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Poll: How would you pronounce this?


How would you pronounce Ali?  

  1. 1. How would you pronounce Ali?

    • Ah-lee, accent on the second syllable
      57
    • Alley, like the little road behind a building
      147
    • Some other way, please describe
      5
    • Boy's name
      18
    • Girl's name
      29


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Well though now that I think about it I don't know. I knew someone who was another nationality (I don't know exactly) named Ami and the a sounds between a as in apple and ah

 

ETA: I go with my first answer. A like apple . And that is my final opinion:lol:

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I can speak with complete authority on this topic since that is how my name is spelled. :lol: I pronounce it like the alley behind a building. When I see it in print, I assume someone is writing about me!:biggrinjester:

 

If it was a guy's name though, I would assume it was pronounced like Mohammed Ali (ah-lee)

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I can speak with complete authority on this topic since that is how my name is spelled. :lol: I pronounce it like the alley behind a building. When I see it in print, I assume someone is writing about me!:biggrinjester:

 

If it was a guy's name though, I would assume it was pronounced like Mohammed Ali (ah-lee)

 

:iagree: Me too! In America, I think most would be female pronouncing it like Alley. If it's a word problem in a Singapore math text (I believe they have a significant muslim population as Malaysia does), then it's more likely to be ahLEE, like the famous boxer.

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I have a niece named Ali- so of course for me it's a name for a girl. It's pronounced like the small road between buildings.

 

I have a niece named Ali, too. Well, that's what she goes by- her real name is Alexandra. That's why I asked this question. When her mom first started spelling it Ali on everything, I told her people were going to think she was a boy named ah-LEE. :D

 

I'm truly surprised how many people spell it this way for a girl's name. I always thought the girl version was Allie or Ally.

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The first name Ali.

 

And when you see Ali in print, do you think it's a boy's name or a girl's name?

 

ETA: I forgot to make the poll multiple choice. DOH! It's too late at night!

 

Ah-lee for a male, alley for a girl. If it was paired with an Arabic name, then I would assume male. Otherwise, I would assume girl. Everyone I have known with Ali in their name has been a Turkish or Egyptian male.

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:cheers2: That was the first thing I thought of. My husband and I went to that movie as one of our dates. We have watched it together and bought the soundtrack and sang the song at our wedding. :001_wub:

 

Every time I see the title of this thread, "Prince Ali, mighty is he, Ali Ababwa" goes through my head. :D

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Ali = boys name

 

Persian dh lots of Persian Ali guys so many that they need descriptions along with their name

 

carpenter Ali

mullah Ali

Ali toapuli

 

They pronounce it more like alley than AH-li, but the emphasis isn't strongly on the second syllable like an American would say it.

 

Mandy

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I would think of it as a girl's name but it's one that I would look at and think it could go either way as far as pronunciation. It'd be one of those where I'd just pick one and hope that I picked the right pronunciation! :001_smile:

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Alley, girl (short for Alison), unless paired with a surname which suggested an ethnicity where boy was more likely.

 

Laura

 

I grew up with an Ali, short for Alison. Girl.

 

By itself, I would assume it to be a last name, pronounced like it would be by a famous boxer.

 

I would never think it was a male first name.

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For a girl: Al' ee (like the narrow road behind buildings)

For a boy: Al ee' (like Mohammed Ali)

:iagree:

 

If I didn't know the sex of the person, I'd look at the last name or other names near it for clues about how to pronounce it. If it was associated with Anglo sounding names, I'd go with "alley" but with middle-Eastern names I'd switch the accent.

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It's my niece's middle name. My brother and his Persian wife gave their daughter the middle name "Ali" in honor of her grandfather, who was named Ali.

 

We pronounce it "Ah-lee."

But in this case, it's still a male name. Lots of people, including females, around the world use their father's name as a middle or last name.

 

I think Ali looks very masculine.

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Ah-lee. Because I'm old enough to have watched Muhammad Ali on tv and that is the first pronunciation I've known. I do get messed up with the more recent use of it as a nickname for Alison. I still want to say ah-lee. Now I have that song going through my head:

 

Muhammad

Muhammad Ali

He floats like a butterfly and stings like a bee.

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