What about Aaron -> Erin ?

TRiG_Ireland 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

To my Irish ear, these are two completely different names, not even slightly similar. (They're also etymologically unrelated.) It blew my mind when discussions on r/namenerds revealed that many Americans consider these names similar or even identical.

	▲	spogbiper 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		For most of my (male) life, people misspelled my name Aaron as Erin fairly regularly. I think that has contributed to the confusion. I also used to get Arron, Airon, and other variants. The "A-A-Ron" skit has made a noticeable difference in recent years.

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libraryofbabel 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Aaron is Hebrew and Erin is Irish. They just happen to sound the same.

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TRiG_Ireland 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

They don't even sound the same, except in some (not all) American accents. They don't sound even remotely similar to me.

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drnick1 7 hours ago | parent | next [-]

I thought they did not, but after actually vocalizing them I would say they are basically indistinguishable in real (fast) speech.

	▲	YeGoblynQueenne 6 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Once more I find myself wondering whether English really needs different vowels, if they can all be substituted for each other.

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ranger_danger 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Interesting, they sound exactly the same to me, and I cannot even think of how they might sound different to someone else. Care to explain?

	▲	spc476 4 hours ago \| parent [-]
		Exaggerated, Aaron sounds like "air-ron" and Erin like "ear-ron". It's similar to how some in the US pronounce "pin" and "pen" the same.

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Atreiden 7 hours ago | parent | prev [-]

Not when pronounced correctly as A-Aron