Léon
I grew up in a highly Francophone area in East Beirut. It was customary during that time to teach French to your toddler before any other language. As such, I spoke French before I learned a single Arabic word. Also, due to my grandfather’s own name change, my parents decided to call me Léon when they registered me and chose my name. This is an old French name, and it is pronounced the way you would in French. Years later I would drop the accent when I wrote emails in English. This is not because I preferred the English pronunciation of the name but rather to make my life easier when I use the qwerty keyboard as well as not to have my English-speaking reader struggle when reading my name. But the name that my parents call me by to this day, or the name I used to introduce myself to my wife when we first met, remains Léon. And it is still pronounced the way you would in French. If you’re an Anglophone, or we are speaking in English I would be perfectly fine with you calling me Leon an