My two friends who have the name Genevieve pronounce it jenna-veev. I was surprised to find it was actually a mispronunciation, but I guess they like it that way.
― Anonymous User 8/15/2006
I don't think there is a "correct" or "incorrect" pronunciation. It's simply pronounced differently in different languages, as most names are, and parents have a choice as to whether they'll use the French or English pronunciation. Either way it's a beautiful name!
All the South African Genevieves I've ever known have used a "JEN a veev" pronunciation; one of them was nicknamed Jenny. Not much French is taught here; same with the USA, no doubt. Same with Why-vonny (which is rare) and Helloiz, and Charl for a man to prevent the -es from being sounded!
There seems to be some odd argument over how this name should be pronounced, though I would remind the readers that Anglophones do not speak French.The name should be pronounced as [dʒɛnəvi:v] in English or as [ʒɛ:nəvjɛv] in French. I think that both are beautiful names, but also that it is really quite silly to argue over them.If you wish to complain about the IPA symbols I use, please note that I am not spelling English words and need them to transcribe sounds that do not exist in English at all.
Well I think any pronunciation sounds good as long as it's not pronounced by an asian living in Asia! I've got people calling me “jennabee”, “jenabebe”, “jennavee” and the worst... January.