How would you pronounce the names Carys and Cerys?

35 comments

1. Without reading how you pronounce the names i would assume it would sound like “carries” and “sarries”

2. That’s how I pronounce Carys too.

   But for Cerys it would be a soft C so more like- sare-riss.

3. I have never heard either of those names, so I would not know how to pronounce them correctly. Closest I can think of is ‘Caris’ from *A World Without End* which in my head I pronounced as Care-Iss.

   I would probably pronounce the first as ‘Care iss’. The second as ‘Sehr iss’ like the same as the first A in Sarah.

4. Names in Celtic languages are scientifically impossible to pronounce unless you speak that language.

5. I have never met anyone with either of those names. They are not popular in the US at all, but at first glance I would think as Carris and Kerris.

   I hesitated wondering if the I sound should be long or not since it is a Y.

   Part of your experience with those names is that our accents here pronounce the same names differently upon region even for relatively common names here.

   Common names here such as Cary, Kerry, etc will be pronounced differently in the south, Midwest, north east etc.

6. Celtic names are only right below polish names in unpronounceablility.

7. I would guess Care-iss (like Caris Lavert) and Sear-is (like a cirrus cloud)

8. I’ve honestly never heard them nor tried to pronounce them, so thanks for giving an explanation! I’d definitely have mispronounced them if I saw them before hearing them.

9. That’s so weird i was just thinking about someone i knew with that name. I don’t remember which spelling they used, but everyone said care-iss.

10. I have an Aunt Caryn (like Karen), so I’d probably pronounce it like “carries”.

11. CAH-REES and SE-RIES

12. I have no idea. However, I am often in a position where I need to announce names at large event, on microphone, in front of large groups of people and on steaming. I really want to get everyone’s name right – its the right thing to do. If I can ask the person ahead of time, that’s what I do. However, often times I can’t ask them ahead of time as it might give away the fact they are winning an award or something.

    Google this: pronounce <name>

    People have done a bang up job putting given names AND surnames on the internet, in videos, so you can hear the name. It’s a huge relief to me. And yes…. I still screw up pronunciations on occasion, and yes… I feel bad about it.

    (I found both those names, Welsh root)

13. Names be it spellings, and pronunciations are going to go wildly all over the place, even in the US.

    I went to HS with girls who had every spelling of Kristin you can think of, same with Tamara…. I still see it today with names via work.. and I just chuckle…

    If you ask an American to pronounce that then we are going to apply American pronunciations to it.

    Carys = Kerryzzzz

    Cerys = Sirrrysssssss

    Very few are going to know they are Welsh. And I am betting that as you review the replies, its likely to be :

    1) Very few or none which are correct, at least as you see it.

    2) Very few that match

    3) And any number of different ones, based on regional dialects which will alter things based on accents of the region, ie: South, Texas etc..

14. Like most here I’d say the first like “carries”, but I’d say the second like “ser-iss”

15. Regionally, even common words are pronounced differently. Pecan comes to mind.

16. Carys – Care-iss

    Cerys – Sair-iss

    At least at a glance that’s how I would pronounce them.

17. Like CARE-isss

18. I’ve never seen these names before, but my guess would have been

    Carries

    Sear-is

19. I say “Cah-riss” but only because my friend married a Welsh lady and they named their kid Carys.

20. Car-Ease and Sare-Ees is how I would pronounce them.

21. I actually had some friends named Carys and they pronounced it like Care-iss. I think Catherine Zeta Jones pronounces her daughter Carys name like that too 🤷🏼‍♀️

22. I worked with a girl named Niamh. Look at it for a second to see how you’d say it. She was a supervisor, so you want to get it right! Okay, it’s pronounced ‘Neev’. Also Irish.

23. I pronounced them as “Care-ress” and “Ser-ess” in my head, but in reality if i have to say a name hopefully someone said it out loud so I’d just pronounce it like they did

24. Here’s another one for ya, how would you guys say aoife?

25. Never heard of either name. I would pronounce them both like carries, just like Mary, marry, merry.

26. Without knowing(care) Carrie’s rhymes with marries. Kerry’s rhymes with berries or mayber sir-ees.

27. Carries and Sur-yeez lol

28. Before reading your post, I would have said Care-iss (Carys) and Sear-iss (Cerys).

29. It’s usually a “hard c” as in “carries” when the c is followed by a, o, or u.

    It’s usually a “soft c” as in “celebrate” when the c is followed by e, i, or y.

    So I’d read the first one as care-iss or care-ees, and the second one as ser-iss or ser-ees.

30. Welsh is all Greek to me.

31. Slick and Chief.

32. I don’t think most Americans would realize that in Celtic languages there is no “soft c”. Also, the vowels would be the same in both.

    So Carys would be pronounced Care-riss according to the rules of (most, but not all) American accents —the a before at, followed by an r, becomes the same as the a in care.

    Same thing happens to the names Aaron and Erin here.

    Some people from certain parts of the northeastern US might maintain the distinction. Especially around New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia.

33. In America, a kid born to American parents I’d say carries and sarries. But knowing it’s from Wales I’d probably guess similar pronunciation to how to have in the op.

34. I speak two languages, neither of which are Welsh, but my gut instinct would be to pronounce it carries and serries, which are probably wrong (was never really exposed to Welsh, so the phonology isn’t really something I’m privy to).

35. I have a friends named Cerys and it’s pronounced Kerris.