Character Name Pronunciations

[Torcen]

I've always pronounced Cersei like in Italian..."Chersei", doesn't seem to be a very common pronunciation.

On my first read through that's how I said it in my head too.. it wasn't until I started listening to the audio books on my commute to work that I heard it pronounced Ser-see... I was like "who the hell is that?"

[naz]

Ahh... pronunciation thread rebirth!

Anyway, one thing I think should be included in all future printings of fantasy literature... one of those greeting card-type audio features where you open it and you can hear the actual pronunciation guide. Or better yet, you know those early learning children's books that talk aloud when you run a special pen over the text? That would be cool.

[ErinO]

Daenerys I've always heard in my had as "Dan-er-ease" the first part being pronounced Dan, as in Danny.

Arya, although I know the spelling is different, I can't shake the name from sounding like Eye-rah instead.

Tyrion I always hear as "Tyrone" or "Tear-ee-own" or Ty-Ree-on"

And Catelyn I've always hear as "Cat-lin" in my head, the e being silent. I think I adapted that because people called her "cat" for short.

[Lady Blackfish]

Why did I say I pronounce it TEAR-ee-un? I actually say TIRR-ee-un.

[El-ahrairah]

A few place names:

Qarth - KWOORTH

Ghis - GISS

Meereen - MEER-een

Skahazadhan - SKAH-haz-udh-een

Valyria - VAL-ear-ee-uh

Yunkai - YUN-kye

Skagos - SKAG-ohs

Westeros - WEST-er-ohs

Rhoyne - ROIN

I am now lifted to the exalted rank of Sellsword. Incidently, why was sellsword made a higher level than freerider? Is not a freerider a mounted sellsword, and therefore of greater economic and social standing?

[holyte]

The only one that bothers me is Daenerys. I've always pronounced it De-NAIR-ries, i think it sounds the best.

De - rhymes with 'the'. No emphasis.

NAIR - rhymes with 'fair'. Emphasis.

ries - rhymes with 'countries'. No emphasis.

[palaeologos]

Oddly this one has yet to be mentioned...

Damphair: DAMP-Pfair

Why would you pronounce it that way? It's clearly a compound of two English words : damp + hair (because he weaves seaweed into his hair, it's damp), so why not pronounce it "damp hair"?

[El-ahrairah]

When I first read the name "Damphair" I heard DAM-phair in my mind, and still do, even though the damp+hair is now obvious.

[holyte]

When I first read the name "Damphair" I heard DAM-phair in my mind, and still do, even though the damp+hair is now obvious.

Yeah me too. When I see 'ph' together in a word I pronounce it 'f.' It should have been written "Damp-hair."

[Sandor's Lady]

Catelyn: CAT-a-linn

Daenerys: Day-NAIR-iss

Gendry: Jendry

Rickon: Rick-on

Tyrion: TEER-ee-on

Tywin: Tie-win

Myrcella: Mer-SELL-a

Cersei: Sir-say

Lyanna: lee-AH-na

Lollys: loll-iss

Davos: Dah-VOSS

Lysa: Liss-a

Myr: Meer

Baratheon: Buh-RATH-ee-on

Oberyn: Obb-er-inn

Aemon: AY-Mon

Asha: Ah-shuh

Theon: the first time I read it, I thought THEE-on, but later started thinking THAY-on

Balon: Ba (like in bat or cat)-lon

Arya- Ar-ya

Euron: Yur-on

Jaime: I go back and forth between Jay-mee and Jy-may, partly 'cause Jay-mee feels more natural, but I pronounce Cersei as Sir-say and feel like they should rhyme 'cause they're twins

Targaryen: TAR-gar-yen

Jaqen H'gar: JAY-ken huh-GAR

Rhaegar - HRAY-gar

Lyanna - LEE-ah-na

Jalabhar Xho - Jah-lob-har ksho

Xaro Xhoan Daxos - ksar-o ksho-ahn dak-sos

Khal - with a hard guttural h like the Russian "kh" or the German "ch"

also, I used to pronounce Petyr as "Pet-eer" until i read somewhere GRRM confirmed it as "peter"

Qarth - kyarth

Ghis - giss (hard g)

Meereen - mee-reen

Skahazadhan - ska-HAHZ-a-dan

Valyria - Va-LEER-ee-a

Yunkai - Yoon-kie (like "tie")

Rhoyne - roin

I also first read "Dam-phair," and then when I reread the series realise it was "damp-hair" ; )

[Desdemona]

I really miss stress marks in many of these posts. A name sounds completely different depending on which syllable has the stress. So please, please use either caps as many people have, or ' in front of the stressed syllable. As in 'sill-a-bull Note that whenever an "i" is used, it's always meant to be short. For a long "i", I use "eye". For a long vowel as in "see", I use "ee".

Okay, here goes:

Catelyn: 'Kate-lin ('K8t-lin)

Sansa: 'San-suh

Arya: Somehow became 'Air-ee-uh for me...

Bran: As in "bran flakes"

Rickon: 'Rick-un

Jaime: 'Jay-mee

Lannister: 'Lann-is-tuh

Tyrion: 'Tir-ee-un

Tywin: Another place where I sometimes switch between 'Tiw-win and 'Tie-win

Cersei: I used to go with 'Kur-see but have since switched to 'Sir-see. Maybe the C became a K because I'm Danish and that's how it is with most c's here.

Baratheon: buh-'Rath-ee-un

Daenarys: dan-'Air-iss

Targaryen: tar-'Gair-ee-un

Viserys: vis-'Air-iss

Rhaegar: 'Ray-'Gare (as in "are")

Lysa: 'Lie-suh

Edmure: 'Edd-mjoore (that's probably hard to grip for native English speakers. Imagine replacing the "n" in "injure" with an "m" and elongating the vowel. That's the sound I'm looking for for the second syllable.)

Brynden: 'Brinn-din

Hoster: 'Host-uh (as in "host")

Lyanna: lee-'Ann-uh

Myrcella: mir-'Sell-uh

Gendry: 'Genn-dree (short end vowel)

Lollys: 'Loll-iss

Falyse, Selyse: fuh-'Lees, suh-'Lees

Pycelle: pi-'Sell

Aemon: 'Ay-minn

Aegon: 'Ay-'Gone (shorter syllable stressed as well, but less so than the first)

Davos: 'Day-viss

Oberyn: 'Ohh-buh-rin

Theon: 'The-un (same consonant as in "thesis", not as in "thee")

Asha: 'A-shuh (vowel as in "hat"

Aeron: 'Air-in

Euron: 'You-'Ron (like Yukon, just with an "r" instead of the "k")

Qarth: 'Kwarth (as in "warm")

Ghis: 'Giss

Meereen: muh-'Reen

Valyria: val-'Eer-i-uh

Yunkai: 'yung-kie (first syllable as in German "jung", not as in "young")

Skagos: 'Skay-giss

Westeros: 'Wess-ter-ohs

Rhoyne: 'Roin (as in "soy")

Myr, Myrish: 'Meer, 'Meer-ish

Pentos: 'Penn-tis

Braavos, Braavosi: 'Brah-vis, brah-'Voh-see ("a" as in "bra")

Asshai: 'Ass-shy

Petyr: 'Pee-tur

Balon: 'Bay-lun

Varys: 'Vair-iss

Jaqen H'gar: 'Jay-ken h'Garr (the "h" blown but without sound preceding the "Garr")

Ygritte: ee-'Grit

Craster: 'Krass-tuh

Pyp: 'Pipp

Jeor: 'Jay-orr

Jalabhar Xho: 'Jal-uh-barr 'Gsoh

Xaro Xhoan Daxos: Don't think I've actually ever thought too much about this one... hmm... 'Ksa-ro 'Kso-un 'Dak-sis

Margaery: 'Marge-u-ree

Loras: 'Lor-iss

Thoros: 'Thor-iss

Gregor: 'Gregg-ur

Sandor: 'Sand-or

Qyburn: 'Kie-burn

Ok. Enough already - for now. So many names! Gotta love being a pedant, hee hee...

[Happy Ent]

Cersei: I used to go with 'Kur-see but have since switched to 'Sir-see. Maybe the C became a K because I'm Danish and that's how it is with most c's here.

Cersei may be a deliberate homophone with Circe (a witch from Greek mythology), and the proper Danish pronunciation (and speling) of that woman is Kirke. So you’re right on the money.

[Soporta]

The first time I saw Cersei, I immediately thought of Circe, but pronounced it Sir-sea, the way they did on the tv show 'ship to the shore'.

All the names I recognised as regular real world names, I pronounced the regular way, like Jaime (Jay-me), Catelyn (Kate-lyn), Jon (John), Gregor (Greg-or), Brienne (Bree-en).

Others

Myrcella - Mer-chella (I couldn't stop pronouncing it this way, but figured it should probably be soft c - sella)

Arya - are-ya

Daenerys - Day-e-nair-ys (4 syllables - am I the only one?) although Rhaegar was Ray-gar, not Ray-e-gar, so I'm not exactly consistent.

Gendry - (Gen-dree - hard g)

Jalabhar Xho - Jal-a-bar Jho (x pronounced like french j)

Loras - Low-ras or Lore-ras

[Szar]

It seems there are more Danes here than I thought. Interesting.

I usually do not pronounce the names, and I am not particularly good at describing the pronounciation, but here's how I would do it:

Eddard: ED-ard

Catelyn: KAT-uh-lihn.

Arya: AR-yah

Sansa: Sahn-sah

Rickon: RICK-ohn

Lahn-ih-stir

Jaime: DJAY-me or Djaim

Cersei: SIR-say

Tyrion: Tih-ree-ohn

Tywin: Tih-win

Tully: TUH-lieh

Edmure: ED-muhr

Hoster: Host-uh

Lysa: Lih-sah

Targaryen: Tahr-gah-ri-ehn

Daenerys: Dah-eh-neh-rys or Day-eh-neh-rys

Viserys: Vihs-eh-rys

Rhaegar: Rah-eh-gar or Ray-eh-gar

Aerys: Ay-rys

Aegon: Ay-gone

Aemon: Ay-mohn

Valyria: Vah-leer-ih-uh

Varys: Vah-rys

Theon: Thee-ohn

Balon: Bay-lohn

Euron: You-rohn

Aeron: Eh-rohn

Victarion: Vick-tah-ree-ohn

Asha: Ash-uh

Baratheon: Bah-rath-ee-ohn

Gendry: Djen-drih

Davos: Dah-voss

[Red Lion of Castamere]

When I first read the name "Damphair" I heard DAM-phair in my mind, and still do, even though the damp+hair is now obvious.

Yeah its funny. Im on my second reread of the series an it took me basically this long to get that it was damp-hair. I always thought it was damfair and it confused me because it didn't make any sense.

[larajane]

My best transcriptions of what the audiobook readers say and what GRRM has been recorded saying are at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Song_of_Ice...iation_of_names

I think it must be me being a lackwit, because someone else refers to this link later on, but when i click, it just takes me to the main asoif wiki, with general and backgroud etc and i cant find anything about pronounciation - can someone direct me as if i am Hodor-like please?

[Sandor's Lady]

A few I forgot on my first post (though how I could forget any on so long a post I'll never know...):

Margaery - MAR-gair-ee (I figure, why would he use an "a" after the "g" unless he wnated it to be hard?) It sounds almost like Margueritte in my head...

Melisandre - Meh-liss-AHN-dreh. Kinda like you'd say Alexandre in French - very soft R on the end.

Eyrie and Arryn - I say "AIR-ee" (kinda describes the Eyrie, no?) and "AR-inn"

[Akratan]

I've always read Cersei = Chair - say or Ker - say :huh:

[nana&crow]

I'm also one of the few people who say /kur-see/ or /kur-say/ (it varies from time to time), instead or /ser-see/ or /ser-say/. to me it had a gaelic ring to it and that's why I see /k/ in my mind rather than /s/. still, sometimes it also makes me think of "Circe" and then I'm at a loss.

my other pronunciations go something like this:

Catelyn: kate-leen

Sansa: sahn-sah

Arya: ah-ree-ah

Rickon: ree-kon

Tyrion: tie-ree-on

Tywin: tie-win

(all "ty-something" names I pronounce the same)

Gendry: gen-dree (the "g" of "gone")

Genna: je-nna (a bit contradicting...)

Lysa: lee-sah

Lyanna: lee-anna

Petyr: peh-tire

Myrcella: meer-se-llah

Daenerys: dah-eh-nair-rees

Aegeon: eh-gheon (like in greek words like "aeneid" or "aeneas")

Davos: dah-vos

Xaro Xhoan Daxos: sha-roh sho-an dak-sos (don't ask me why, it just came naturally)

same goes for Xalabhar Xo

Thoros of Myr: thoros of meer (though I say mie-reesh, not mee-reesh)

Clegane: cleh-gane

Brienne: bree-ehnne (like a french name)

Jaqen H'ghar: ja-ken ghar

Qyburn: qy-burn (as it sounds)

Nymeria: nie-mear-ree-ah

Oberyn: ober-inn

Sandor: sahn-dohr

Theon: thee-on

Balon: bah-lon

Loras: lor-ahs

Targaryen: tahr-gah-ree-en

Baratheon: bah-rah-theh-on

Tyrell: tie-rell

Khalasar: kah-lah-sahr

Khaleesi: kah-leh-see

Lys: lease

Ghis: ghees

Braavos: brah-vohs

Quarth: kwarth

Meereen: as it sounds

Valyria: va-leer-ria

Yunkai: yoon-kah-ee (sort of like I'd say it in spanish)

Rhoyne: roin

Pentos: pehn-tohs

Asshay: ah-shy

hmmm... there are many more, but if I keep on I'll never finish.

[Happy Ent]

I think it must be me being a lackwit, because someone else refers to this link later on, but when i click, it just takes me to the main asoif wiki, with general and backgroud etc and i cant find anything about pronounciation - can someone direct me as if i am Hodor-like please?

It’s no longer on the current pages because of the obvious problems regarding verifiability. You can browse around in the old 2007 version of the article and find it. Here it is:

Characters

• Areo Hotah GRRM-CBC /ˈɑrioʊ hoʊˈtɑː/, sometimes /ˈhoʊtɑː/
• Arya GRRM-FF /ˈɑriə/, like English aria
• Bran GRRM-FF /bræn/, like English bran
• Brienne GRRM-RH /briːˈɛni/ RD, JL: /braɪˈiːn/
• Caleotte GRRM-CBC: /ˈkælɪɒt/)
• Catelyn (?: /ˈkætlɪn/)
• Cersei GRRM-RH /ˈsɝseɪ/ RD ˈsɝsɪ/ JL /ˈsɪərseɪ/
• Daenerys GRRM-RH /dəˈnɛrɪs/ (?: /deɪˈnɛərɪs/)
• Dany GRRM-RH /ˈdæni/
• Davos GRRM-RH /ˈdɑːvoʊs/
• Doran GRRM-CBC /doʊˈræn/
• Jaime GRRM-RH /ˈdʒeɪmi/ (?: /ˈdʒeɪmɪ/)
• Jojen (?: /ˈdʒoʊdʒən/)
• Jon GRRM-RH /dʒɑːn/, like English John
• Lysa (?: /ˈlaɪsə/)
• Petyr GRRM^[14] /piːˈtɚ/, like English Peter (no, that would be /ˈpiːtɚ/ -- ed.) but RD: /pɪˈtaɪɚ/
• Rickon GRRM-RH /ˈrɪkɒn/
• Tommen GRRM-CBC, RD, JL /ˈtoʊmən/
• Tyrion GRRM-RH, ? /ˈtɪriən/
• Tywin (?: /ˈtaɪwɪn/)
• Viserys (?: /vɪˈsɛərɪs/)

Houses and surnames

• Baratheon (?: /bəˈrʌθɪən/)
• Lannister GRRM-RH /ˈlænɪstɚ/
• Stark GRRM-RH /stɑrk/, like English stark
• Targaryen GRRM-RH /tɑrˈgɛriən/ (?: /tæˈgɛərɪən/)

Presumably, bastard names (like Snow and Rivers) are always pronounced like the corresponding common noun

Places

• Asshai RD: /aˈʃaɪ/ JL: /ˈaʃaɪ/
• Westeros GRRM-RH /ˈwɛstɚoʊs/

Titles

• Khaleesi (?: /kəˈliːsɪ/)
• Maester (?: /ˈmeɪstɚ/)
• Ser (?: /sɝ/, like English sir)