there seems to be some general confusion about the pronunciation of the roosevelts' name even within the fdr article i've tried to find a few reliable sources for this info m w gives main entry roo se velt pronunciation r z v lt roosevelts' usual pron velt also r dictionary com gives roo se velt ro z v lt v lt ro zv lt v lt spelling pron ruz v lt inogolo gives this about teddy's name name roosevelt phonetic pronunciation roaz uh velt notes there has been much debate about the correct pronunciation of roosevelt's last name however in several letters theodore roosevelt himself specifies the correct pronunciation in a letter to the rev william w moir dated october he writes as for my name it is pronounced as if it was spelled rosavelt that is in three syllables the first syllable as if it was rose note that none of these sources make a distinction between teddy and fdr despite the claims of some that they preferred different pronunciations at the very least each article should be internally consistent for teddy it seems to be clear that it's o z v lt his statement above makes that pretty clear fdr's case doesn't seem to be as unequivocal but the same pronunciation seems to be the preferred one in most media the most common variant seems to be the barely noticeably different o z v lt most seem to cite the preferred pronunciation of the name being three syllables not two