Not directed at any poster, just general:
Why does it matter how your name is spelled or whether people easily know how to pronounce it? Is it that hard to ask how it’s spelled or how to say it? Non-local names often get the same “Hur, hur, U R dum!” or the “UR name is weird so Imma give U a nick!” treatment. My surname is basically phonetic. I myself am not “Dr. V.” Just learn people’s names. No need to insult their parents (or possibly show your ethnocentrism).
I think that in certain circumstances it can get really annoying , and those circumstances are when there are multiple spellings and/or pronunciations of a fairly common name. It’s not hard for someone to ask how Andrea pronounces her ( or his) name - but I bet people with that name wish there was some way to signal which of the multiple pronunciations (at least three) they use. If it was an uncommon name, I might know only one person with it - but I worked with at least 5 people named Andrea and tried to avoid calling them by name because I never could remember who used which. There are at least three ways to spell my first name and two ways to pronounce it - but it’s not terribly common for a person to know more than one of us.
Much like the OP I dislike being called by my government name outside of official context. I prefer Nick, it’s casual, it’s 1 syllable, and quick to write. Many times people try to be quirky and will use my full name, and every time I request to not be called that.
Also IDK where it came from but my past job of 5 years, everyone called me Jimbo. And when I worked with Spanish speakers I was Tortuga which I got that nickname from being the fastest worker, and they had an ironic sense of humor.
Now that’s interesting / funny. A given name available in three different lengths. You were given the intermediate flavor and people screw it up in both directions.
As I noted way upthread my given name is short & simple and one syllable. No diminutive possible. But I forgot until now that there is a longer variation on the same root. Which is not as common as my version but is also hardly rare.
Once in awhile somebody innocently tries to call me the longer form. I don’t get pissy about it, but it’s a strangely unsettling feeling. Almost like they think my actual name isn’t good enough or something. A weird sensation.
In the U.S., it’s stereotypically a common surname for Blacks.
Also not an uncommon given name for black boys. Not so much for babies born recently, but for guys now age 40-80 it was pretty common. While being all but unheard of as a given name among white men or boys of the same era.
Because I want my name to be spelled correctly on whatever form to which it’s being entered. Which is why I ALWAYS tell the person how to spell my name. As I said upthread, there are 3 ways to spell my name, and invariably it’s not spelled correctly…unless I tell them explicitly how it’s spelled.
Believe me when I tell you ‘yes’.
I may not have been clear. I wasn’t suggesting someone misspelling your name is not a problem. I was suggesting that jocular comments about “weirdly spelled” names/they should spell their names “correctly” or not use “made-up” names, are stupid. Pretty sure this is the opposite of what you took from it. And as I said, my surname is often mangled, so yes, I know that people don’t ask or can’t seem to manage the answer.
The name on my birth certificate is “Steven.” From earliest childhood I was always “Steve,” never “Stevie.”
When I was 24, for reasons too complicated to explain here, I decided that “Steven” felt like a better fit. My family & most of my old friends cooperated, but when I met new people and told them I preferred “Steven,” you would have thought I insisted on being called “Mr Lastname.”
Over time I have mellowed.
I’ve known a few girls with that name.
I have a pretty unusual first name. However, I go by a shortened version that is well known by TV buffs. As a youngster, I disliked my first name, but actually like my shortened version as an adult.
Only my wife calls me by my full first name.
I’ve also known a few girls officially named Stephanie who prefer to be called “Stevie,” but they are outliers.
It would have been more entertaining if some of you could have been a little more specific, but I understand protecting your own privacy.
And that gets misspelled as much as “Chastity” does.
I was referring to Neveah. I remember there being a TV character named “Sister Steve” (maybe on the Father Dowling Mysteries?) but don’t know what her full name was. I’ve only heard Steph as short for Stephanie.
Stevie Nicks is the most famous Stephanie called “Stevie”, but I’m sure there are others.
I never knew that was her full name, but it makes sense.
I have the same given name as another guy in our friend group. We compromised: I go by the diminutive, he goes by the full name. Suits me: half the time whenever I’ve been called by the full name, I think I’m in trouble for something.
I have a simple, basic biblical name and I go by either the full name or diminuitive. I don’t care much, I answer to both.
actually her full name is: Stephanie Knickerbocker