Pronunciation of the name Basil

SmileyJay · November 2013

I have read about this elsewhere and have read that the spice is pronounced Bay-zel while the name is Ba-zel.

I am having a hard time imagining anyone being called "ba-zel" which I am pronouncing like Giselle. For me, Basil rhymes with Hazel. It is a boys name and I am starting to like it because of it's history and Saint Basil.

How do you pronounce it? What do you think?

Helenahhandbasket · November 2013

I say it to rhyme with Hazel.

strawberrytree · November 2013

I say it like John Cleese's character in Fawlty Towers. BAZ-il. I don't rhyme it with Giselle. FWIW that is the pronunciation BTN gives as well.

Helenahhandbasket · November 2013

Interesting.

There's a reg on this board with a DD named Basil. I can't remember her SN, but I hope she sees this and chimes in. I would love to hear how she pronounces her DD's name.

PB&J714 · November 2013

Helenahhandbasket said:

I say it to rhyme with Hazel.

Me, too. But I also picture it on a little girl...but that's probably because someone on here has a daughter named Basil and I've never actually met anyone with the name IRL.

evaazalea · November 2013

Helenahhandbasket said:

Interesting.
There's a reg on this board with a DD named Basil. I can't remember her SN, but I hope she sees this and chimes in. I would love to hear how she pronounces her DD's name.

She has responded in other posts that she pronounces it like the herb, rhymes with Hazel.

Helenahhandbasket · November 2013

HisGirlFriday929 said:

Helenahhandbasket said:

I say it to rhyme with Hazel.

This for me as well. I actually think this name is super cute. It's a total GP name for me.

Me too. Weirdly though I don't like Hazel.

firsttimeauntie · November 2013

strawberrytree said:

I say it like John Cleese's character in Fawlty Towers. BAZ-il. I don't rhyme it with Giselle. FWIW that is the pronunciation BTN gives as well.

Me too

brownmouse · November 2013

My DD is named Basil, and it's pronounced like the herb you use for cooking. Bay-zil. Like Hazel.

The traditional boys name Basil (BAZ-el) is pronounced differently.

My daughter is named like the herb though, not because of the boys name Basil. Though I do like Basil for a boy.

brownmouse · November 2013

Helenahhandbasket said:

HisGirlFriday929 said:

Helenahhandbasket said:

I say it to rhyme with Hazel.

This for me as well. I actually think this name is super cute. It's a total GP name for me.

Me too. Weirdly though I don't like Hazel.

I don't like Hazel either. But DD does, she has "invisible sisters" (only child much?) and they are all named Hazel.

Fletch82 · November 2013

I pronounce as BAZ-il (different then spice) I associate it as UK boy name.

Helenahhandbasket · November 2013

@brownmouse-- gorgeous new pic of your DD!

brownmouse · November 2013

Helenahhandbasket said:

@brownmouse-- gorgeous new pic of your DD!

Thanks! I got totally lucky with my phone camera when she was playing in Grandmas leafy yard yesterday before trick or treating.

Scarlett&Gatsby · November 2013

I pronounce it BAHZ-il. I've also heard it pronounced like PP said, with the A being more like the sound in "apple." It's a boy's name, popularly used especially among Orthodox Christians for St. Basil the Great. (The Russian name Vasily is a variant of Basil).

I for real had no idea that was the pronunciation until a year ago. I thought it was always pronounced like the herb. I went through the whole of The Picture of Dorian Gray pronouncing his friend's name wrong.

I love it as a nature name, pronounced like the herb, for a girl. Love, love, love. DH has shot it down on numerous occasions, though.

brownmouse · November 2013

Scarlett&Gatsby said:

I pronounce it BAHZ-il. I've also heard it pronounced like PP said, with the A being more like the sound in "apple." It's a boy's name, popularly used especially among Orthodox Christians for St. Basil the Great. (The Russian name Vasily is a variant of Basil).

I for real had no idea that was the pronunciation until a year ago. I thought it was always pronounced like the herb. I went through the whole of The Picture of Dorian Gray pronouncing his friend's name wrong.

I love it as a nature name, pronounced like the herb, for a girl. Love, love, love. DH has shot it down on numerous occasions, though.

Aw, DH has no love for Basil for a DD? My DH shot down Tallulah too even though I love it so don't feel too bad. We should just hang out and live vicariously off of each others kids names.

Irishcurls · November 2013

I actually threw out Basil (like the herb) to my DH and he wasn't into it but I think it's a killer girl's name! So sweet, unique but easy to spell.

brownmouse · November 2013

I'm feeling lucky that my DH liked Basil, since it seems it's an unpopular name amongst the men of BNB.

Zimger · November 2013

I love Basil. It's definitely a GP name for me ( I would never be able to get DH to agree to it). I pronounce it BAZ-əl.

brownmouse · November 2013

mummyofsix said:

The USA is the only English speaking country I have been to where the herb is pronounced baze-el. So in the UK both the name and the plant is Baz-el. We also say ori-gahh-no. Not oregg-in-o. And, we say herb with the 'h' pronounced. /end random Friday night posting.

I definitely did NOT know any of that! I've never been outside the US, so it's not surprising. I Learn something new every day.

strawberrytree · November 2013

mummyofsix said:

The USA is the only English speaking country I have been to where the herb is pronounced baze-el. So in the UK both the name and the plant is Baz-el. We also say ori-gahh-no. Not oregg-in-o. And, we say herb with the 'h' pronounced. /end random Friday night posting.

I can't speak for my whole country but I'm in Canada and I pronounce these words the British way as well.

But I say vite-a-min, not vit-a-min, and several other words the American way

.

ho11yday · November 2013

MauiBliss said:

I've known two older male Basils. They said BA-zel.

This--the only person I knew who went by the name Basil was called BA-zel but when I read it, I still think of the spice.

JMU_Bride09 · November 2013

MauiBliss said:
I've known two older male Basils. They said BA-zel. Like the"a" in bad. This is how I say it when I see it as a name on a person. For the spice, bay-zel.

This is how I pronounce it as well. BA as in bad + ZIL. I believe that there's a character in the Great Mouse Detective named Basil.

SmileyJay · November 2013

Thanks everyone! This name is officially out then. The reason I loved it is because saint basils cathedral in Moscow is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, so it seemed fitting for a son. But if it rhymes with Dazzle, I don't like the sound of it. Even if there are two accepted pronounciations, I prefer to have a name that is only correct one way.

Oddly, in my college studies and trips to Russia I never heard it pronounced with a soft a like in bad. Bah-zel. Or maybe I did but assumed it was an accent. Hmmmm...

For me it's a boys name but it would be cute on a girl - sort of like clover or paisley in a way.

Thanks!

HattieLove · November 2013

BAZ-ul; rhymes with Dazzle. I know it as a boy's name.

Bluebird2318 · November 2013

BAZ-ul, with the "ba" pronounced like in "bad."

LaurelJoy91 · November 2013

To me, BAZ-el sounds like a stuffy old Brittish man, but when pronounced BAY-zel I think it can be a very sweet girl name.

brownmouse · November 2013

TheCraftyKoala said:
Thanks everyone! This name is officially out then. The reason I loved it is because saint basils cathedral in Moscow is one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen, so it seemed fitting for a son. But if it rhymes with Dazzle, I don't like the sound of it. Even if there are two accepted pronounciations, I prefer to have a name that is only correct one way.

Oddly, in my college studies and trips to Russia I never heard it pronounced with a soft a like in bad. Bah-zel. Or maybe I did but assumed it was an accent. Hmmmm...

For me it's a boys name but it would be cute on a girl - sort of like clover or paisley in a way.

Thanks!

Oh no you did NOT just compare Basil on a girl to Paisley.

Mostly kidding ...

:-w [-X

Irishcurls · November 2013

Guys I JUST found out that my Greek grandmother's name is a variation of Basil! Ohhhhhhh my goodness, haha DH is in for it.

Cricket Bug · November 2013

strawberrytree said:

mummyofsix said:

The USA is the only English speaking country I have been to where the herb is pronounced baze-el. So in the UK both the name and the plant is Baz-el. We also say ori-gahh-no. Not oregg-in-o. And, we say herb with the 'h' pronounced. /end random Friday night posting.

I can't speak for my whole country but I'm in Canada and I pronounce these words the British way as well.

But I say vite-a-min, not vit-a-min, and several other words the American way .

Maybe not the whole country, but that makes two of us.

diamondduck13 · November 2013

Joy2611 said:
Austin Powers contact was Baz-ul.
That's always what I think of with the name! The herb is bay-zil.

Thank you! I was beginning to think I was the only one, because reading through these I kept picturing Austin Powers say the name. I wondered if maybe I'd remembered wrong. Glad to know my memory is in tack.

JayJay1212 · November 2013

Am I the only one who thinks of "Basil of Baker's Street", ala "The Great Mouse Detective" and the children's books? Because of that, I say baz-ul.

cakergirl · November 2013

For the spice I say Bayzil. For the name I would pronounce it Bazle... ie. so that it rhymes with dazzle. I knew someone during med school named Basel (spelled differently, I know) but that's how he said it.

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