surely it is govan like giant .. not Jovan.. it is a soft G?

love it, and you're right!!!

There are Jeffreys and Geoffreys.

It's cause he's a gerk.

Funny

Something struck me when I just read that....remember the other night when Govan was sobbing in the 'nest' to Corin....he was basically saying that he's scared of what people on the outside think of him, especially in the black community....????....

...erm, is there a difference between the black community and other communities?

Admit it to yourself first Govan, you're gay,big deal.... if he could be true to himself at least, then maybe he wouldn't be such a sneak wanting approval from others with his shit stirring.....and in turn, maybe a better person....just a thought...;D

I live not far from Glasgow and ther is a well know place called GOVAN pronounced Gov-An,not Go-Van.

Home of Rab C and Mary doll ..

I could get me head round Geovan, I think it needs the "e" to work.

Guv-an really[/pedantry]

Well Gerald is prounounced Jerald.

Guv-in to us locals..

There are loads of boys names where the initial "G" is pronounced like a "J":
Geoff/Geoffrey, George, Gerald, Gerard, Gerry, Gino, Giorgio, Giovanni, Giuseppe...


Also, some foreign names that start with a "J" don't pronounce it in the same way as we would in English, e.g. Juan or Johann.

I hope nobody ever says he's a bit gobby to him. 

(I'll see your pedantry and raise you etcetc .. )

True but they all have i or e after the g.

Any bright people know the rules where g-o is concerned?   (not me obv, I'm clueless)

That would make him "Oven" ..

My head immediately turns the "g" soft when I see an "i" or an "e" after it, it doesn't with an "o" after the "g"...the "g" stays hard then.  That could just be my mind though

As it's almost certainly not an English name, I would suggest that any rules are irrelevant (not that English is consistent anyway).

It's the same with Caoimhe. There's still a lot of nonsense over on DS about why her name is pronounced "Keeva" -  some people just don't get (or choose not to get) that it's in a foreign language.

[Mind you: there's a story going around on an Irish site from someone claiming to know her that she spells it "Keeva", which doesn't help...]

Yes, good point.

I find the Ciaohme thing much easier to grasp than Govan though, once you accept bh and mh are v it's easy(ish) to figure out a lot of Irish spellings

I read that her name IS/was Keeva but she changed it to the traditional spelling.  In fact Dara Ó Briain's family name was originally "O'Brian" but his father was part of a movement that wanted to reclaim Irish heritage and language so he changed his surname to what it would have been generations ago before it became Anglicised.

Sorry to come back to the thread late. Thanks for the replies. It is indeed the fact the G is followed by an O that made me wonder who Jovan ever made sense. I accepted it's probably a foreign name I just wondered which language. I also accepted it may well be Govan being an utterly pretentious prat and deciding on the pronunciation himself which I am sure you will all agree is a possibility.

I before E except after C.
Does that make it clearer?

Google is my friend.. it says Govan is a Welsh name meaning "Legendary son of Caw" . Oh well then

ahhhh - not the legendary son of caw? That explains all.

We have loads of welsh peeps on here you'd think one of the might have put us out of our misery! Thanks.

It's not quite how I'd describe him to be honest. My interpretation would most likely get me banned

I didn't know that, but (at the risk of going seriously O/T) it doesn't surprise me, as I did know that his family were heavily involved in Irish Nationalism. I don't know if he still does, but he used to tell a story at gigs about his Grandmother's funeral. Apparently a lot of politicians turned out to honour her because she'd taken part in the Easter Uprising.

Oooh interesting, thanks EL

My daughter is Georgina  - I don't find it odd that Govan is pronounced Jovan ...although I have to admit to not hearing the name before.

in my area its pronounced   ............ guvvin

 When I see his name in print I see GOVAN as in Rab's hometown.

Me too - no question. I said on launch night that I would have trouble with his name, and I still "read" it as the Glasgow place-name.

I have worked in schools and seen kids with names spelt very bizzarely . I've seen Shorn (Sean) Chivonne , Beetrice and Shyanne (I kid you not) a parent can call a child whatever they choose and pronounce it any which way - that's a parents perogative and may start a whole new trend

Slight digression - I came across a bloke of the name Andre Tits recently.  Probably the greatest name I've ever heard of I think.

I give greatest name ever honour to Fenella Fudge from Radio 2

Some more:

Lisa Minge - gynaecologist

Welcome Bender - Harvard academic

And there was me thinking it was the kids that started a whole new generation of illiteracy.