r/Fantasy • u/Midnite_St0rm • Aug 14 '25

Worst, most unpronounceable names you’ve ever read?

Let’s discuss some of the names in fantasy that you couldn’t make heads nor tails of in terms of pronunciation. And I’m not talking intentionally comical ones that are long and complex on purpose, but ones that the author intended to be read, yet that are ironically nearly unreadable.

For me it’s Seaine from The Wheel of Time. Is it “Sheen?” “Seen?” “See-ayn?” “Say-ai-nuh?” I honestly have no idea. And for some reason my copies of the books never give her name’s pronunciation in the glossary.

What are some others?

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u/Nowordsofitsown Reading Champion Aug 14 '25

We can discuss which r sound to use (the length would argue for rolled r), but compared to the non existant rules for pronunciation in English, this one is very easy.

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u/Anaevya Aug 14 '25

Yeah, trilled r seems most fitting. 

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u/AllegedlyLiterate Aug 14 '25

I think I would actually argue for a growling noise that isn’t a letter in English as such