—Pronunciation note The common pronunciation for both the comet and the astronomer after whom it is named is    Audio Help   /ˈhæli/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[hal-ee] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation. This is the pronunciation usually recommended by astronomers. However, several variant spellings of the name, including Hailey, Haley, and Hawley, were used interchangeably during the astronomer's own time, a period when spellings even of proper names were not yet fixed, and corresponding pronunciations have survived. The pronunciation    Audio Help   /ˈheɪli/[hey-lee] in particular remains associated with Halley's comet; it is less likely to be heard as a pronunciation of Edmund Halley.