A little bit of irony...

[Mental Magpie]

I received a bit of mail today from The Emily Post Institute.  When they offered to send the book to me and asked for my information, I typed it out for them in an e-mail.

They spelled my first name wrong; a common mistake because it's like "Anne" or "Ann".  However, they didn't spell my last name wrong, which is a 10 letter uncommon last name beginning with Z.  I just think it's funny that:
1.  They were able to look at the e-mail for the last name, but not for the first name.
2.  It's a little bit funny that this is coming from The Emily Post Institute (but yes, I realize they're human and do make mistakes)
3.  The simple first name was misspelled but the complicated last name was perfect.

Any body else have funny stories about their names?  I have some about funny misspellings, but that may be revealing too much.

[Ruelz]

My example isn't all that funny...but I have a very short, easy to pronounce, one syllable last name...

I can't believe some of the pronounciations I've had over the years (or how many people insist on pronouncing it incorrectly after I've pronounced it clearly first)...and how many syllables some people managed to get in...

Ex.  Think 'Smith' and pronounce it 'Smeye-EEt -it'

[Mental Magpie]

I think it's a funny story.  I have a few different friends, all unrelated, with the last name Moore.  It's surprising how often that is mispronounced.

Not all that funny...but I have a very short, easy to pronounce, one syllable last name...

I can't believe some of the pronounciations I've had over the years (or how many people insist on pronouncing it incorrectly after I've pronounced it clearly first)...and how many syllables some people managed to get in...

Ex.  Think 'Smith' and pronounce it 'Smeye-EEt -it'

That is one of my pet peeves.  I understand once I immediately say it that people are going to try out it, and I will help them along, but once I've said it a few times and people don't even bother to try to get it right, I get quite annoyed.  I even given people rhyming words to help them and they can't bother to try; to me that says, "I don't care about you."

[Wonderflonium]

My last name is a fairly simple British last name. It's pronounced exactly as it's spelled. It's 1 letter off from a very common word (first letter is different, all the other letters are the same). And yet, almost NO ONE pronounces it correctly after reading it.  One of my friends has a similar problem. Her married last name is 1 letter off (first letter) from a very common last name that has also become a common first name, and yet, people always mispronounce it. I don't understand why!

[2littlemonkeys]

My example isn't all that funny...but I have a very short, easy to pronounce, one syllable last name...

I can't believe some of the pronounciations I've had over the years (or how many people insist on pronouncing it incorrectly after I've pronounced it clearly first)...and how many syllables some people managed to get in...

Ex.  Think 'Smith' and pronounce it 'Smeye-EEt -it'

My maiden name was the same way.  It's actually the plural of a common noun (think, Bridges).  It was pronounced all sorts of ways, and mostly by way of reading it from a list.  Briggs.  Burgess.  Bridget.  Barge.  I never really understood that.

[glacio]

I currently live in an area that is heavily Spanish speaking and my poor German-American (made up in the 1700s) have been butchered beyond all recognition. Most people don't even try to say it because meany cannot say it. It is a sound that does not exist in Spanish and is not even common in English.

Additionally, my first name also starts with a sound that is not common in Spanish and so it is also generally mispronounced although in a very subtle way.

Since people have trouble saying my name, spelling them is almost impossible. People (like at doctor's appointments) give up and just hand me a piece of paper to write it down. I've learned not to take it personally.

[Mental Magpie]

I currently live in an area that is heavily Spanish speaking and my poor German-American (made up in the 1700s) have been butchered beyond all recognition. Most people don't even try to say it because meany cannot say it. It is a sound that does not exist in Spanish and is not even common in English.

Additionally, my first name also starts with a sound that is not common in Spanish and so it is also generally mispronounced although in a very subtle way.

Since people have trouble saying my name, spelling them is almost impossible. People (like at doctor's appointments) give up and just hand me a piece of paper to write it down. I've learned not to take it personally.

I also have a German-American last name.  It has fortunately been Anglacized and thus something with an ess-tset (the funny B looking symbol) has been turned into just a double ss and the German pronunciation of the letter "u" has been changed to "oo".

When someone asks for my name because he or she is going to record it for whatever the reason, I don't even bother saying it; I just start spelling it.  Then, when I finish, I chuckle and say, "Aren't you glad I just started spelling it?"  I haven't met a person that wasn't.  Usually I get asked how to pronounce it, so I do, and the person says, "Well, it's just like its spelled."  It really is.

I almost never take it personally, only when it is a dismissal do I care.

[Reika]

My first name is not uncommon, nor is it exactly common, it's only 5 letters long and in general fairly easy for most people to pronounce. I prefer to go by the three letter, 1 syllable long nickname. Easy, right?

I wish.

I've gotten called Veronica, Betty, Carol, Rachel etc. And my first name doesn't start with any of those letters and they're way longer than what I use when answering the phone at work. And I've been told that I have one of those "generic Midwestern accents", even though I've never lived out there, but it's probably because I've been working in call centers for so long that I've worked to keep from having an accent. So it's not how I say things.

[GreenEyedHawk]

 My father's name is Clarence, but he periodically gets letters addressed to "Clearance".

[Mental Magpie]

My father's name is Clarence, but he periodically gets letters addressed to "Clearance".

That's funny, I'm not going to lie.

We've got our clearance, Clarence. (I couldn't resist, I'm sorry)

ETA: typo

[Piratelvr1121]

DH's surname is very similar to the name of a tropical fruit only with two of the letters switched and many, many times people read it wrong and will ask for "Mr. Fruit".   He's so used to it that it doesn't even bother him anymore.

[Sirius]

A sergeant I used to work with found out how dangerous it can be to use an example for his name.  His name was Graham, and I happened to overhear him telling someone who was supposed to send him a fax, "My name is Graham, like the cracker."

The fax came addressed to Sergeant Cracker.

[CakeBeret]

People seem to be afraid of pronouncing my last name correctly, because I think they're afraid of offending me. Let's say it's Cow. I introduce myself, "Hello, my name is Cake Cow." And every time they refer to my name they mispronounce it. It's COW. C-O-W. Like the animal. Moo. Please don't deliberately mispronounce it if I've already pronounced it--and spelled it!--for you.

[Mental Magpie]

A sergeant I used to work with found out how dangerous it can be to use an example for his name.  His name was Graham, and I happened to overhear him telling someone who was supposed to send him a fax, "My name is Graham, like the cracker."

The fax came addressed to Sergeant Cracker.

That's awesome!  I would have died laughing if I were him.

People seem to be afraid of pronouncing my last name correctly, because I think they're afraid of offending me. Let's say it's Cow. I introduce myself, "Hello, my name is Cake Cow." And every time they refer to my name they mispronounce it. It's COW. C-O-W. Like the animal. Moo. Please don't deliberately mispronounce it if I've already pronounced it--and spelled it!--for you.

It's like people see Z at the beginning of my last name, a lot of letters (10 total), and they panic.  I cannot see why they would panic with yours, but they obviously do...

[Reika]

I once had a coworker named Petchula, every call she had, she had to spell her name. Sometimes more than once. Not surprisingly, most of the faxes to her were misspelled.

The two I remember best was Spatula, and Cthula. I thought Cthula was the best, even if I had to explain the whole Cthulhu mythos thing. She was quiet for a moment, then commented, "You know, I could live with being an evil, elder goddess. Then maybe these people won't get on my nerves so much."