Before this morning, few of us outside New Hampshire had heard the name of the state’s attorney general, Kelly Ayotte. But Ms. Ayotte not only argued in the high court today on behalf of New Hampshire’s law requiring parental notification when minors seek abortions, her name is also part of the case’s official moniker: Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood of Northern New England. Since lawyers and journalists will from now on refer to this case simply as “Ayotte,” (just as they refer to “Miranda” or “Roe” or “Casey“), we might as well pronounce it properly.
Name: Kelly Ayotte
Title: Attorney General of New Hampshire
Last Name Pronounced: “AY-yaht” (“AY” as in “say”)
Tape: Click here to listen to Cheryl Vezina of the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office pronounce the name, followed by Chief Justice John Roberts saying it at today’s argument.
Previous pronunciations:
Abu Ghraib (link to piece)
Bernanke, Dr. Ben S. (link to piece)
Clement, Judge Edith Brown (link to piece)
Miers, Harriet Ellan (link to piece)
Niger (link to piece)
Padilla, Jose (link to piece)
Pinochet, Gen. Augusto (link to piece)
Qatar (link to piece)
Villaraigosa, Mayor Antonio (link to piece)
Got other names in the news you’d like to have pronounced for you? Send them to podcasts@slate.com.
