Pronunciation of first name Rye?

Voodoo Master   Thu Jun 03, 2010 5:37 pm GMT
How do you actually pronounce the name "Rye"? Google told me it's like "RAY" but I am still unsure. Isn't Rye supposed to sound "RAI" like rye whisky?
ei   Fri Jun 04, 2010 2:36 pm GMT
Indeed.

Rye /raI/
Ray /re(I)/
kikey banking   Fri Jun 04, 2010 2:40 pm GMT
Rye is pronounced Royal in English surnames!
Damian London SW15   Fri Jun 04, 2010 8:14 pm GMT
I assume you mean a person's first name? A Christian name some people would call it, although that is now less commonly used than fist name. Personally I have never heard of Rye as a first name, and if it does exist would it be male?

To most people the word rye refers to a type of grass, the grain of which goes into the making of flour and whiskey (not Scotch whisky I hasten to add).

Many years ago in Britain gypsies used to roam the countryside in very ornate, very traditional caravans and made a living out of selling their own handcrafted wares from door to door in rural communities in particular. Romany was a word used to describe a gypsy, and a gypsy who was classed as a "gentleman" was called a Romany rye.

Whatever the meaning the word "rye" in the UK at least simply rhymes with "eye" in basic, standard RP English English. In some accents of Southern England it can sound more like "roy".

Right down on the south eastern coast of England, in East Sussex, there exists the truly delightful town of RYE.....a short and sweet name of a town so beloved of so many people not only because of its indisputable aesthetic beauty and attractiveness, one of the very historic Cinque Ports of mediaeval times, but also because of its many links with some of England's most well known writers, artists and authors.

I have veen to Rye twice and loved every minute of my time there, and seeing so many of the places shown in all of the episodes of TV's adaption of E F Benson's "Mapp and Lucia" series, filmed in and around Rye.

Again, the name of the town - Rye - is pronounced as you would "eye", but as I say some of the locals of Rye, especially the younger ones with their South East England accent tainted, up to a point, by Estuary, would call it "Roy".

Even the American who introduces this YT clip of Rye pronounces it to rhyme with "eye", as do the locals.

Rye at one time was a very wealthy trading port in the days following on from the Norman Conquest of England and the 1066 Battle of Hastings, the site of which, at a place appropriately called Battle, just outside of Hastings itself, is only a short distance away from Rye.

If you ever find yourself in Rye at around tea time I suggest you head for Fletcher's Tea Rooms, close by the very imposing mediaeval church - I promise you will enjoy every minute of your time there as you sample all the yummy scrummy treats they have on offer there, and the owner and his staff are absolute gems.

In about 80 minutes you can be in Rye by fast train from London's Victoria train station.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0cbxo3Ig7o&feature=related
Damian London SW15   Fri Jun 04, 2010 8:28 pm GMT
Correction ........she is Canadian and not American but how would I as a Brit know the difference right from the start.....both sound exactly the same to me until I prick up my ears and listen closely to catch certain well known Canadianisms in her accent.
SuttonRealSWLondon   Fri Jun 04, 2010 11:05 pm GMT
The English surnames 'Royal' or 'Royall' are rooten from 'rye' + 'hill' Downer for tis bearers, nowt to do with royalty.
Ray from Rye Brook   Sat Jun 05, 2010 3:07 am GMT
<<Even the American who introduces this YT clip of Rye pronounces it to rhyme with "eye", as do the locals.>>

Authentic Americans living in Rye, NY (and nearby Rye Brook) also pronounce "Rye" to rhyme with "lye", "eye", etc.

Rye NY is perhaps most famous for the Shell station on US 1 (1141 Boston Post Road), which sometimes has the highest reported gas price in NY state, according to GasBuddy.com
Damian London SW15   Sat Jun 05, 2010 1:45 pm GMT
A famous incident from British history was known as the Rye House Plot which took place in November 1683 during the reign of King Charles II - the well known regal rake with a host of mistresses which he regularly bedded, the most prominent of these being Nell Gwynne whose main activity apart from her sexual frolics with Charlie boy was selling oranges to theatre goers in the Drury Lane area of late 17th century London.

Rye House was a mansion close to Hoddesdon in north east Hertfordshire, England, where a number of protestants gathered to plot the assassination of the King along with James, Duke of York, as they travelled along the road in their stagecoach, passing Rye House on their way back to London after attending the horseracing at Newmarket, in Suffolk.

The plotters were supported by the Whig political party (forerunners of the Liberal party of subsequent times) who hated the pro Catholic stance of the King and many members of the Royal Family.

The Rye House Plot failed because the King and the Duke had unexpectedly changed their travel plans, leaving the plotters feeling very dejected indeed, in fact, hopping mad, pissed off as hell.

Rye House itself still exists today alongside the narrow road between Stansted Abbotts and Hoddesdon, and a nearby train station is actually called Rye House, but of course this did not exist at the time of the Plot....trains in the area came about 160 years later.

As ever, Rye rhymes with "eye".

http://www.answers.com/topic/rye-house-plot
Damian London SW15   Sat Jun 05, 2010 1:58 pm GMT
I fervently hope that authentic Americans would never in this world assume or suggest that Rye, East Sussex, England, was named after Rye, NY, USA!

This is not as silly as it sounds, because, believe you me, it is NOT unknown for SOME American visitors to England to really assume that the town of Washington, County Durham, England, was so named because of their own Washington back home in "The States", as they so often call their country. That's almost, but not quite, as silly as the American tourist standing on the ramparts of Edinburgh Castle asking a nearby tour guide in which direction was the Eiffel Tower......obviously forgetting that the day was Thurtsday and Paris was actually on Tuesday.

Or the American tourist, again, visiting the magnificent Castle of mad King Ludwig in Bavaria, southern Germany, again enquiring of a guide whether the Castle she was admiring was modelled on the replica in Disneyland in Florida. Don't you just love these people? O'Barmy must be SO proud of them.
silly woman   Sat Jun 05, 2010 2:21 pm GMT
Hoddesdon is SOUTH east Herts not north east.
Damian London SW15   Sat Jun 05, 2010 2:34 pm GMT
You are absolutely right, silly woman. What a silly man I am....of course it's south east. At least I got the Hertfordshire bit right!

Hertfordshire....that's where the Bennetts of Pride and Prejudice fame lived isn't it? Hertfordshire must have looked so rural and unspoilt in those days....all muddy tracks between all those grand mansions with not a motorway in sight and no noise pollution from Stansted airport to disturb the peace and elegance as Eilzabeth and Darcy continued their sparring.

My grandparents live near Ledbury, in Herefordshire, and if there is anything which annoys them big tie it when they receive letters addressed to Ledbury, Hertfordshire. Thank goodness for electronic post codes.
Damian LOndon SW15   Sat Jun 05, 2010 2:37 pm GMT
Should read:

....if there is anything which annoys them big time it's when they receive letters addressed to Ledbury, Hertfordshire.
Essendon on Rhur   Sat Jun 05, 2010 3:06 pm GMT
Hoddesdon, Hatfield, Hertford, Hitchin, Hemelhempstead, Harpenden, Harlow,

Far too many big towns just north of London beginning with haitch.
Damian LOndon SW15   Sat Jun 05, 2010 3:08 pm GMT
The two posts above were, sadly, the work of our frequent imposter.
I was being seen to by a stranger over a park bench at the time.
um   Sat Jun 05, 2010 3:13 pm GMT
>> again enquiring of a guide whether the Castle she was admiring was modelled on the replica in Disneyland in Florida. <<

That's almost as silly as this Scotsman in Florida asking which bus he should take to get to Disneyland, not knowing that Disneyland is over 3700 km away, which btw, is farther than a trip from Edinburgh to Ankara.