The pronunciation of Pass Christian

Pass Chris-ch'ianne is how New Orleanians say it.

Pass ChrisTeeAnn. Explanation? No clue.

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Right. I know how people pronounce it. I’m curious as to why it is pronounced that way. Where did that start?

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South Louisiana and communities dotted along the Gulf of Mexico were settled by the French and/or Acadians, so many towns have resulting French words and phonetics intertwined with English. Thus, Pass Christian is pronounced the French way, not the English way.

“The Pass”

Problem Solved

There's an exit a few miles up the interstate from there. The name of the exit on the signs, and the name of the road on the maps is Lorraine Cowan Rd.

But everyone calls it Cowan Lorraine.

Because it's named after Christian L'Adnier and that's how the French pronounce that name.

I still call that whole region “land mass.”

"Nicholas Christian Ladner (1727-1800) moved from Mobile to Cat Island in 1745 where he raised cattle. In 1758 he married Marianne Paquet (1742-1811) from New Orleans and they produced eleven children. One daughter married a Spanish soldier, Juan Cuevas (1762-1849). These settlers on Cat Island are the ancestors of many of the present-day inhabitants of Hancock and Harrison Counties. Two channels in the Mississippi Sound, Pass Christian and Pass Marianne, are named after this first couple. The town of Pass Christian bears the same name as one of the aforementioned channels."

It was named after the Frenchman, not Christianity. Hence the French pronunciation.

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"Nicholas Christian Ladner (1727-1800) moved from Mobile to Cat Island in 1745 where he raised cattle. In 1758 he married Marianne Paquet (1742-1811) from New Orleans and they produced eleven children. One daughter married a Spanish soldier, Juan Cuevas (1762-1849)

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Two dudes produced 75% of the last names in Hancock County.

Impressive.