Question Of The Day - Thursday 22 Feb

[GemsGem]

hi everyone


Today's question is about people misspelling your name.

Do you have a name that people misspell ?
If, so how often do people misspell your name wrong ?


My name is Gemma. But, it can also be spelt with a J - Jemma. I'd say people get it wrong most of the time. I just automatically say Gemma with a G now, whenever someone's writing my name. It's just easier than having to correct them

 

[Brian007]

My surname is the bane of my life and I'm seriously considering dropping it altogether and using my middle name as my surname. I mentioned this to my dad recently, thinking he would disapprove, and he said, "yeah, go for it".

I don't even know how to pronounce my surname! My dad changed the inflection when he was a young man, so I was brought up thinking it was pronounced in this silly way. On the Isle of Wight, where the name (and my dad) originates, and there's even a road named it, everyone pronounces it differently. I've started trying to pronounce it the way that the islanders do but end up getting confused half way through and stumbling.

It's embarrassing not feeling competent at pronouncing one's own name.

My first name is also a pain as everyone is called it. I've also thought for a long time about dropping this name too and just going by my middle name. Maybe I should drop both my first name and my surname? Heehee.

 

[artiemom]

My last name is the bane of my existence.. It is original, never changed.. goes back a few centuries.. however, no one can pronounce it, when they see it written.

When they do hear it, they say, Wow!! that is so easy!!! but to spell it--no way!!
It is short but has a strange consonant in the middle of it, which gets in everyones way!!

My mom used to tell this story: When she was going to Mass General Hospital for her Radiation Therapy, the tech would call people in.. Well, when it came to my mom, the tech did not even chance it.. She bypassed the last name (and the first-do not know why) and just called out our home address!!! Funny!!!

Honestly, it has gotten to a point, that I do not even mind.. I laugh, or just go by my first name.. automatically spelling my last...

 

[raysmyheart]

My first name has always been misspelled, it is an understandable error for my first name. It never bothers me however.

 

[Lari]

Oh yes. Lari is my nickname (has been since I was a freshman in hs and decided I wanted a nickname), and it is quite often misspelled or mispronounced.

And my last name, too. It's an Eastern European name that begins with a vowel and no one can spell it or say it. Or even figure out the first letter. Adults at least. People always ask if my students have trouble, but minus the few that have speech difficulties in general, they handle it a lot better than the general public I interact with.

Despite that, I love my name. It's mine and I've had it so long I'll keep it if/when I get married.

 

[Kieka]

I get the usual confusion of the first letter could be one or another, plus it is similar enough to other names from the same root that they mishear it. Nothing terrible horrible and I usually can figure it out. Last name, I typically get people asking if they say it right and its usually wrong. Its a short one too, my Moms maiden is 15 letters but never mispronounced go figure.

I do remember in high school a friend named Dung always having problems. It is pronounced "Yoong" (with the oo being like zoo). But roll call was always awkward for her. Especially since the teachers assumed male so they would skip the first and ask "Mr Lam." She had it legally changed the second she could. She told me once it even hurt her on applications for jobs because when she turned in ones saying Dung she never got a call, but for the same jobs with the same resume only a name change different she'd get a call.

 

[Kreatorcat]

When asked my name,I say "Martin". More often than not,they say "Mark?" So I have had to start saying "Mar-ten".

I should just go back to saying "Marty".

 

[sivyaleah]

Ok, so Laurie here.

Lori
Lorrie
Lauri
Lauree
Laurey
Laury

And so forth.

So many of my friends from childhood still will spell it as "Lori". It makes me crazy. Especially because I have an extremely unique last name (only our family has it, and there aren't many of us left). That, they spell right. But not my first name

/smdh

 

[Mother Dragon]

Both my middle name (the one I go by) and my last name have unusual spellings. They are almost never spelled correctly, even when people see them written. When I have to fill out forms, I make the final "A" larger than the rest of the letters and sometimes even underline it. The same with my given middle name. Fortunately, I usually go by my nickname.

When I signed up for Medicare, the government insisted that I go by my first name, which I hate. To make matters worse, it's always mispronounced with along "E", which is the Spanish way of pronouncing it. I pronounce it with a long "I". I keep thinking I'm going to change it to the way my driver's license has had it for over 50 years with my middle name, my maiden name and my last name. I guess I should quit complaining and make the change because I cringe every time I hear a name I hate always mispronounced. Sometimes I just don't want to answer.

 

[cassiopea]

My first name is Cora - it isn't unusual for people to think it is spelled Korra. Even on my voting card it is often spelled that way, despite having it be corrected three times now. Or, assume or mishear and that I am called Laura. People either think it is beautiful and different or weird.

My Finnish name is Kastahelmi, which in Finland is totally fine but I don't even try here, unless someone was in the mood to enjoy a tongue twister.

Although my last name takes the cake (Finnish and Irish hyphenate name. When my parents married my mom kept her name and I inherited both my parents last names) The names are not even that bad whatsoever, especially the Irish one, considering there are a few of them in the general population in this country. But I reckon it is just how it is. Everyone in North America has a very hard time with it. Even in High School, not even the teachers said my name. I was the Cher...I was simply known as "Cora" even during announcements. (In middle school my Finnish name was heavily mocked and made fun of)

Until I visit Europe Which is of course not a surprise. All Europeans regardless of country or origin were able to say both names equally effortlessly and beautifully, just by reading it on the first go or hearing it once the first time. Not a peep, not a comment on how odd or difficult it was, no snipe comments about my mom's choice, no explanations needed to be given. Just a normal name. *Sniff* it was absolutely magnificent. At most, I did get some nice inquiries from airport employees looking at my passport "Oh, you have a Finnish name, how cool!" "I notice your last name is Irish! Whereabouts is your family from?"

In any case I am pretty proud of my very unique name! It is never going anywhere even after marriage.

 

[neely]

Count me in for people misspelling my first name. Even when it's spelled correctly they pronounce it wrong. What makes me even more irate is that my parents gave my sister a very simple four letter name.

 

[MoochNNoodles]

Yes fairly often because there are several ways to spell my name. I just go ahead and spell it out for people when I'm giving my information at like doctor's offices and things like that. Even some of my relatives spell it wrong.

 

[Winchester]

Nope. How would one mispronounce "Pam"?

Although people have tried to spell "Pamela" as "Pamala". I don't quite understand that.

My last (married) name can be a little tricky.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

No. Both my names are ones that have been around for years.

 

[verna davies]

My first name is always being spelt wrong and often pronounced wrong. I gave up correcting people a long time ago and now just answer to anything

 

[aliceneko]

My name is Alice and it's quite common here in the UK so I haven't had any ongoing issues with it, though since there are alternative spellings of Alice I have gotten my name spelt as Alyce before. I also had Ales at Starbucks once, no idea where they heard that from!

 

[jcat]

The vast majority of Germans misspell my first name, but my last name is very easy (unlike my maiden name, which everybody misspelled and mispronounced).

 

[amysuen]

Nope. Amy is pretty straightforward, although recently I've been saying "Amy with a Y" because there are so many variations.

When we picked names for our kids I insisted on a longer "formal" name they could shorten because you can't do anything with Amy, and "Dr. Amy" doesn't sound very impressive. Not that I'm a Dr. ...

 

[betsygee]

Yep--people are always misspelling my first and last names.

 

[muffy]

It is pretty hard to misspell Ellen but people are always asking me how do I spell it. That is the only way I've ever seen it spelled. Execpt ellen spells it with a little e.