Over at How Appealing, Chief Judge Deanell Reece Tacha answers Howard Bashman’s “20 Questions for the Appellate Judge.” Good reading with an important section on pronunciation:
“I have been asked often about the derivation and pronunciation of my last name. Tacha is my married name. My husband’s family is Czech and the surname is of Czech derivation. We are told that the name originally in Bohemia was spelled “Ptacha.” At some point during their immigration to America, the family dropped the “p” but kept the “c.” The “c” is silent so Tacha is pronounced “Ta-ha.” I have wished many times that they had dropped the “c” out of it as well. It would have made pronunciation much easier.
My maiden name is Reece – a good Welsh name which is much easier to pronounce! My first name also confounds many people. Rather than being a misinformed corruption of the French “Danielle,” it is a very Americanized combination of my two grandmothers’ names: “Dean” and “Nell”!”
A short bio is here.
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