find most Anglo Aussies can manage Samir.

Some Indian names are pronounced differently in different part of India. The way a Maharashtrian pronounces "Gaurav" is not the same as the way a Marwari does.