Vavasour to Woburn
The archaic pronunciation of surnames has not always developed at the same pace as our language, and can cause confusion. The table below gives guidance on the pronunciation of a selection of English surnames - establishing the traditional pronunciation of a surname will ensure that you do not cause offence.
|
Surname |
Pronunciation |
|
Verschoyle |
Ver-skoil |
|
Vesey |
Veezy |
|
Vigor |
Vygor |
|
Villiers |
Villers |
|
Vyvyan |
Vivian |
|
Waechter |
Vechter (guttural 'ch') |
|
Wagner |
As spelt |
|
Waldegrave |
Waldgrave or Wargrave |
|
Waleran |
Wall-ran |
|
Walmer |
Wall-mer |
|
Walrond |
Wall-rond |
|
Walsingham |
Wall-sing'm |
|
Walwyn |
Wall-wyn |
|
Wathen |
Wothen |
|
Wauchope |
Walk-up ('ch' as in 'loch') |
|
Waugh |
As spelt, to rhyme with 'flaw' |
|
Wavell |
Way-vell |
|
Weighall |
Wy-gall |
|
Weighill |
Wey-hill |
|
Wellesley |
Wells-li |
|
Wemyss |
Weems |
|
Wernher |
Werner |
|
Westenra |
Westen-ra |
|
Westmeath |
West-meath ('th' as in 'breathe') |
|
Westmorland |
West-morland |
|
Wharton |
Whor-ton |
|
Wigoder |
Wigg-oder |
|
Wigram |
Wigg-ram |
|
Wilbraham |
Will-bram |
|
Willoughby de Eresby |
Willow-bi deersby |
|
Willoughby de Broke |
Willow-bi de Brook |
|
Winder |
Winn-der |
|
Woburn |
Woo-burn |
