How to pronounce name in American English

IPA /neɪm/ Syllables 1 · naym Stress 1st syllable

NAYM

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Americans pronounce name as NAYM (/neɪm/). You'll hear it in sentences like "Say my name" or "Is his name Jon or John?" — more examples below.

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Sound by sound

Every sound in "name".

1 syllable, 3 sounds. Explore each sound's mouth shape and how it's made.

n/n/

Touch the tip or front edge of your tongue to the roof of your mouth behind your teeth. Air flows through your nose.

ay/eɪ/

Start with your jaw slightly open and the front of your tongue forward and slightly up. Glide upward, your jaw closes a little more and your tongue arches higher toward the roof of the mouth.

m/m/

Press your lips together. Air flows through your nose. Vocal cords vibrate.

In real conversation

Hear "name" in the wild.

Click any sentence to see the full breakdown — every link, every reduction, every flap-T.

"Emma remembered the name of the movie."

EH·muh ruh·MEHM·berd dhuh NAYM uhv dhuh MOO·vee

"He debated between the generic brand and the name brand."

hee duh·BAY·duhd buh·TWEEN dhuh juh·NEH·ruhk BRAND and dhuh NAYM BRAND

"How do you spell your last name?"

HOW doo yoo SPEHL yor last NAYM

"Is his name Jon or John?"

ihz hihz NAYM JAHN er JAHN

"None of the nine nurses knew the name."

NUHN uhv dhuh NAHYN NUR·suhz NOO dhuh NAYM

"Say my name."

SAY mahy NAYM

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Questions

Questions people ask about this.

Is the American pronunciation of "name" different from British English?

American English uses different vowel shapes, a relaxed retroflex R, and connected-speech tricks like flap-T and glottal-stop T that British Received Pronunciation generally avoids. The respell "NAYM" reflects the casual American form; British dictionaries typically print a citation form with crisper consonants and different vowel choices.