Due to popular request, I am finally getting around to creating a brief little pronunciation guide for all those lingering uncertainties!

I hope I’ve captured all the big ones here, but if there’s one I missed, please leave it in the comments. I’ll attempt to check back on this post from time to time and make sure it’s updated.

Adri: ah-DREE (Hindi)

Aimery: EM-mer-ee
Note: I say EM, as opposed to AIM, because I knew a guy named Aimery in high school and that’s how he pronounced it, but I have heard it both ways. And no, the character was not based off that guy, I just thought it was a cool name.

Benoit: ben-WAH (French)

Channary: CHAN-ner-ee (Cambodian)

Dataran: da-TAR-en
Note: I’ve been unable to find the ‘official’ pronunciation of this name, but this is how I’ve always said it. I think it’s a Malaysian name?

Erland: er-LAHND (rhymes with pond)
Note: One of the few purely made up names in the book, Erland is an anagram for his Lunar name, Darnel.

Farafrah: far-AH-frah
Note: Inspired by a real place in Egypt; sometimes spelled “Farafra.”

Fateen: fay-TEEN (Arabic)
Note: Some sources I see have one syllable for ‘teen,’ which is how I pronounce it, but some sources seem to give it an extra hitch, i.e. tee-EN. Do any Arabic speakers know for sure?

Garan: GAR-en (in which GAR rhymes with car)
Note: This is a name I thought I’d made up (therefore I also got to make up the pronunciation). I later learned that this is in fact an old Gaelic name, but I believe there it’s pronounced GAER-in… or something like that.

Iko: EE-ko
Note: I’ve always said EE-ko, as the name was inspired by the Japanese language, but the audiobook narrator says I-ko (or EYE-ko), so I’ll accept both.

Jacin: JAY-sin (rhymes with basin; or exactly like the name Jason)

Jael: JAY-el

Kai: Ky (rhymes with sky)

Kaito: Ky-TOE (long I, long O)

Kesley (Ze’ev Kesley, Maha Kesley): KES-lee
Note: Pronounced exactly how it looks, but I’ve noticed lots of readers misread it as “Kelsey.”

Letumosis: let-oo-MO-sis

Levana: le-VAHN-ah (rhymes with Donna)

Linh: linn (like the name Lynn)

Nainsi: NAIN-see (in which NAIN rhymes with plain)

Peony: I say PEE-uh-nee, but some people say pee-OH-nee, and that’s fine, too. (A peony is a type of flower.)

Ran: Pronounced like the verb “ran” / rhymes with “tan”

Rieux: ree-OO
Note: Scarlet’s hometown was inspired by a real town called Rieux-Volvestre in southern France, and it turns out I’ve been pronouncing it wrong all these years! (I’ve been saying “Roo.”) Thanks to the commenter for correcting me.

Rikan: ree-KAHN

Ryu: ree-OO
Note: It was not intentional on my part for this name to sound like Scarlet’s hometown of Rieux, but let’s go ahead and assume there’s actually some deep metaphorical meaning there. *wink*

Sybil: SIH-bul

Thaumaturge: THAHM-ah-terj
Note: I did not make this word up! I heard it for the first time in one of those Word-a-Day calendars while I was writing CINDER. It technically means “a magician.”

Ze’ev: zeh-EHV (Hebrew)
Note: This one is really tricky for us Americans, so here is a recording of someone saying the name.