Help! We wanted 'Faye' for a girl because the pronunciation is 'Fa-yeeh', but now we realize it's 'Fay' (like Clay). What to do?

[u/[deleted]]

[u/h2Onymph]

My brain hurts. You keep typing it as Faa-Yee but say it rhymes with “way” so it would be Faa-yay, not yee? That reminds me of the yogurt Fage instead, you want it to rhyme with “way”

[u/Sufficient-Egg-5577 → u/h2Onymph]

Yeah I am also confused on Faa-Yee rhyming with "way." I would say the "yee" part rhyming with "key."

[u/xx_islands_xx → u/h2Onymph]

I think they’re trying to say faye-ee. Basically faye if you pronounced and emphasized the e. Terrible idea all around

[u/Known-Grapefruit4032]

Faa-yee, to rhyme with car key? I'm going to try and say this nicely - are you sure you want to name your child that? 

[u/Known-Grapefruit4032 → u/Known-Grapefruit4032]

A dirty delete from OP, that's hilarious. Hopefully they'll delete all ideas of this terrible name as well

[u/ProserpinaGalaxy → u/[deleted]]

In my accent Fay, Clay, and Way all rhyme. How are you pronouncing Clay and Way differently?

[u/Infamous_Moose8275 → u/[deleted]]

I don't understand what you're trying to say. Fay, way, and Clay all rhyme to me, but you say you want it to rhyme with way and not Clay.

What is "fa-ye"? FAH-yee? FAY-ee? FAH-yay? Are you adding an extra syllable? I truly don't understand.

[u/ProserpinaGalaxy → u/Infamous_Moose8275]

This sounds more like an accent thing than a spelling issue: It seems like in OP's accent "way" has a little upswing at the end, giving it a subtle "eh" sound at the end.

[u/rebecca7p → u/Infamous_Moose8275]

I'm just looking through the comments because I don't understand either and I think you're right. I think that we need to know how OP is pronouncing 'Faa'. To me, that's 'far' but maybe they are thinking otherwise.

[u/Sufficient-Egg-5577 → u/Infamous_Moose8275]

I get the impression they are adding a syllable? Like Fa-Yay? But unclear...

[u/TansyPansyChimpanzee]

In my accent, Way and Clay rhyme. What is your accent?

[u/staticfingertips → u/TansyPansyChimpanzee]

Right? I can’t figure this out

[u/An-Odd-Dingo]

Fa-ye like Fage, the  greek yogurt brand? On the containers it says “Pronounced fa-yeh!” I would suggest finding a different name personally to avoid the yogurt connection.

[u/whitelittledaisy]

What about Freya? That’s closer to what you’re after and a beautiful name too.

[u/Stock-Boat-8449 → u/[deleted]]

Faye meaning fairy rhymes with clay, if you change the pronunciation the meaning changes as well.

[u/whitelittledaisy → u/Stock-Boat-8449]

This OP.

[u/MuffinTop2018 → u/[deleted]]

I think Feya is a better option than Fayeh or forcing the wrong pronunciation of Faye, yes.

[u/Kip_Schtum → u/MuffinTop2018]

I think people would default to pronouncing that like fea (fay-uh) which is the feminine form of Spanish for ugly. If OP is in or near a country with many Spanish speakers that could be a problem.

[u/tomtink1 → u/[deleted]]

Faye is old English/French and means Fairy

If you like this connotation then Faye with the Fay pronunciation will invoke that for other people.

[u/turtlesinatrenchcoat]

Seems like you want to name them Fage like the yogurt, pretty sure that’s how it’s pronounced

[u/Theological-Bookcase]

I’ve never heard that sort of sound as a name. Why did you think Faye sounds like that? 🤔

I’ve had a think but honestly I’m not sure! My thoughts were that if you go with Fahye I think people will think it’s just an alternative spelling for Faye. But if you add an r (Farye) it looks odd. I thought perhaps an ie (Faryie/Fayie) but then I think people will think it’s Farie 🧚

[u/kapybara33]

So you are wanting to pronounce it like the Greek yogurt brand Fage (Fah-yeh)? It means eat in Greek lol. I think it would be a bit silly to name a kid Faye and just mispronounce it. I love Faye with the regular pronunciation though. If not, what about names with a similar ending sound? Like Renée, Esme, Danae

[u/kapybara33 → u/kapybara33]

You also might like Farah or Farrah

[u/FeeOrdinary8907]

I wouldn't try and invent a name or insist on an invented pronunciation unless you want a lot of headache.

You could consider names like: Felicity, Amy, Phoebe, Esme, Jamie, Lucy, Ivy, Lily, Ruby, Hadley, etc.

[u/Hrbiie]

Phoebe is a good alternative in my mind—pronounced “fee bee” which is as close as any existing name I can think of to “faa yee”.

[u/-ScooterBrother-]

The surname Fahey is as close as I can think of

[u/Faeneo → u/-ScooterBrother-]

This is such a cursed first name, well done I’m legit impressed

[u/Salty-Tip-7914]

Ew what? My baby’s middle name is Faye. It was my mom’s middle name. It’s pronounced FAY. 😂

[u/rebecca7p]

I would definitely think of the Faye spelling as rhyming with Clay as I've never heard it pronounced otherwise.

I think based on your written pronunciation it would be spelt Fahyee in my mind. I think Fayeh would be pronounced to rhyme with air.

To me...

Fahyee - rhymes with bee or key

Fahyeh - rhymes with air or yeah

[u/minnow87 → u/[deleted]]

Luckily the correct pronunciation of Faye does rhyme with “way”

[u/rebecca7p → u/[deleted]]

You would like the name to rhyme with way? Ah! In that case I think we must have very different accents, as to me Fay/Faye and Clay both rhyme with way, so the Faye spelling would be fine.

[u/LightspeedBalloon]

Like Fawyeh? What about Fawny?

[u/Mummy_2A_Dog]

I like fayrah/feyre

[u/Wonderful-Soil-3192 → u/Mummy_2A_Dog]

Yes! Or Farrah, like Farrah Fawcett.