A little bit of irony...

[CG]

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...

Amy Dacyczyn wrote in one of her books that when she called the electric company and asked to change her name to that from something simple, like Davis, as she was getting married, the lady asked her if she was sure she wanted to change her name.

[baglady]

I've met a family named Jendrzejczak. I live near a town called Schaghticoke. Nothing fazes me anymore!

(Jen-DRAY-zhak and SKAT-ih-coke, if anyone's wondering.)

My last name (which I got from ex-DH and didn't bother to get rid of when we divorced) is just unusual enough to get mangled regularly. It's something like Bloomberg that gets corrupted to Bluebird or Blofeld. Most of the time I spell it, unless the person is a friend or an existing professional connection ("Hi, this is Baglady Bloomberg; I'm Dr. X's patient and I need ... .")

There are so many variations on even the simplest names that I've found it never hurts to ask, even for the most obvious names. "Is that Brown with or without an E? Diane with one N or two? Mark with a K or Marc with a C? Peterson with an O-N or an E-N?"

[purplemuse]

Not a spelling issue, but ironic all the same.

My maiden name was a short, simple, common last name-- not quite "Smith" or "Jones," but close. I was always being asked if I was related to Soandso Maidenname, and it was only rarely (if ever) that I was.

I married into an 11-letter Polish monstrosity of a name (I say that with affection, I love my last name), and thought the days of "Are you related to so-and-so?" were over.

Not so much. Mr. Muse and I happened to move into an area with a long-established family that shares our last name. So everywhere I go, I'm still asked if I'm related to someone I've never heard of. At least it's a new experience for Mr. Muse, I guess...

[Mental Magpie]

Not a spelling issue, but ironic all the same.

My maiden name was a short, simple, common last name-- not quite "Smith" or "Jones," but close. I was always being asked if I was related to Soandso Maidenname, and it was only rarely (if ever) that I was.

I married into an 11-letter Polish monstrosity of a name (I say that with affection, I love my last name), and thought the days of "Are you related to so-and-so?" were over.

Not so much. Mr. Muse and I happened to move into an area with a long-established family that shares our last name. So everywhere I go, I'm still asked if I'm related to someone I've never heard of. At least it's a new experience for Mr. Muse, I guess...

I get asked if I'm related to people simple because you don't run across my name all that often, so the chances are slim.  However, in the two previous towns in which I've lived, when asked, it was always my mom, sister, dad, or uncle to whom the people were asking if I was related.  I've only ever been asked on Facebook if I'm related to people I don't know.

[mechtilde]

I have a German surname. I get fewer mis-spellings from Brits than Germans. It is one letter away from a very common surname, and for some reason they just can't cope with it.