Ralph pronounced Rafe

Avatar for tuffykenwell
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Ralph pronounced Rafe
15
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 12:15am
DH and I really like the name Ralph with the British pronunciation of Rafe. My question is...is there any point in persuing this as a name or is the baby doomed to a life of being called Ralf if we use this name?

Steph

Steph, momma to Rhys - May 17, 2002

momma to

Rhys, Niamh, Isla and Deirdre!

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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-16-2003
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 6:21am
I'm not sure, but I suspect that you are right, that whenever someone sees the spelling, they will pronounce it "Ralf."

What about the name Rannulf, and using Rafe as a nickname? I'm not sure of the derivation of Rannulf. I ran across it in a novel and liked it. Perhaps German, or Danish?

Good luck.

Cara

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-18-2003
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 7:15am
I really like Raphael(or Rafael) nn Rafe.
Avatar for masp
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 9:20am

I agree with Simonenicole's suggestion.

Michelle 

    Graham May 1999, Lily P

Avatar for tuffykenwell
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 9:32am

This is what I found out about this pronunciation for those who are interested ;)


http://alt-usage-english.org/excerpts/fxwordsw.html


"Ralph" was traditionally pronounced /reIf/ in Britain -- Gilbert
and Sullivan rhymed it with "waif" in H.M.S. Pinafore; that's how
the composer Ralph Vaughan Williams pronounced his name; and even
today actor Ralph Fiennes (of Schindler's List fame) is said to
pronounce his name /reIf faInz/.

momma to

Rhys, Niamh, Isla and Deirdre!

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-01-2003
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 11:00am
you are definitely dooming him to a life of being called Ralph. people in the US won't know to use a British pronunciation on an American child, and probably fewer than 1 percent of the population will even know that Ralph is pronounced Rafe in Britian. Why would they?
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-09-2004
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 11:20am
I will agree that the child would most likely spend his life correcting people and trying to convince them of the correct pronunciation of his name. On the other hand, your first ds is Rhys, and I would assume that the same could be said of his name. Am I right?

To my knowledge I had never heard of Rhys before I started posting on this board and the first couple of times I saw it I had no idea how to pronounce it :) At least with Ralph there's something to go on, imo anyway lol

~ Liz ~



Avatar for alsatia23
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-27-2003
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 11:23am
Ralph is Ralph.






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Registered: 04-21-2003
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 5:16pm
OK, is it just my pregnancy hormones, or are some of you being a little mean here?

First of all, Steph, are you in Canada or the U.S.? I ask only because I imagine Canadians might be a little more familiar with British pronunciations.

Yes, I think your son would have to correct everyone the first time, but that is really no worse than many names, from the made-up ones to the ones who are Michaela pronounced Mi-shay-la vs. Mi-kay-la or Alicias who are A-lee-see-a vs. A-lee-sha. People can be trained quickly. I thought there was only way to pronounce Rhys (Reese), but if people have to learn that, too, it doesn't seem insurmountable. I hear plenty of people say "Rafe Fines" for Ralph Fiennes, and every radio announcer I've ever heard says "Rafe Vaughn Williams."

Good luck!

Thelma

Olivia 5/12/03

DD#2 9/17/04

Avatar for tuffykenwell
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-28-2003
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 5:45pm

Yep I am in Canada but honestly everyone I know here pronounces is ralf....thus my question. I do have to correct people with Rhys' name all of the time but there really is only one way to pronounce Rhys (pronouncing it Rice or Rise is just wrong not an alternate way of pronouncing it KWIM?) Plus honestly when people look at the name Rhys they *expect* that it might be hard to say LOL which wouldn't be the case with Ralph where everyone will assume that they understand how it should be pronounced since they have seen the name one thousand times before and the vast majority of those times it has been pronounced ralf.


The rayf pronunciation is an accepted pronunciation though...I didn't pull it out of a hat...


Spelling it Rafe doesn't work for me because then you lose the sense of history that is actually one of the things I *like* about the name...pronouncing it the traditional ralf way doesn't work either because it just isn't the mental image I picture for a baby KWIM??


I dunno I think we may have to drop this one....even though we both agree that it meets our criteria for "cool and strong" LOL!


Steph

Steph, momma to Rhys - May 17, 2002

momma to

Rhys, Niamh, Isla and Deirdre!

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-10-2004
Tue, 07-06-2004 - 8:56pm
I knew a boy in high school with the name Rafe...spelled Rafe...no problems there.
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