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Shian
by Alexis (guest)
11/19/2006, 3:47 PM
I'm trying to find the pronunciation and the meaning of this name... It is a female name, and I'm fairly certain it's of Celtic/Scottish/etc. origin. I heard it first in Firebringer, which is a book about deer in SCOTIA hundreds of years ago, so...Thanks much if you can help me in any way.
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- Bear   +7
11/19/2006, 6:15 PM
Sian is a Welsh girl's name, pronounced "shan," rhyming with Ann.It is the Welsh female form of Jane (from John).I've never heard of Shian, but it seems likely that it is a variant. I strongly prefer Sian.
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- Chrisell   +6
11/19/2006, 6:30 PM
The "SHAN" pronunciation of Sian is debated. Almost every Sian I've ever known or known of (including one who was born in and lived in the north of Wales) has pronounced it SHAHN. The only exception is an Australian Sian whose name was pronounced SHAWN. I've never heard "SHAN".
~Chrisell~ Proudly Australian www.archaeochrisell.blogspot.com
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- Bear   +5
11/19/2006, 6:37 PM
I've been told by a Welsh woman that that it is pronounced "shan." I'm just passing on info. Before then, the only pronunciation that I had heard was Sian Philips, the British actress (Livia, in "I, Claudius"). She pronounces it "shawn." But when a Welshwoman said it was "shan" I began to think that Ms. Philips' pronunciation was more English than Welsh. Is this making sense?Like I said, I'm not an expert in Welsh pronunciation. Irish, yes. But not so much Welsh.
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- Lauren B (guest)   +3
11/20/2006, 1:05 PM
In England and in Wales its pronounced the same- SHARN
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- Chrisell   +2
11/20/2006, 5:25 PM
"shahn" and "sharn" have the exact same sound in Australian English, so I suspect we're trying to express the same thing. According to this website's key, the "shan" pronunciation that Bear is promoting would rhyme with Dan, "can", "man" etc, while "shahn" / "sharn" would rhyme with "barn", "darn" etc.
~Chrisell~ Proudly Australian www.archaeochrisell.blogspot.com
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- Haven (guest)   +1
11/21/2006, 8:41 AM
shahn to my ears is Shawn...Interesting.
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- Chrisell
11/21/2006, 2:23 PM
:-) Confusing, isn't it!
~Chrisell~ Proudly Australian www.archaeochrisell.blogspot.com
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- genis (guest)
11/19/2006, 9:38 PM
I think the original pronunciation would be closer to "she AHN", which would explain the "h" in a variant: s - “sh”
i - pronounced as “ee” or “ih”, never pronounced as “eye” unless the pronoun “I”
a – “ah” (like the short “o” in “pot”)
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