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I've always heard and said it like kah-YEN, which is roughly the same as "kye-EN." Referring to the pepper, not the place.
TBH I was unaware of the place.
I thought pronouncing the first syllable as Kay was just wrong, until today I learned that the French prn is like that.
If it were pronounced kye-Ann, that'd seem bad to me, like Shyanne instead of Cheyenne. I don't say anne and enne the same way.

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I knew it was quietly used as a name but I've never met one.
https://www.behindthename.com/top/beyond.php?name=cayenne&gender=&type=sample
I wouldn't be terribly surprised to meet one. It's interesting because it's rare, though. It seems namey, and not bad, just flakey. About like Midori.
I can picture it seeming dignified.
It seems like a better name than Pepper, and better than Cinnamon. Which I have a harder time imagining as seeming dignified.
It'd be a good name for a pet, and less surprising that way. It'd be a bad name for a book character unless it was deliberately unrealistic. Because the name is so rare.

Never heard of it. Never even heard of the spice. I would pronounce it as kay-enne. It looks like somebody spelled Cheyenne. Even then I don’t like it.

I knew a little girl named Cayenne in grade school- this would have been in the late 90s. She had really bright red hair, so it suited her. She pronounced it like "kye-ANN". I think it's nice and not too "out there", although a lot of people will probably mix it up with Cheyenne at first.

I'd think their parents were trying to be original and exotic. It could work on a fictional character - it sounds almost ridiculously seductive, like a Bond girl name. I pronounce it kye-EN.

I've only ever heard the pepper / spice pronounced KIE-an, with a long-I sound. Never with a long-A.

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Cayenne used to be something of a GP for me, I don't know when I took it off my list. But in reading this post I'm thinking about this name again. Saffron is another spice name I really like, and Cayenne & Saffron match both thematically and phonically.

I instantly thought of the pepper. Not a fan

I'd definitely use it for a pet. Not sure about a human. Maybe. I mean, Basil and Rosemary are also spices. I've only ever heard it pronounced Kye-ann.

It’s a pepper and also a place people got deported to. See no appeal even as a guilty pleasure.

I know a Cayenne. She pronounces it KIE-en, like cayenne pepper. It has a nice sound and I do think it works for a person.

This message was edited 4/21/2021, 5:14 AM

I personally think it is a little cutesy but it has a non forgotten feel to it! If that makes sense? It's still early where I'm at so my brain isn't all the way awake yet. :)

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But I like it! I pronounce it kye-ann.

Do you mean the seasoning, Cayenne Pepper?

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Or did you misspelled Cheyenne???