Spelling names; Was Stress on final syllable of names

[Laurence Horn]

At 11:55 AM -0400 9/27/00, Chase, Jeffrey wrote:
>The bit about the spelling vs. pronunciation of Irish names reminded me of
>something I have always wondered about...
>
>Why is Cahalan pronounced 'Callahan'?  This caused me no end of
>consternation when I was a paperboy and mentioned my nice customers on 12th
>St. NE who didn't seem to know how to spell their name.
>
>
and at 9:38 AM -0700 9/27/00, Peter A. McGraw wrote:
>I think the whole concept of spelling having any relationship to sound is
>fading.  You wouldn't believe how often I spell my name and have somebody
>read it back to me queryingly as, "m-c-g-a-r-w?"  I mean, how do they
>propose to pronounce THAT?

I think it's all the fault of Brett Favre [farv].

larry