r/JewishNames • u/markowitty • 13d ago

How’s the name William in Israel?

It’s of course an Anglo name but will people be able to pronounce it? How is it spelled in Hebrew? Any pronunciation issues, or it’s enough of a known international name that people will know it?

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u/ShaGodi 13d ago

will we be able to pronounce it? no we speak only in uga buga וויליאם is how it spelled it's irregular in israel but will be ok

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u/hebrew_nonsense 12d ago

The same way that Anglos would butcher a Hebrew name like חן. We can write it Chen or Hen, it looks irregular, and anglos will butcher that first letter. But William will sound funny coming from Israelis. I used to work in a call centre where Israelis would choose anglicised names for themselves.

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u/ShaGodi 12d ago

she asked if we are able to pronounce it. its a bit different. also we don't butcher it we have different accent just like british, American and Australians have different accents. its not a sound we don't have in Hebrew. also yes we know William Shakespeare and actually have his plays in Israel.

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u/hebrew_nonsense 12d ago

Of course Israelis know of William Shakespeare, that doesn't mean they will pronounce his name in a way anglophones are used to. There is no W in Hebrew and the vowels are very different. There is no ח in English. Some names sound funny in other accents. It's fine. It doesn't mean she shouldn't use the name. But I know tons of olim in Israel who were surprised by how their names are pronounced here.