[TL;DR it really is quite simple: rho-heh-lee-oh.]
Over the past month I have found that introducing myself to people in the United States is difficult. Names such as “José”, “Manuel”, or “Miguel” have become so mainstream in the U.S. that they are easy to pick up. “Rogelio”, however, is not.
Originally, I would avoid this problem by “americanizing” my name. It turns out that “Rogelio” in English is “Roger”. I actually like the translation, and some of my closest friends (my extended family) still call me by this name (this also might have been due to the presence of another “Rogelio” in my High School graduating class). Even my fiancé refers to me as “Roger”.
However, I like “Rogelio”. And for most purposes, I prefer Rogelio. Roger is like my “soul name” (the soul name term is inspired by its use in Mass Effect).
And thus, to help you understand how to pronounce my name, I have devised an explanation – a phonetical view of “Rogelio”:
Ro-
The “Ro” part of my name sounds like a certain letter used to represent density, resistivity, and the radius in a spherical coordinate system. The letter I’m talking about is: ρ (pronounced “rho”). The phonetical match is very convenient, I know.
-ge-
The “ge” part of my name is particularly confusing to those unfamiliar with the name. The immediate temptation is to pronounce it as it appears; as a “g” (think Lady Gaga). Sadly, that’s not how it sounds. The “ge” is more like a very short laughter and has the same breathing pattern as one. When saying “ge” try saying “heh”.
-li-
The “li” part is straightforward: think how the “Lee” sounds in Lee Jeans®.
-o
The “o” part is also straightforward: say “oh” as in “Oh wow, look how easy it is to say Rogelio.”
And that is it. Simple, no? Now you have no excuse.