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Pronunciation preference...
Hello All,
Simple question. How do you prefer the name Nadine to be pronounced?
(I know that there may be a "more common" way that it is said in your area, but I am really looking for preference here)nah-DEEN
nay-DEEN
nuh-DEEN
Nah-din
THANKS!______________________________________________
"How wonderful it is that no one need wait a single moment before starting to improve upon the world." -Ann Frank
Mama to my "bright star" Clarisse Bituin and Wife to Julius. Mahal na mahal from our little family to yours!
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Replies

nə-DEENnay-DEEN is very American!
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We've decided to go with ......nay-deen. Thank you to everyone who responded. It was really helpful. While I prefer to say Nadine as nah-DEEN, and that is how my husband says it as well, we decided that nay-deen is simply easier for the general population in my area. We actually polled family last night, who were just as split as this board. Finally the fact that my grandmother cannot say nah-DEEN cinched it for us. Julius will still say the name however he wants, so he still wins (in his head). ;)
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nay-DEEN
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na DEEN is the only pronunciation I've heard IRL: short na with a as in cat. I like it.
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Nadine Gordimer, novelist and local icon where I live, made it sound more like a spondee - NAY-DEEN - but if anything the main emphasis is on the NAY, not the DEEN! So, that's what I'm used to and prefer.
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Since the first syllable is so short in the way I've always heard it pronounced, I'm not quite sure whether it's nah-DEEN or nuh- DEEN. Nay-DEEN doesn't sound bad either; I just have never heard it so it sounds slightly foreign. I don't think you could go wrong with any of the first three. NAH-din sounds weird and is just puzzling when you consider the spelling.
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nay-DEEN
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nay-DEEN
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I've only heard it pronounced nay-deen so that's my preferred choice.
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I prefer nah-DEEN or nuh-DEEN, but recognize that most people in my area pronounce it nay-DEEN.
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I would pronounce it nuh-DEEN.
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I'm pretty sure I've only ever heard it pronounced "nay-DEEN," but I've also never liked the sound of it, and "nah-DEEN" is nicer. :)
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nay-DEEN is my preference, though I'm quite fond of nah-DEEN as well.
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nay-DEEN. It would not occur to me to pronounce it any other way.
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I prefer nay-DEEN. But nah-DEEN is the common one here.
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nah - deen
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I prefer nah-DEEN.
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Most people round in my area say Nuh-deen but I like Nay-deen.
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I learned Nay Deen ... the AY is not very long, it's like in Raymonde. Stress like in Darlene, about the same but seeming to be on the Deen.
I prefer it that way because ... that's how I say it. Nəh-DEEN and Nad-DEEN seem foreign to me.
I think this might be a name that has different American and British/Canadian pronunciations. ?? I never even realized it was related to Nadia. Nor did I read the etymology of that ... what a nice name Nadejda is.
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It's quite the lovely and unexpected little name when you look at it's etymology. It's one of the things that I like best about it. I also learned Nay Deen with the same subtle stresses you use. I only learned the other pronunciations in the past few years. Nəh-DEEN certainly seems foreign to me too, but I find it lovely. Maybe a bit softer than the Nadine I am used to. I have only met one Nadine in my life though - she said nay-deen.
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I prefer nah-DEEN. The "ah" sound is quite short, but not quite "uh" either.
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nay-DEEN
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I say nay-DEEN. I like nuh-DEEN though, too. But the only person I know who pronounces is that way is from Jordan, so I assumed that was more of an Arabic thing. I think most people, at least in my area, would automatically say nay-DEEN.
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My husband instinctively says nuh-DEEN, so maybe it's just an accent thing. He is trying to say nay-DEEN now to sound more American, and ends up saying nah-deen instead, which I like better. I like them all, but he says we need to solidify pronunciation now. The board seems to be split between nay-deen and nah-deen right now.
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I think I prefer nah-DEEN.
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na-DEEN is the only way I've ever heard it.
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This hard, because generally my preference is the instinct I get from how it is pronounced.The instinct is Nay-Deen.Nah-deen is somewhat prettier though. Nah-din doesn't even make sense to me phonetically, though I'm sure to others in other regions it might.
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I agree. nah-din is the hardest for me to remember and say. I quite like Nah-deen, as that is how my husband pronounces it, and what my mother likes as well. But, I instinctively say nay-DEEN... so I am trying to get some help on which we will go with when LO arrives.
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I instinctively go for na-DEEN, and I suppose that's what I prefer. There's a sitcom here, Stella, where a na-DEEN decides, briefly, that she's going to be NA-din-ay, after having it mispronounced as such. That would be terribly pretty if it weren't so contrived, ha.
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I've only ever heard it Nay-Deen, with almost equal emphasis on both syllables.
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I usually pronounced Nadine like nə-DEEN.There was an MP called Nadine Dorries who was suspended from the Conservative Party a few years ago after she appeared in I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! without informing the party whip (she has since being reinstated as a Conservative MP) and from what I can recollect, I heard several anchors and reporters pronounce her name like nə-DEEN and that's what stuck into me.
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nay-DEEN
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I've always pronounced it nah-DEEN. I had no idea there were other ways to pronounce it!
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