Khader Syed

Khader

Pronouncing my name can be hard for most people. I’ve heard Kay-dur, Ka-dere, Kah-dear or a few other variants.

Here, I want to help you say my name the right way - the way I’ve heard it said as I grew up, and how my family, my friends, and I say it.

Let’s try and break it down. Kha-der. Two syllables.

The first syllable, Kha - that’s the sound you make when you feel like you have something stuck at the back of your throat, like you’re choking on something. The a after Kh sounds like the a in March. That’s Kha. Kha. Kha.

It’s guttural. I like that word btw - came across that when I was learning German, sometime in 2002 or 2003, I think.

That’s the first syllable. Kha. I hope that is easy to remember. Kha - back of your throat, like you’re choking on something, guttural and the a sounds like the a in March.

The next syllable, der - the first d or de sound is what I call the soft d - cause it sounds less like the d in dare and more like the th sound in the. Soft. And the der lands like the mer in mermaid.

That’s the second syllable der. Join them together and say it slow - Kha-der.

Kha-der. Khader.

I think, for a time, even I forgot the right way to say it, having used my nickname all that time.

Thank you for saying my name right. Khader