Pronouncing my name wrong?

[tanya]

Is there any way to teach Alexa how to pronounce my name correctly?   

[Y]

My guess is at this time no. How Echo pronounces words is not changeable.

It could be done by misspelling your name to something that tricks Alexa into sounding like your name. Of course you don't want to change your name spelling.

I worked on a project in the 90's where we had to misspell all kinds of words to get the computer voice to say them correctly.

If I am guessing your name right, putting a space between the tan and ya might have made it work.

[ScarlettPhoenix]

is she pronouncing it tan as in suntan?  Try spelling it like this: taun or this: tahn and then put a space as Y suggested and yah. Let us know if this worked.

[tanya]

Yes, it's "ton" like wonton, not "tan" like suntan. I tried changing the spelling in the device name, but that didn't work. I don't see any other place to change it.

[keylow]

Has anyone made any progress with this?

My daughter is quite upset that she is the only one in the family without a "normal" name that Alexa can pronounce.

It's bad enough that nobody makes T-shirts and coffee mugs with her name on them, everything always needs to be custom.  Sore subject.

There has got to be a place where this can be referenced to and associated with our account?

I found this site - https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/speech-synthesis-markup-language-ssml-reference - it looks like it can be done for custom skills, but i am not sure how to make a skill that runs all the time and does not require Alexa to be told to activate it every time.

Any ideas?

[strayfish]

Yes, it's "ton" like wonton, not "tan" like suntan. I tried changing the spelling in the device name, but that didn't work. I don't see any other place to change it.

Did you try Tonne-yah? I know, not so aesthetic!

[strayfish]

Has anyone made any progress with this?

My daughter is quite upset that she is the only one in the family without a "normal" name that Alexa can pronounce.

It's bad enough that nobody makes T-shirts and coffee mugs with her name on them, everything always needs to be custom.  Sore subject.

There has got to be a place where this can be referenced to and associated with our account?

I found this site - https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/speech-synthesis-markup-language-ssml-reference - it looks like it can be done for custom skills, but i am not sure how to make a skill that runs all the time and does not require Alexa to be told to activate it every time.

Any ideas?

Have you tried a phonetic spelling? If that works perhaps your daughter could put up with how it looks as long as the sounds come out right.

[renegade600]

when I first got the echo, it could not pronounce the town I live in.  I email customer support with the phonetic spelling and it got a lot better. 

[Mara]

Has anyone made any progress with this?

My daughter is quite upset that she is the only one in the family without a "normal" name that Alexa can pronounce.

It's bad enough that nobody makes T-shirts and coffee mugs with her name on them, everything always needs to be custom.  Sore subject.

There has got to be a place where this can be referenced to and associated with our account?

I found this site - https://developer.amazon.com/public/solutions/alexa/alexa-skills-kit/docs/speech-synthesis-markup-language-ssml-reference - it looks like it can be done for custom skills, but i am not sure how to make a skill that runs all the time and does not require Alexa to be told to activate it every time.

Any ideas?

The struggle is REAL!  My name is pronounced like Sara, not like Mark.  95% of people say it the wrong way, Alexa included. 

[scottrods]

I tell Alexa to turn on "uh movie" to be able to get one of my AV requests to be handled... For Mara, Maybe MARE-UH

For Tanya, I might try another national origin and spell my name as Tanja and try that... Phonetic spelling would be Tahn-Yuh... These are worth a try though.

[TrickesSm]

I've had the same pronunciation problems as well, but that's to be expected with something relatively new. My only current fix is spacing out the phonetic sounds which makes it not as appealing and more "robotic" sounding, but at least it's correct

[malliekm]

My 35 year old daughter's name is Ryanne.  Pronounced Ryan (spelled to indicate a girl).  Had no idea that everyone would want to call her ReeANN or ReeANNee.  For the last 7 years both of my Ford Flex cars have called her ReeANN.  I recently gave in and changed the spelling of her name to Ryan so that Ford Sync would pronounce it correctly.  It's spelled wrong on the caller ID/nav screen but at least she announces her name correctly. 

[Laurel]

[/quote]

The struggle is REAL!  My name is pronounced like Sara, not like Mark.  95% of people say it the wrong way, Alexa included.
[/quote]

I think the struggle will continue as with names like Mara, Moira, Maura we humans struggle throughout our lives lol.  However having said that I do love your pronunciation.

[ericnrosesmom]

when I first got the echo, it could not pronounce the town I live in.  I email customer support with the phonetic spelling and it got a lot better.

She can't pronounce my hometown either lol. I live in La Porte, Indiana (pronounced la port) and she alwas says it La Pert

[jwlv]

She can't pronounce my hometown either lol. I live in La Porte, Indiana (pronounced la port) and she alwas says it La Pert

Be happy Alexa doesn't pronounce it like "la porTAY"