Vent: That's NOT My Name!

[ccnumber4]

My name is a relatively common, 3-syallable American name, and I have never had any trouble with people pronouncing it.  I feel for you all, though. 

My last name is of German origin but with an Americanized spelling, so I never expect anyone to get it right the first time.  I am not usually disappointed. 

[Brentwood]

My aunt is named Jeanne pronounced Jeanie, my Grandmother and friend are named Jeanne pronounced Jean.
My Grandma always complains that people don't spell her name the correct *French* spelling, but then she went ahead and named my mom Carole and is amazed that people drop the E.

My name is Kathleen - but the only person who ever calls me that is my mother and only then when I was in some sort of trouble so I haven't heard that in quite a few years.
I am NOT a Kathy, despite what my h.s. guidance counselor tried to suggest, but after all this is the same woman who tried to undermine my mom's authority telling me that I didn't have to take band if *I* didn't want to despite the fact that my mom had JUST said that since i had an instrument which was already paid for I WOULD be taking band next year.  I was very tempted to say I didn't want to take the class (I really didn't) just to watch my mom flip out on the g.c. 
You can call me Katie or Kate I answer to both equally, unless you are my boyfriend don't call me Kat.  I am also not KT, Katy, K, Kay or Kates

I'm a Catherine. I go by Cathy, Cath, or Catherine - any of those is fine (most people call me Cathy). But DO NOT call me Cat! No one is allowed to do that. I can't stand it.

I also don't like it when I introduce myself as Cathy and someone takes it upon herself to refer to me as Cathleen. It's a perfectly nice name, but it's not mine. And the people who can't pronounce Catherine, turning it into "Cath-er-EEN".

[auntmeegs]

My name is Regan, but it is pronounced "Reegan" (with a 'long' e).  Of course, because of the way my name is spelled,  I don't expect anyone to know this automatically.  But I have a co-worker, whom I see and interact with 5 days a week, who repeatedly calls me Regan (with a soft e) even though I have reminded him countless times about the real pronunciation.  He says, "that's silly.  You can't expect me to remember that."  or "why did your parents do that, shouldn't they have spelled it differently?" Or he will greatly exaggerate the "eeeee" sound, "hey REEEEEEgan, can I borrow your folder on XYZ account?"  It's so childish and obnoxious and disrespectful.  It's not like it's THAT weird or unusual or difficult.  Now when he doesn't pronounce my name correctly, I simply don't answer him until he says it right. 

[Linley]

I'm Caroline, correct pronunciation Caroleen (French pronunciation) not a problem in most of Europe, but the English pronunciation of is Caro-line, not correct. To compound matters, the real pronunciation being such a difficulty, I use as my anglicized pronunciation Caro-lynn, usually spelled Carolyn. So I half of my friends cannot spell it, the other half pronounce it incorrectly (or when I tell them the real pronunciation go out of their way to over-enunciate it, which annoys me) and I just don't care anymore, I answer to anything vaguely resembling my correct name.

Also I have a friend Jean, who is constantly mistaken for a boy since that is the male French spelling and has it pronounced that way, not as Jeanne, as it should be.

[DottyG]

not as Jeanne, as it should be.

Just a quick note that "Jeanne" is not always said in a certain way, either.  I work with one, and it's pronounced like "John" (but with a bit of a "shzuh" sound for the "J")

[Xanthia, Maker of fine Tin-foil hats since 2007]

not as Jeanne, as it should be.

Just a quick note that "Jeanne" is not always said in a certain way, either.  I work with one, and it's pronounced like "John" (but with a bit of a "shzuh" sound for the "J")

That name and pronunciation is common for girls in N.O.  Jeanne' Claire would have been my Girls name if I had decided to have children.

[DottyG]

That name and pronunciation is common for girls in N.O.

Exactly.  That's why she's named that.

[housewife2k]

Lena-Andrea, prounounced, most acurately-LAYnuh awhnDRAYuh. To really prounounce it correctly you need to slightly roll the N in Lena-giving it a slight 'y' sound, kind a nyuh. With Andrea, roll the 'r'. My Great grandma, the gypsy, was key to naming me, I love my name, but there were times when it was heck to have. Most people assume it's just Lena, not hyphenated, and that Andrea is my middlename. Family and friends call me Lena, but I introduce my self Lena-Andrea lastname, I sign Lena-Andrea lastname, it's Lena-Andrea.  Being I live in MN, most commonly I am called LEEna, but I also get lenna, lana, alana, and my personal favorites, Leah, Leanne, and Lian. I have been told that I misspelled my own name, by Gov't officials, that my mom must have misspelled it, the list goes on.  
For a while, some friends decided to call me "Nandy"...that didn't fly.  I have no problems correcting my name, but I shouldn't have to tell you everytime. My MIL is still prone to spell it wrong.

[NEDESAPIO]

This is more of a vent than anything else.  I have an unusual name (not unusual in my original country, but unusual here).  I understand that it's hard to pronounce, and I don't mind if people ask me repeatedly how to pronounce it, or if they don't always get it right.  But I have run into a couple of people now who have "given" me American name or nicknames just because they don't want to try to pronounce my name, and then get all put out when I correct them. 

No, you don't get to give me another name just because you don't want to try to pronounce mine! 

You're absolutely right.  On a lighter note, your story reminded me of an old Groucho Marx routine I heard on the radio.  Groucho's guest was the Italian opera singer Ezio Pinza.  Groucho couldn't pronounce this so he said to Pinza, "Can I just call you Sam?" 

[Crazy TKD_girl]

People call me Christine. That's not my name. My name is Christina. There's an 'ah' sound at the end, not an 'een'. I've given up on trying to  get people to call me by my real name. I'll answer to anything starting with 'Chris'.

And, don't call me Chris, either. That's my cousin's name, not mine. Only 2 people have ever called me Chris: my 6th grade art teacher & my TKD instructor-- and they are the ONLY ones to do so.

[NYGirl100]

This is more of a vent than anything else.  I have an unusual name (not unusual in my original country, but unusual here).  I understand that it's hard to pronounce, and I don't mind if people ask me repeatedly how to pronounce it, or if they don't always get it right.  But I have run into a couple of people now who have "given" me American name or nicknames just because they don't want to try to pronounce my name, and then get all put out when I correct them. 

No, you don't get to give me another name just because you don't want to try to pronounce mine! 

You're absolutely right.  On a lighter note, your story reminded me of an old Groucho Marx routine I heard on the radio.  Groucho's guest was the Italian opera singer Ezio Pinza.  Groucho couldn't pronounce this so he said to Pinza, "Can I just call you Sam?" 

That's really funny.    That's pretty much what happened to me, since the American name has nothing to do with my name at all - it's just something the person picked out of the blue.  I hate the American name more than the nickname.   At least the nickname is somewhat related to my name.  If I wanted an American name, I could've picked one myself, thank you. 

Edited to add: The person who wanted to call me by a random American name actually said that he was doing me a favor because people will never think of me as an American if I don't have an American name.  I resisted the urge to bash him over the head. 

[Suze]

one of the ladies that I worked with called her husband "Sam"  (His name was William David)

She didn't like any of the short names he usually went by (Bill, or family called him Willie David)

Talk about embarrassing when I saw him around and called him Sam.

[goblue2539]

Being on the phone most of the time, I get a ton of variations that could maybe be my name, but aren't.  And some that aren't even close.  I'm Stephanie. 

Not... Tiffany, Bethany, Daphne, Denise, Susan, Sarah, Stacy, Darlene, Jennifer, Jessica, Julie, Samantha, or Serena. 

And heaven help you if you call me Stephie and you're not my uncle. 

[ItZWhoUKnow]

My poor husbands name is Christiaan....The two A's are supposed to be there. It's pronounced Christian but people just love to call him Christie-ahn or they just ask if he spelled his name wrong.

He's in the military and he gets papers sent back to him all the time so he can correct his signature.

[auntmeegs]

My poor husbands name is Christiaan....The two A's are supposed to be there. It's pronounced Christian but people just love to call him Christie-ahn or they just ask if he spelled his name wrong.

He's in the military and he gets papers sent back to him all the time so he can correct his signature.

That's a Dutch spelling, right?   I think it's nice.