What Exactly Is This Kid’s Name?

Dieudonne’ is French for “Gift from God,” and he is.

That doesn’t mean, though, that deciphering how to actually say his name is something God made easy for this native English-speaker whose foreign language acumen amounts to a decent grasp of Spanish and just enough Italian to help me get through an amazing vacation without wandering into the wrong restroom.

Dieudonne’ is a magical name, in that dumb Americans like me pronounce what we see nothing like what his parents intended.

DEE-ew-don isn’t right. Not even close.

You think that accent mark at the end will help you? No, it’s not Dee-ew-don-A either.

For about two weeks after we were literally told exactly how to pronounce it, we butchered it.

Jor-DAN-ah.

What is right is so much prettier, so much more elegant, so fitting for this charismatic little swashbuckler who has stolen our hearts.

Jor-dah-NEH. But take that J and make it soft, like you would if you were saying the last G in “garage.”

Jor-dah-NEH.

Gift from God.

Indeed.

Leave a Reply

%d