Selecting a baby name that’s tricky to pronounce can turn into a real headache. Parents must weigh up various factors when naming their little one, such as potential nicknames and the ease with which the name can be spelled.
A vital aspect to also mull over is pronunciation, particularly if the name is rare and not commonly encountered. Odd names can lead people to stumble over the pronunciation, and parents should think about this if they wish to spare their child a lifetime of correcting others.
One mother is currently experiencing this with her daughter, lamenting that she may have “set her up for a lifetime of mispronunciation” because no one seems to get it right. Delvene took to TikTok with a plea for help on how others would pronounce her daughter’s name, having grown weary of persistent mispronunciations by those around her.
Although she refrained from saying the name out loud in her post, she displayed it pointedly above her head as she revealed her daughter’s name is Nakia.
In her video, she queried: “How do you pronounce this name? People have been pronouncing my baby’s name wrong, and it’s really annoying me. I want to know how you pronounce this name, and is it hard? Is it a hard name to pronounce? Because to me, it’s not that hard. So yeah, how would you pronounce this name? And tell me what name you would compare it to in terms of sounds, and let me see if you got it right.”
Delvene initially left viewers guessing on the correct pronunciation of her child’s name, but in a follow-up video she clarified it should be spoken as “Na-Key-Ah”, with a brief ‘A’ sound and the stress on “Key”. Those familiar with Marvel’s film Black Panther might’ve immediately grasped this pronunciation, as Nakia is also the name of Lupita Nyong’o’s character.
Delvene was inspired by the movie, which she and her partner saw during an early date, falling for the name right away. However, people who haven’t watched the superhero flick often mispronounce it, emphasising the “I” and saying it like “Nack-Eye-Ah”. But what grates most on Delvene’s ears is when it’s muddled up with “Nadia” heavily drawing out the “A” sound.
When she shared this online, reactions were mixed. Some admitted they would’ve gotten it wrong based on spelling alone, others related to her daughter’s plight of having their names persistently mispronounced. One individual commiserated: “It’s really not that hard to pronounce. People are just rude.” Another stated: “I read it like Nadia. Your way sounds better, though.”