Message: "Josephine" - Behind the Name

[Opinions] Josephine

by blue_belle

6/10/2011, 10:41 PM

I'm loving Josephine atm, which is strange because I really dislike Joseph. But Josephine is just so pretty and elegant! It has left me wondering:

1. Which is your preferred spelling and form (Josephine, Josephina, Josefine, Josefina etc.)

2. Which is your preferred pronounciation - JO-sə-feen / yo-ze-FEE-nə (or other) ?

Also, do you think the yo-ze-FEE-nə pron. would work in an English speaking country, because most people would automatically pronounce 'j' like a hard j, and not a soft 'y'. Personally, I love both pron., but am loving the more exotic yo-ze-FEE-nə a little bit more today.

#Josephine

This message was edited 6/10/2011, 10:43 PM

Replies

- Ranchie

6/12/2011, 6:17 AM

1. Josephine

2. JO-se-feen

I don't think it would work too well in an English speaking country.

- Caralena Estelle (GiovannaDevorah)

6/11/2011, 2:34 PM

I like both pronunciations of the names

I prefer Josephine and Josefina

If you want to assert the "yo" sound I would use the spellings of Josefine and Josefina. I think you;ll have to correct most people either way, but at least some will recognize the F vs. PH and know to use the "yo" sound.

- Catalina (Catalina-lirio)

6/11/2011, 8:49 AM

I love both Josephine and Joseph, although I prefer the Spanish/Port. Josefina with the J= h or S.A. soft j. Not only do they sound pretty, they look pretty as well.

- Alcyone

6/11/2011, 8:22 AM

It's a charming name. I used to think it sounded dowdy, but now it sounds sweet and melodic to me.

I prefer Josephine to the other spellings and forms. It looks the most pleasing to my eyes.

My favorite pronunciation is JO-sə-feen.

I think if you spelled it Josefina, you would be more likely to get people in an English-speaking country to pronounce it yo-ze-FEE-nə, but initially, they would probably pronounce it jo-ze-FEE-nə. I think it would take longer for people to catch onto Josephine pro. yo-ze-FEE-nə.

- insane romantic

6/11/2011, 5:31 AM

I like Josephine and I would spell it this way.

I say JO-sa-feen

I think in English countries, people would automatically use a hard J sound. Especially because Josephine has a well-known hard J english pronounciation (not like Janna or another german name which is more commonly pronounced with the Y sound)

- Llewella (penguiny7)

6/11/2011, 4:48 AM

1. Josephine
2. I instinctively say JO-sə-feen, but I prefer zho-za-FEEN.
3. I don't think it's realistic to expect to use a German pronunciation for a fairly common English name. You'd constantly be correcting people and they'd never think it would be pronounced that way.

- Violet (dlilly)

6/10/2011, 11:18 PM

I like Josephine too! I don't really have any opinion on the other variations you listed- I don't love them, but I don't have any issues with them.

I use the pronunciation JO-suh-feen. I live in the US, and I do think you would run into issues with using the yo-suh-FEE-nuh pronunciation. I think people here would naturally use the most obvious pronunciation for both Josephine and Josephina.

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