How would you pronounce this?

[sydney moose]

Hi everyone,

I found this name and I am madly in love with it...Cybele.

Can you please tell me how you would pronounce it?
We are trying to see if it will get butchered -or not.. also would love suggestion for a middle name... Our surname starts with P and is only 2 syllables.

thanks

m xx

[Phteven]

I'd pronounce it the same way as Cybill.

[AnyDream]

Either Sigh-Bee-Lee or Chi-Bee-Lee. BUT I think you'd want to watch out cos there could be a tendency for cruel kiddies to say Sigh-Belly. No one really wants Belly in their name.

ETA if you want it to sound like Cybill then maybe add another L so you get the "belle" sound at the end: "Cybelle"

[~clover~]

When I first looked I thought Sy-bell, but then I saw Cybill(Si-ble)

[Lisa]

When I first saw it, I thought it would be pronounced like Sah-belle?

[sydney moose]

What I am going for is Sah-Belle but I don't really like the spelling of Cybelle as much...plus a couple of our friends have Belle as their little girl's middle name and wouldn't want to upset them by "stealing" the name either..am I going mental? DH believes so lol!

[Lisa]

I see it as being pronouced the way you want it... If you like it, I say go for it!

[sydney moose]

Keep the opinion coming.. I want to see what happens

[Jas]

I'd say Cybill like cybill shepard

[sneakysparkle]

I would say Sigh-b-lee...
It looks a little confusing TBH...

[AnyDream]

Ok, found this audio: (mirriam webster pronunciaton guide).

Looked at the Wikipedia entry, love the name now!! People will learn to pronounce it the way you do.

[sydney moose]

Yeah....I really want Sah-Belle ( not Sah-Bell-Lee) I am french, so thats the way i want it and what DH and I like..so I guess we would have to go Cybelle to avoid confusion...

mmm , some thinking to do still...

[Aimz]

I reckon it would be prettier spelt Cybelle and pronounced Sigh-belle. Or even Cybella.

Antonia Kidman's daughter is named Sybella. Really pretty.

[*Ang*]

Looking at your original spelling I would pronounce it - Sigh-Belle

[Trish]

The way you have it written I would also think Cybil as in Cybil Shepherd.

I love the way you have written it though as Sahbelle. Can you not have it that way ? Atleast then it is spelt the way it sounds

[~Aveta~]

Main Entry: Cyb?e?le
Pronunciation: \ˈsi-bə-(ˌ)lē\
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, from Greek Kybelē
Date: 1576
: a nature goddess of the ancient peoples of Asia Minor



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The girl's name Cybele \cy-be-le\ is pronounced si-BELL. It is of Greek origin. Mythology: an ancient nature goddess worshipped as the Great Mother in Asia Minor. The mother of all gods, men, and wild nature, lions were her faithful companions. She was identified with Rhea by the Greeks, and with Maia and Ceres by the Romans.

For more information, see also related names Sibyl and Sybil.

Baby names that sound like Cybele are Cybil, Cybill, Sybelle and Sybel. Other similar baby names are Cele, Abelle, Mabel, Cile, Cicely, Celie, Cela, Cecyle, Cecile, Cecely, Ceceley, Cyrille, Sabelle, Isabele, Jobelle, Mayble, Maybelle, Maybell, Maybel, Mable, Mabelle, Robelle, Sable, Sydelle, Sydell, Sydel, Semele, Sybille, Sybill, Sybella, Sibelle, Sibell, Sibel, Cybilla, Ysbel, Yabelle, Yabell and Zele.

i'd be careful of names with "belly" in them too - my eldest is Rielle (pronounced rie-elle) and she got teased with "relly-belly" for years. but Cy-belle (si-belle) sounds pretty and delicate to me.

[Bathsheba]

I was a bit confused... at first I thought "the same as Cybill" but then pronounciation rules seemed to suggest that I should be saying "sigh be lee" . If you want it to end with a "belle" sound then I think 2 Ls are needed. Bele doesn't sound like "belle" in English. You could try Cybel? An "e" on the end of a word extends the sound of the precedeing vowel.

[luna moth]

I would pronounce it Si-belle. Probably.
I definitely would if it were Cybelle. It's so pretty. My sister went to school with a Sybelle (I forget exactly how it was spelled, but was with an S, I think) So pretty.