8mo ago

Why do the English pronounce the first name "St. John" as "sinjin" but they pronounce the last name "Saintclair" as "saint clair" (and not "sinclair")?

Checkmate, Chuck. 👑

Edit: Given the number of downvotes I'm getting, I'm guessing a lot of people have just learned that they've been pronouncing St. John wrong. Don't beat yourselves up. It's not like it's a terribly common name.

39 comments

We don't as far as I know. St John is usually pronounced Saint John. Though English is weird and you might have come across a local pronunciation. Do you know where abouts in the UK that one comes from?
- Roger Moore pronounced his alias St John Smythe as "Sinjun Smythe" in "A View To A Kill"
  
  The definitive answer :-)
- Though the English is are weird
  Local names in Britain do my head in
- Perhaps not precisely "sinjin". Wikipedia gives the IPA as /ˈsɪndʒɪn/ or /-ʒən/ where the ʒ is the g in beige or the s in pleasure so it's a bit more of a zh sound than a j sound: "sinzhin"
  https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_John_(name) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA/English
- Oh no not in Utica
- It's an upper crust thing. A bit old-fashioned as well.
Not a single person in my insane number of years has ever said sinjin
- Lived there for years and years. Never heard it pronounced that way. Strange
  
  I live near a village called St John's Town of Dalry and no one says sinjin nor have I heard anyone's name referred to that way.
  
  Am in UK, and yeah, I've definitely heard it pronounced that way, sometimes combined with a second name, eg St John-Smith = Sinjin-Smith
  I think it's a thing posh people use sometimes.
Yup, Sinjin is definitely a thing.
Source: I know a St. John and he told me the right way to pronounce his name is indeed "Sinjin"
Ive never heard of Sinjin.
I am english, in the UK. I have never heard someone say sinjin instead of saint john. The only thing I can imagine is a local accent? But id think its more like sint jin (sint jawn?)
- That's not how I've heard it pronounced. Not in the north at least. The T is mute. It's "sinjin" (rhymes with Ken).
can anyone please explain why this is getting downvoted to hell? this is the first time i hear "sinjin" but it seems to be a thing, from a quick search.
- It's my "most people rejected His message" meme moment. 😆
  I guess it's just like the neverending GIF argument. There's a right and wrong answer but people are people.
I have literally never heard anyone say "sinjin" in my life.
Who has a first name of St John?
- From Wikipedia
  
  St John Pettifor Catchpool (1890–1971), English Quaker relief worker St. John Ellis (1964–2005), British Rugby League player St John Ervine (1883-1971), Irish writer St John Groser (1890-1966), Anglican priest and Christian socialist St John Hornby (1867–1946), British businessman St John Horsfall (1910-1949), British motor racing driver St John Brodrick, 1st Earl of Midleton (1856–1942), British politician St John O'Neill (1741–1790), Irish MP for Randalstown Saint-John Perse, pseudonym of Alexis Leger (1887–1975), French poet and diplomat St John Philby (1885–1960), British civil servant and explorer in Arabia
  
  Weird. I never would have guessed anyone was named that.
- In Vancouver, Canada, we have a journalist named St. John Alexander who pronounces his first name as "Sinjin." I heard him say it on TV and it sounded weird. His profile even mentions it.
  He's often asked about his name. St. John is originally British and is pronounced "Sinjin." His parents discovered it in Charlotte Bronte's novel Jane Eyre.
  
  Pronounced Janer, I assume.
Imagine acting like everyone in England has the same accent. The only thing more ridiculous would be saying that everyone in the US does.
There is also the wedding scene of Bernard and Lydia in the 1997 movie Four weddings and a funeral. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZYzQFudZ70k
Funnily enough, Sinclair is a common name that came from Saint Clair.
“ It can be pronounced…” is not the same as, “Is often pronounced”
- I didn't really say either of those, at least in the post. What's your point?
  
  No, but you said "why do the English pronounce" with no qualification that it's neither the only way nor the most common way.
  You're right that it does happen, but your title implies it's the sole or dominant pronunciation.
  
  My point was that it seemed to me as if you were assuming from limited information that the pronunciation was prevalent when the source material provided doesn’t state the prevelence.
I grew up in Britain no one I knew says sinjin, but Sinclair,warrik (Warwick) etc were the norm
My best guess would be that saintclair's prononciation was influenced by french, as in french the "t" is pronounced while st john might be more "english", leading to the "t" being silent
- Congratulations for being the only commenter who has actually tried to answer the question. That answer of course sounds perfectly reasonable. Please accept this gold star with thanks: ⭐
- In french the “t” isn’t pronounced.
  
  Not in modern french but it was in old french :)
You suck

39 comments