iOS 7's Siri Can Learn How to Pronounce Names - MacRumors
Skip to Content

iOS 7's Siri Can Learn How to Pronounce Names

by

Shortly before today's iOS 7 Beta 2 was released, one of 9to5Mac's readers found that iOS 7's Siri has the ability to correct pronunciations for names.

siripronunciationImage via 9to5Mac

Previously, getting Siri to properly pronounce names required a user to edit the "phonetic name" for a contact and manually adjust the spelling until Siri pronounced the name the correct way. Now, as 9to5Mac notes, a user can simply say "pronounce [insert name here]" to put Siri through a simpler name pronunciation learning process.

Within that process, Siri will ask the user to pronounce the name and then present a couple of pronunciations based on how it heard the user. The user is then prompted to select a pronunciation, which Siri will from then on attempt to use when saying the name in question.

While the feature was in iOS 7 Beta 1, it's unknown at this point whether there have been improvements in the recently released Beta 2.

Related Forum: iOS 7

Top Rated Comments

BillyBobBongo Avatar
167 months ago
Previously, getting Siri to properly pronounce names required a user to edit the "phonetic name" for a contact and manually adjust the spelling until Siri pronounced the name the correct way. Now, as 9to5Mac notes, a user can simply say "pronounce [insert name here]" to put Siri through a simpler name pronunciation learning process.
You can do this in IOS6 too...
Sometimes it helps to read the article.
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Gasu E. Avatar
167 months ago
Yes..

Siri has been learning a lot lately.. but she tends to mumble and sometimes she says off the wall things that don't make since.

Image (https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-frc1/995045_4324477810309_2011489989_n.jpg)

Oh, the irony!
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
caligomez Avatar
167 months ago
What Siri desperately needs is a way to differentiate one language from another without having to strictly accept one at a time. There are many bilingual countries (and users) that have have to constantly use different language words in the same sentence.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
167 months ago
Siri totally fails at Asian names. This is going to be real useful when I go handsfree.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
alia Avatar
167 months ago
This is great news! One reason Siri irks me is that she can't pronounce my name at all, and it grates.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Drunken Master Avatar
167 months ago
Right...

I live in Taiwan, trust me, 王 is 王.
Score: 2 Votes (Like | Disagree)

Popular Stories

Apple Event Logo

Apple to Launch These 15+ New Products Later This Year

Friday March 27, 2026 2:03 pm PDT by
March has been an incredibly busy month for Apple, with the company unveiling more than 10 new products and accessories. We said hello to the MacBook Neo at the start of the month, and we bid farewell to the Mac Pro at the end of it. Nevertheless, there is still a lot more to come this year. Beyond the usual annual updates to iPhones and Apple Watches, Apple's all-new smart home hub is...
iphone 17 pro dark blue 1

Apple Preparing 'Most Significant Overhaul in the iPhone's History'

Sunday March 29, 2026 8:18 am PDT by
Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has high expectations for Apple's first foldable iPhone. In his Power On newsletter today, he said the foldable iPhone will be "the most significant overhaul in the iPhone's history." "iPhone 4, iPhone 6 and iPhone X were clearly a big deal, but this is a whole new design," he said. Like Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 7, the foldable iPhone will reportedly open up like ...
iOS 26

iOS 26.4 Adds Two New Features to CarPlay

Tuesday March 24, 2026 1:55 pm PDT by
iOS 26.4 was released today, and it includes a couple of new features for CarPlay: an Ambient Music widget and support for voice-based chatbot apps. To update your iPhone 11 or newer to iOS 26.4, open the Settings app and tap on General → Software Update. CarPlay will automatically offer the new features so long as the iPhone connected to your vehicle is running iOS 26.4 or later....