How to pronounce Galois

Galois is most commonly pronounced "gal WAH" (/ɡælˈwɑ/). This is the widely-used reading among engineers, though edge cases exist.

Named after French mathematician Évariste Galois (1811–1832), of Galois theory and the finite/Galois field GF(p) that underpins error-correcting codes, AES, and elliptic-curve crypto. English speakers regularly say gal-OYZ or GAL-oyss, treating it like an English word; the accepted reading is gal-WAH — the final 's' is SILENT (French) and stress lands on the second syllable -WAH. Wiktionary gives English /ɡælwɑ/; French is [ɡalwa]. Crypto/TLS engineers who say 'Galois Counter Mode (GCM)' very often mispronounce it.

Source: Wiktionary § Galois (English IPA /ɡælwɑ/)

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