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> /ʒ/ does not occur in word-initial position in English

I never noticed that until now. While it's obviously not an English word, plenty of English speakers have discussed French explorer Jacques Cousteau. I can't think of any other examples.

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"genre" is one of the few.

One of the languages I know allows for a word-initial /ŋ/, which English does not have at all.

New Zealand English (through Māori influence) has this, in names like Ngaire and places like Ngaio. This said, a lot (perhaps most, though it'll be regional I expect) of speakers will pronounce it as though the 'g' isn't present.

A couple of years ago I had a geology class in which the lecturer (albeit a non-New Zealander) consistently pronounced Ngāuruhoe with initial /n/. Interesting to know that New Zealanders pronounce it with /ɡ/ instead. (I, of course, pedant that I am, insisted on pronouncing it with an initial /ŋ/.)

Ah, good call.

Vietnamese, by chance? I'm guessing that because the only initial /ŋ/ word on my radar is the name Nguyen.

Jean Luc Picard is a well-known name from fiction, too.

... and it bothers me a lot how it's consistently mispronounced as John-Luc in the eponymous series.

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