N00B NAME CHALLENGE: the reveal!

[qatarperegrine]

Before we reveal the answer to all these riddles, Justin and I thought we'd share some of the name hints that didn't quite make the cut (most of which were rejected when we decided to allow Googling):

• The first historically notable bearer of this name was an empress.
  
• Were proper names allowed, playing it would be worth 12 points in Scrabble.
  
• It is paired with Logos to form one of the emanations of God in Valentinian Gnosticism.
  
• It only has one more letter than syllable.
  
• According to Wikipedia, a small tribe of this name lives in the Amazon; one of its unusual cultural practices is that men celebrate the birth of their offspring by cutting their legs with rodent teeth. Justin does not intend to follow this tradition.
  
• It has been in the top 1000 girls' names in the US 71 of the last 100 years -- though not in either of the years we were born.
  
• The top Google hit of this name is of an actress. (However, making universal statements about top Google hits seems dangerous in this age of personalized search results!)
  
• It is the name of this cat.
  
• It is the name of one of President Bartlet's daughters.

The n00b's name is actually Zoë. :-)

Comments

[y-pestis.livejournal.com]

I was just really glad it was "Zoe" and not "Zooey". My niece is nothing like a zoo.

Diacritics aren't completely uncommon in the UK - a fairly common name of Welsh origin is Siân (pronounced "shaan"), although as mentioned here my brain doesn't want to pay attention and I always have to check which vowel wears the hat.

I didn't realise Zoe was also the name of a Neil Gaiman pet. At least you're not calling her Cabal.

[qatar.livejournal.com]

Uh-oh... I have a new coworker named Sian and have been pronouncing it pretty much like Sean. Is it a different vowel sound? I'll go consult with my Welsh colleague tomorrow.

[y-pestis.livejournal.com]

In my accent they're different vowels. I'd pronounce "Sean" with a long backwards-c vowel (same vowel as in "caught") while Siân is a round-a vowel (same vowel as "car"). Wait, I'd pronounce "Sean" the same as "shorn". Thus Shawn the Sheep. Yeah. Siân's vowel is much further forward and unrounded.

[qatar.livejournal.com]

I also pronounce those vowels differently. The Americans from whom I learned the new coworker's name don't, which I guess is how I got it wrong.

Do you remember when I was in preschool and started working out that I should insert an r into anything Mum pronounced with a long ahh sound? For a while I said "mother and farther." Overfitting!

[y-pestis.livejournal.com]

I remember that! That was cute! You could always call her "Sharn"! Well, to be honest, that's what I do. Charles also has the same trouble, he refers to the Doctor's nemeses as "Darleks".

[canyonwren.livejournal.com]

I pronounce the "a" in caught and car identically. Well, in car, it's drawn out a tiny bit more.

I love listening to the BBC and hearing all the strangely-placed (to me) r's. "Obamer" and "Americerr" are my two favorites. Of course, mid-Western US folks, like my mom, put r's in odd places, too. Mom "warshes" the "squarsh."

[y-pestis.livejournal.com]

Yeah, most American accents won't distinguish the two. I remember coming back from England to California and finding out that the woman in Baywatch *wasn't* named "Pamela Randerson".