Although Leadbelly is used by most people, according to one biog. note, his family said he preferred Lead Belly (as this thread starts out). The fragment found by Max shows definitely a long U (Hew-die) but I won't crow over Cranky Yankee. My name is pronounced variably and I usually just go along with the speaker. A double-d would make it Hud (as in Mud) to most people, but regionalism must be considered. Lead Belly himself may have been ambivalent about his name and may have changed through time. As some others have posted here, I have checked a number of bios. and can't find Hudson in any of them. Other southern names- Beaufort becomes Bewfort, Beaulieu is Bewley, Spahn is Spain, etc, etc. And they used to eat Vy-anna sausages. This would make a thread in itself.