How do you pronounce this name?

[Jalapeñomel]

I’m reading a book and one character is named Xavier, but they often call him Xavi.

So the nickname really throws off how I’d pronounce the name.

[deadwing]

Xavier = zay-VEE-ur
Xavi = zah-VEE

[jinkies]

I would pronounce it Zavi but no idea if that's right.

[loira]

I would pronounce it Zahv-yay, because that is how it is pronounced in French. Nickname Zah-vee.

Xavier was my top boy name, but my H insisted on the Ex-ay-vee-ur pronounciation, which I hate, so it got crossed off our list pretty fast and we never had a need for a boy name anyway.

[bugandbibs]

Oct 9, 2023 17:25:24 GMT -5 loira said:

I would pronounce it Zahv-yay, because that is how it is pronounced in French. Nickname Zah-vee.

Xavier was my top boy name, but my H insisted on the Ex-ay-vee-ur pronounciation, which I hate, so it got crossed off our list pretty fast and we never had a need for a boy name anyway.

Xavier was my number one boy name too, but I got vetoed and I’m still sad about it. We probably would have used the French pronunciation at home and the American at school (this is what we do with all our kids).

[bugandbibs]

I’d probably read Xavi as the Spanish version ha-vee (Javi), but context clues might change that for me.

[underwaterrhymes]

Because of the nickname, I would pronounce it with an H sound (like Javier / Javi.)

[emilyinchile]

Oct 9, 2023 17:50:55 GMT -5 bugandbibs said:

I’d probably read Xavi as the Spanish version ha-vee (Javi), but context clues might change that for me.

This.

[emilyinchile]

Oct 9, 2023 17:48:19 GMT -5 bugandbibs said:

Oct 9, 2023 17:25:24 GMT -5 loira said:

I would pronounce it Zahv-yay, because that is how it is pronounced in French. Nickname Zah-vee.

Xavier was my top boy name, but my H insisted on the Ex-ay-vee-ur pronounciation, which I hate, so it got crossed off our list pretty fast and we never had a need for a boy name anyway.

Xavier was my number one boy name too, but I got vetoed and I’m still sad about it. We probably would have used the French pronunciation at home and the American at school (this is what we do with all our kids).

I am just randomly curious, but why change the pronunciation? Or is it more that teachers have changed it, and you just go with it?

We chose a name that existed and sounded the same in both English and Spanish - anything with an Rrrrr was immediately off the list 😂 - so I get how it can be hard!

[brooklyn]

Xavier - zay vee air
Xavi- ha-vee

[bugandbibs]

Oct 9, 2023 17:58:29 GMT -5 emilyinchile said:

Oct 9, 2023 17:48:19 GMT -5 bugandbibs said:

Xavier was my number one boy name too, but I got vetoed and I’m still sad about it. We probably would have used the French pronunciation at home and the American at school (this is what we do with all our kids).

I am just randomly curious, but why change the pronunciation? Or is it more that teachers have changed it, and you just go with it?

We chose a name that existed and sounded the same in both English and Spanish - anything with an Rrrrr was immediately off the list 😂 - so I get how it can be hard!

Our kids attend Spanish Immersion schools so they basically answer to anything, lol. However, we found with DD1 that people just can’t pronounce it right and since we spelled their names using English styling it simplified things. Otherwise people were trying to give my kids nicknames and they did not like that.

[mofongo]

Xavier, in Nola at least, is Zave-yer, which seems to be different than most? Lol

I’d probably say Zavey for the nickname.

[erbear]

Oct 9, 2023 17:53:51 GMT -5 underwaterrhymes said:

Because of the nickname, I would pronounce it with an H sound (like Javier / Javi.)

This. I have a student called Xavier who is from Guatemala. He pronounces his name like Javier (Havier) and we call him Havi

[momin2013]

Havi

[somersault72]

I'd pronounce it "Zah-vee."

[sadie]

My kid's middle name is Xavier. We pronounce it Ex-ay-vee-ur.

[Leeham Rimes]

My Xavier is “ex-avier” but his nickname is just x. Hah.

Xavi=Z-ah-vee even though Xavier = Zavier would be wrong in our family.

Totally not the point but on the app portable North Pole, where you can get “Santa” to send messages to your kids, one of the pronunciation selections was “ex-av-e-a” and it tickled me so much, sometimes I call him that.

[litasail]

Oct 9, 2023 17:50:55 GMT -5 bugandbibs said:

I’d probably read Xavi as the Spanish version ha-vee (Javi), but context clues might change that for me.

This

[heygrey]

In real life I'd look to the last name for context. In Canada I'd expect it to be the English Ex-ay-vee-er (NN Zay-vee), or French Zahv-yay (NN Za-vee).

I wouldn't immediately consider a Spanish pronunciation, but that's a cultural context where I don't encounter Spanish names as often. If I was reading a book with Spanish culture/characters I would resort to Google.

[arehopsveggies]

Based on Real life people I know-
Xavier- zay vee er
Xavi- ha vee

[pixy0stix]

Havi

[agnes]

When reading your OP, I read it as Ex-avier but then the nickname as Javi

My brain is not consistent with pronunciations lol

[mcppalmbeach]

Oct 10, 2023 0:03:03 GMT -5 agnes said:

When reading your OP, I read it as Ex-avier but then the nickname as Javi

My brain is not consistent with pronunciations lol

Same lol! I know a few kid Xavier’s. One pronounces it with a hard “ex”and the others pronounce it with the z. The mom of the one who pronounces it with the “ex” calls her son Xav for short, but that’s pronounced as “Zav” so 🤷‍♀️

[Deleted]

Oct 9, 2023 20:52:46 GMT -5 Leeham Rimes said:

My Xavier is “ex-avier” but his nickname is just x. Hah.

Xavi=Z-ah-vee even though Xavier = Zavier would be wrong in our family.

Totally not the point but on the app portable North Pole, where you can get “Santa” to send messages to your kids, one of the pronunciation selections was “ex-av-e-a” and it tickled me so much, sometimes I call him that.

This is similar to what I was going to respond. My cousin is Xavier and we pronounce his name the same way as you and just call him X. 

[cmeon]

There's also Sha-vier/Shavvy (it sounds almost like Shabby to my ear). There are so many different ways to pronounce this name!

[shauni27]

we have two friends who named their son's Xavier. One pronounces it Zay-vee-ar and the other ex-zay-vee-ar. Both use "zay" or "zav-ee" as the nickname, though.

[glw]

Zahv-yay and Zahv-ee.
My friend's husband is named François-Xavier and I think it's fun to say.

[cattledogkisses]

Oct 10, 2023 7:34:21 GMT -5 glw said:

Zahv-yay and Zahv-ee.
My friend's husband is named François-Xavier and I think it's fun to say.

This, because there are several François-Xaviers in my extended family, lol.

[cmeon]

Oct 10, 2023 7:59:50 GMT -5 cattledogkisses said:

Oct 10, 2023 7:34:21 GMT -5 glw said:

Zahv-yay and Zahv-ee.
My friend's husband is named François-Xavier and I think it's fun to say.

This, because there are several François-Xaviers in my extended family, lol.

Thanks to this guy:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Xavier

The name history (under "personal names" on the wiki) is pretty interesting.

[stemmie]

This would be nationality/language dependent for me. Where does the book take place?

My parents have a friend from Mexico who is Hah-vay-are. DH has a colleague in France who is Zahv-yay. My dad has a couple of cousin in Philly who are Irish-American; their Francis Xaviers pronounce it Ex-savior.