‘Hardest to say’ name sparks fierce online debate – see if you can pronounce it right

Social media users have erupted into a heated online debate on a name a popular dictionary identified as the “hardest” to pronounce.

Merriam-Webster triggered a major debate – and caused the ires of Irish speakers – after asking online users how they would pronounce one specific Irish name.

The dictionary publisher wrote on X, the site formerly known as Twitter: “What word has the biggest disconnect between speaking and pronunciation?”

Merriam-Webster is infamous for its sarcastic social media zingers, and didn’t hold back as it concluded the post with: “Asking for our friend, Siobhan.”

However, the account removed the post after social users started piling in with criticism and added a contextual note pointing out that the pronunciation of the name Siobhán is based on Irish pronunciation rules rather than English ones.

Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission lawyer Caoilfhionn Gallagher welcomed Merriam-Webster’s decision to delete the post and pointed out a key flaw in the original post.

Ms Gallagher said: “Glad to see that this inane post by @MerriamWebster has been deleted.

“Once more for the people at the back: Irish names *are* pronounced the way that they are spelled. In *Irish.* It’s another language.”

Washington Post’s chief Ukraine correspondent Siobhán O’Grady said: “Siobhán (which btw has a fada on the a) is spelled phonetically in the language in which it’s written — which is Irish.

“A language that still exists and is still spoken despite systemic efforts to erase it.”

X users also mocked the dictionary’s decision to delete the original post because of the “bullying” of Irish speakers.

One user wrote: “There’s something so heartwarming about bullying the dictionary so hard for not understanding the concept of the Irish language that they delete the post in less than a day.”

A 2023 found Irish names are considered among the most difficult to pronounce around the world.

According to the research, the Irish name Aoifa (pronounced EE-fə, meaning beautiful) generated the most Google searches.

The name Saoirse, pronounced SEER-shə, came in second followed by Niamh (neev).