"Rafe" Pronunciation

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I grew up in the UK, had several friends called Ralph, and never encountered the "Rafe" pronunciation until recently (I'm 62) until I heard Sir Ralph Vaughan Williams referred to as "Sir Rafe...." on the radio quite recently. I think for the mass of UK inhabitants this rather pompous pronunciation is either a thing of the past or confined to the upper classes. --MichaelGG (talk) 09:22, 12 June 2011 (UTC)Reply

Sorry, my comment isn't very scientific, but ... It does seem to me that the "Rafe" pronunciation is an affectation intended to attribute rare or unique qualities to the so-referenced individual. Mwr0 (talk) 17:42, 5 April 2012 (UTC)Reply

Do "longer" and "shorter" mean something different when applied to names?

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(Re: Top paragraph) It seems to me that 'Rædwulf' (7 letters, 7 phonemes) is longer than the the 'longer' form 'Radulf' (6 letters, 6 phonemes). Mwr0 (talk) 17:49, 5 April 2012 (UTC)Reply