Comments on: Name of the Day: St. John

By: B.

B. — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 03:27:57 +0000

Um…I LOVE this name. I saw it first in Jane Eyre, but now that I know I’ve been mispronouncing it, I don’t like it as much. It would be a cool last name pronounced “saint John.”

By: St-Pierre

St-Pierre — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 00:49:34 +0000

“Sinjun” may have it’s roots in French, but as a native French speaker, it is NOT the French pronunciation! But as the article states “It’s a mash-up of Old English and French, weathered over the years into something that sounds like it could be a perfectly valid given name.”

Unfortunately, ‘Sinjin’ happens to be one of those names where the sounds grate on my nerves. I think it an abomination of a pronunciation of two words that sounds perfectly wonderful in their normal English and French forms (St. John ou Saint-Jean).

St-Pierre

By: March Madness: Boys’ Quarter Finals | Appellation Mountain

March Madness: Boys’ Quarter Finals | Appellation Mountain — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 06:01:49 +0000

[...] to Archer by just three votes. The biggest trouncing was Eamon, with 83% of the vote compared to St. John’s measly 17%. My biggest disappointment was that Gray failed to make it out of the opening [...]

By: St.john

St.john — Tue, 08 Mar 2011 12:06:27 +0000

My name is St.john and I’m not really stuffy or particularly English in any way. The name comes from Malta where the Knights of the order of St.john of Jerusalem settled in 1085. The pronunciation (sinjun) is French.

By: March Madness: Boys’ Opening Round | Appellation Mountain

March Madness: Boys’ Opening Round | Appellation Mountain — Sat, 05 Mar 2011 06:03:32 +0000

[...] Irish Eamon (2) versus the ever-so English St. John (15) View This Pollonline [...]

By: Kat

Kat — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 20:15:45 +0000

When the English pronounce it, it seems to sound more like a mush-y, upper-class version of “St. John” than “Sinjin”. So I think I’d be okay with this name for an English family, but the rest of us Americans don’t have the groovy dialect to make it sound quite as “proper”.

By: BC

BC — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:53:00 +0000

Aha! I had always wondered about that Sin-jin in Four Weddings and a Funeral! Thanks for mentioning that and clearing it up. Very interesting.

By: Sarah

Sarah — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 11:31:23 +0000

I once worked with a Sdjarn (s – jarn)

And there is a character in the Anne of Green Gables story whose mother insists on calling him St. Claire

Not for me – it feels so awfully upperclass!

By: Caitlin B

Caitlin B — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:19:10 +0000

The names that retain the “St.” interest me so much. I’d never do it – it seems presumptuous to me. Although, I will definitely be using saint’s names.

I never heard of Sinjin, and never knew St. John would be pronounced that way. It does make a little sense, though, as I know Sinclair is from St. Clair. There’s a small grave in NYC of a boy who fell to his death in 1797. His name was St. Clair Pollock. I suppose in his time, his name was pronounced Sinclar? But I had never thought of it before! http://www.forgotten-ny.com/CEMETERIES/grant/grant.html

By: Emmy Jo

Emmy Jo — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 02:17:35 +0000

I like Sinclair on a boy (mainly as a middle name), but St. John feels like a bit much.

My main association is with “Jane Eyre” — Jane’s long-lost cousins are Mary, Diana, and St. John.

I would prefer to pronounce it “Saint John” instead of “Sinjin” but I know that’s not correct. “Sinjin” just isn’t pretty.