forum Where is the name from?

Started June 17, 2019 by Joey Mara Hart

tune

I have a made up last name for my character… and I want to know where it sounds like it comes from. I would also like input on how you pronounce it just by looking at it.
Here it is: DeShaunte.

(I think it sounds Italian.) I pronounce it DEE-Shawn-TAY. Agree or disagree.

I mentally pronounced it dee-SHAWN-tay, and I think that the reason for this is the capitalized S. In similarly structured names (DiAngelo, MacHaddish, etc.) the first syllable is almost never stressed, and the second syllable usually is.
Your pronunciation sounds French to me, and just by reading it I would guess it was (Western) European, but probably not Italian, based on what I know about the Spanish language (which is very similar to Italian):

• The long E sound (EE) is produced only by the letter I
• U sounds like OO
• The soft SH doesn't really exist to my knowledge; it would sound more like CH when pronounced, or be separated into two syllables (DeS and ha, although since the S is capitalized, that signals a syllable break)
• I've never seen A and U combine to sound like AW; they usually separate into two syllables (ah-OO)
• Given Spanish pronunciation rules, it would be pronounced deh-chah-OON-tay or day-chah-OON-tay (or, if the S weren't capitalized, des-ha-OON-tay)

Italian is a bit different though; it's basically a mix of Spanish and Latin, so I'm not sure how much of what I said would remain accurate for Italian. I am also not fluent in Spanish, so I could be wrong (Spanish speakers feel free to correct me).
Also, unless this character's origin is a major plot point, the name doesn't really matter that much, and if you were to say that the character was Italian, your readers wouldn't argue. The only reason I even questioned it is because I was asked to.

I pronounced it semi-French. "Deh-shawnt"

Of the languages I know, it sounds closest to French but the spelling doesn't look very French. (I don't think French uses "sh" to spell that sound ever? I could be wrong though. It's mostly an intuitive view.) Tentative French spelling for your pronounciation: Dichanté/Dichaunté

Definitely not Italian, and like @Wry_Wyvern explained the spelling doesn't look Italian at all. Tentative Italian spelling: Discionte (but the stress would be on the middle syllable, I think, and I don't know if there's a way to fix that.)

Tentative Italian spelling: Discionte (but the stress would be on the middle syllable, I think, and I don't know if there's a way to fix that.)

I think a way to fix that would be to add accents (Dìscionté), although I'm not entirely sure how accents are used in Italian. According to google, an acute accent would be used on the last "e" to stress it and make it keep its "ay" sound, but grave accents are used elsewhere.

Hmmm. Well, it's too late for me, but I'm glad that I have some new opinions. I guess I can move some things around for my favorite child… I mean character.

Thanks every one. New opinions still welcome.

(No one thinks anything but French?)

I pronounced it as de-SHAWN-tay when I first saw it, which sounded to me more like an African-American first name to me.

I agree with @standingondesks in that it sounds French but doesn't really look it. I'm pretty familiar with French pronunciations, and I think standingondesks is correct in saying that the "sh" doesn't really exist in French. I think that Dichanté seems like an accurate spelling if you were wanting to make it look like a French name. A little similar to déchanté which translates into "disenchanted." Idk if that changes things things for you at all, but it's kind of what came to mind for me when I saw your intended pronunciation.

Dichaunté is good also, but it would be pronounced more like dee-shone-tay.