Comments (Pronunciation Only)

According to a few sources based on Old English sounds, Æ wouldve been pronounced like the sound in cat or fan (source: https://people.umass.edu/sharris/in/gram/GrammarBook/Pronunciation.html) and since Ð (or DH in some cases to separate it from TH as in THought and THyme) is basically the TH sound in THis and THough or oTHer (source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tu1t3Fn5Lw8) I'd assume in Old English this name was probably pronounced something like AH-DHEL-RAHD. However, Modern English definitely says it more as EH-THEL-REHD and it's spelt as Aethelred or Ethelred in most modern spellings.
How the heck do you pronounce it?
I had a student in my 2nd grade class named this. I was unsure of how to pronounce the name when I got my class list, so I asked his teacher last year. I saw complications with the name all school year. He had long hair, too, which made visitors to our class even more unsure of who he was because the name doesn't help identify gender for most. His family pronounced it "eth-el-red" which I think makes most people who hear the name think "Ethel" and think he's a girl. Because of his unusual name he was picked on a lot too and it was a constant concern I had to watch out for. He proudly told me he is supposed to be related to this historical figure. That may be a far reach, but I do appreciate parents who pick different names. Common is boring. My Aethelred was always an interesting guy!
A modern approximation of the pronunciation is "Athel-red" or "Ethel-red".
I think it's AH-thel-red. I could be wrong but that's what I think.

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