How to pronounce Nike? It’s a question that has befuddled many people for many years. Some people pronounce the name “Nike,” with a silent “E,” others pronounce it “Ni-key,” with a trailing “y” sound, a two syllable word. Which do you use and which one is correct?
Unfortunately for many people, over time you forget some things that you learn at school. If you don’t use it, ya lose it. It seems as though the one thing many of us have forgotten is how to ask a question if we don’t know the answer. But at least two English advertising students didn’t forget, and they asked the question of none other than one of the company founders, Phil Knight.
The two students, Kendal Peters and Ben Martin, sent Knight a letter asking him how to pronounce Nike. The letter was short and sweet, asking him to circle the correct pronunciation, and it even included a reply paid envelope. And Knight indeed responded with the correct form of the word. So which is it?
How to pronounce Nike.
When Phil Knight responded to the letter he simply circled one of the two options of the word. The correct way to pronounce Nike is Ni-key, with the trailing y, the two syllable word. But this really shouldn’t surprise us, as we will explain.
Nike, the shoe and sports apparel company was formed in 1964 as Blue Ribbon Sports. In 1971 the company relaunched itself as Nike inc. The brand we now all know and love. The word itself, Nike, is named after the Greek goddess, Nike, pronounced Ni-key or Ni-Ke. Nike was the Greek goddess of victory, so the founders chose the name aptly.
