Can I mis-pronounce my own last name?

Question

Even though I have more German, Polish, Slovenian ancesters, my last name, Matyas, is likely Hungarian. My great-grandfather (dad's dad's dad) was a orphan from Austro-Hungry and served on horseback during WWI. When he immigranted to the US, they converted the name from Matyaz to Matyas (unverified).

Anyways it seemed almost no one could pronounce my last name, like I did, just by looking at it. Only two people did: My 8th grade chemistry teacher, and a college professor who came from Austria, who later asked me if it was Hungarian.

Last year, a language professor told me I pronounced it wrong, then she pronounced it. Way different! I told her about it being originally Matyaz, and then she pronounced Matyaz; closer sounding, but still different. Ten months later Hungarian students visited the campus and pronounced my name differently then I did. How could my family screw that up all these years? They pride themselves in "Polish heritage".

I pronounce it "ma-TIE-is"

Answer 1

Mátyás was the most famous Hungarian king. You'll find him on their 1000 bill.

It's pronounced:

M - like in english
Á - as in "yaahoo"
TY - as the ty in "met you"
Á
S - as the s in "shelf"

... all the best to your Hungarian family!

Answer 2

I would think you're pronouncing it as you have ever since you've learned it from your parents, who got it from their parents in return.
Throughout time, names do get pronounced differently, even in the country of origin at times, and of course regionally, so therefore we get all these variants of our names. My married name has a "ç" in it and although most intelligent people would know it's not a C or a K but is closer to an S, even with me making it a point to use the cedilla, it is largely ignored, and for the most part, our name gets butchered anywhere outside of Louisiana. We live in Florida now, and when we pronounce it in attempt to make people aware of how to say it correctly, many times we get dirty looks and they act like it's a foreign language.
My worst experience was a new supervisor who straight up asked me how to pronounce it, and I did, adding to it that it was french. The next question from her was " And what is it in English?" I told her it's exactly the same thing. She commented that we should make it easier for people to pronounce and just drop the whole spiel about it being pronounced properly, and I replied, "How would you feel if I pronounced your name, Garcia, as ~Garsha~ ?" ( And mentioned the fact that it is pronounced like the girl's name, Marcia? )
It is important to keep the name as it was taught to you, and if you pronounce it differently, so what? I have found that our last name is pronounced differently in Florida by those who carry the name, than we do in Louisiana.
However you pronounce your last name, is how it's done. I was born and raised in Germany and I work in telecommunications, so I talk to people with any imaginable name all day long... my guess for your name would have been " ma-TIE-ess" ( close enough ?)
Have a great day & Happy father's day ( if you are )

Answer 3

I don't speak any Magyar, but I do understand exactly what you are talking about.

I am a recent immigrant (2004) from Germany, and I live in Pennsylvania where at least 30% of Americans have German names.
BUT: they cannot pronounce their own names! This is SO annoying! There is not one day that I don't want to shout towards the TV where idiot local TV hosts read news and cannot speak their own names right.

Or even worse: when I am in a store and have a question, people hear my accent and ask where I am from, and I say I am German. Then they say "Oh I am German too", but they are clearly not, maybe their grandfather was, but they cannot speak German, not even their own name.

And when someone says "my father was from Frankfurt Germany" I want to hit them in the face!
NO GERMAN EVER says the country with the town's name!! EVER!
We say the town's name only, and in case there are 2 towns with identical names, ONLY THEN we say what river the town is at. Like "Frankfurt am Main" or "Frankfurt an der Oder". Main and Oder are big rivers.

I understand that this means nothing to you as KuK-offspring -

(when Austria and Hungary were one and the first language of court was German, the realm was called KuK ("Kah oont Kah" phonetic), meaning kingdom (HG) and Empire (A). Both German words for "Kingdom" and "Empire" start with letter "K", that's why). -

but I can relate to your question since it is similar to what I experience.

It is such a shame that immigrants stopped talking their own languages. My husband is a fourth generation and cannot speak slovak or lithuanian (that's his heritage). Shame!

Or when (real) blonde girls from Minnesota with swedish names cannot say their names, same thing here. So this is obviously not a german problem, they all lost their language, wherever they came from.

Learn Magyar! Do it!

Answer 4

No, you cannot mispronounce your own last name. I have a last name that gets mispronounced all the time but if you just looked at it and sound it out you get it. Your family would know how it's pronounced and if others pronounce it differently then it may just be the way the speak. English is my first language and spanish is my second but a lot of spanish stuff I pronounce for some reason isn't the way it's pronounced or I say it with a heavier accent. I say the word but just pronounce it differently.

As for the teacher who told you that you were pronouncing it wrong, that's wrong. I would laugh in my teachers face if one told me I was pronouncing my own last name wrong.

My first name which is pretty common also has two pronounciations and I've been told that I'm saying my own name wrong by people who assume they know what my mom named me when they don't even know her.

Just hang in there and tell them gently that you pronounce you last name the way your last name is pronounced. It's not their last name to be saying it's pronounced wrong.

Answer 5

It depends on who you are addressing. If you were talking to a distant relative, with the same last name, who was raised hearing it pronounced differently, I'm sure you'd be corrected. However, if you're talking to your parents (who raised you with a certain pronunciation), I'm sure they would tell you that you're quite correct in the way you say your own last name.
In researching my own family history, I've found where Census Takers spelled the last names the way they sounded...so even the spelling could be "off". God forbid that one side of the family had a different accent...making the name sound a little different. ;-)
So, my answer is "Sure you can mis-pronounce your own last name".

Answer 6

It's YOUR name - you get to pronounce it the way you want, the way you always have. If that way is not the way it's pronounced by native Hungarian speakers, well, then, tough for them. (I don't really mean to sound harsh.)

Many people changed or modified the spelling or pronunciation of their surnames when they came to the US (or had it done by immigrations agents). That does not mean your family screwed up, or is lacking in pride of their heritage.

More power to you!

Answer 7

Most americans mispronounce their names that come from other languages. Take Wolfowitz for exaple, or Lewinski. You know how they are pronounced in America, but correctly they should be pronounced Volfovitz and Levinski. Your name should be pronounced Ma-tea-as, I think.

Answer 8

it is very possible that you could, but most likley you shouldn't because that is the way someone would know you as a person so you can if you want 2 but you only should if you really need 2

Answer 9

because the name mostlikely does not fit english phonetics. if you live in an english speaking nation your name will eventually deform towards english phonetics.

the same is the case with names like vandermeer.

Answer 10

yes.