Since my last name is both long and very uncommon, it bugs me when I have to frequently spell it for other people, usually over the phone. Not a big deal, but one of life’s minor annoyances.
How do you feel about this?
Its a long name, and I have a decent short cut for spelling the last name (I spell out the 1st 4 letters, and then say the last word).
My first name is very common, but it has about 15 different ways it can be spelled so I always have to spell it out when correct spelling matters. Last name is uncommon but sounds like it should be spelled a different way, so I have to spell out that one, too. Doesn’t really bother me much, though.
My name isn’t difficult, but it is easily misspelled, and no, I don’t have a problem spelling it.
Don’t assume you wouldn’t have to spell it if yours was more simple. My last name is only 4 letters and a common English word and I still spell it every single time I say it to a new person because there is about a 75% chance they are going to ask me to anyway.
My family name is very rare and not obvious how to spell. I have spelled it out on the phone about 7 trillion times. It doesn’t bother me, I would never expect anyone to know how to spell it.
Roddy
My first name is fairly common, but do to all the “unique” and “creative” spellings that have come about of late, I constantly have to spell it for people.
Maybe I should just change it to Wyndeigh. Apparently that’d be less shocking than plain ol’ Wendy.
My last name is 3 letters long and I usually have to spell it for people. It only annoys me when I have to spell it for them numerous times.
My first name is Russell. I will never understand why 90% of people try to spell it with one L. That one annoys me to no end.
Yeah, but, if your name is only 4 letter long, even if you have to spell it every time, it’s so much easier to spell than a long name. Saying ‘Bush, b-u-s-h’ is much more likely to result in the listener remembering it all and writing it down.
If you had to say something like ‘Buschenmeister, B-u-s-c-h-e-n-m-e-i-s-t-e-r’, you would have to say it very slowly, and pause at times, to make sure the listener gets every letter correct. And it gets worse when your name has letters like ‘p’/‘b’ or ‘m’/‘n’ or ‘f’/‘s’ because over the phone it’s hard to tell which one you are saying, so you have to say things like ‘p as in Peter’ and ‘n as in Nancy’, which slows you down even more.
My dad’s name was Thaddeus, my mom’s name is Loretta, my first name has 2 spellings, our last name is Polish (nationality, not the name itself), we lived on Amuskai Road, so I pretty much spent my youth spelling everything.
My married name is 4 letters, very simple, but I still spell it to be safe. I also spell our road name because it could be one word or two, and the second half is often confused with a rhyming word that also works with the first half. I have to spell my husband’s name because it has 2 common spelling, as does my daughter’s name.
It’ll never end.
One thing that has changed over the last several years is that I think this problem does not happen as often, ever since we moved from communicating with companies by calling 1-800 numbers to primarily filling out forms online and/or emailing them.
I voted “somewhat” but really the only time it bothers me is when people don’t ask, and assume they can spell my first name and just type it in incorrectly. I’ll have to spell it for them anyhow eventually, I prefer they just ask up front.
Overall the inconvenience is more than offset by being the only person in the world with my first+last name combo. Very helpful when you are trying to merge frequent flyer accounts.
Yes. What bothers me is that my name is neither long nor difficult, and is in fact spelled exactly like it sounds and pronounced exactly like it’s spelled, and about 50% of people either spell or pronounce it wrong. I blame the incredibly stupid orthography rules of English. People second guess themselves. My name doesn’t have a single extra letter in it, no confusing dipthongs, no oddball letter combinations, rhymes with common words, and people still spell it wrong.
Reminds of whoever it was on here who said Hayden was a bad name for a child because people wouldn’t know how to spell it.
My name isn’t really complicated - it’s perfectly phonetic English - but it’s close enough to another, more common construction that most people transpose some letters. There’s also an actress with a similar but not the same name - who a lot of people think I superficially resemble (not enough to be mistaken for her by any means, but just close enough that people (un?)consciously use her as a mnemonic to remember me) - and I sometimes get mail under her last name. :smack:
It’s not a big deal, but I do spell it for people as a matter of course. The phone spelling is a little more annoying, because half of the letters are of the “D-as-in-dog” variety.
It’s not nearly as annoying as my maiden name, which is a very, very common first name for men. I was *always *hunting down misfiled files which were filed as if my last name was my first. :smack:
My name sounds like a top 25 common US last name but it’s spelled entirely differently so I always spell it when asked. I don’t even bother pronouncing it; it just confuses your average data monkey.
I have an unusual, 3 syllable, last name, but it is spelled just as it sounds. Invariably, people want to complicate it and thus I have to regularly spell it for them. I have gotten used to it, so, no, it doesn’t bother me, but is good for a laugh every once in a while, on how people attempt to spell it.
This. My first name is Adrienne, and just about every idiot who reads it will call me Andrea, or Andrienne (which, wtf?). And then after I correct them I get to fake laugh when they make the obligatory Rocky joke. I really hated my name when I was a kid. I always knew when the teacher was about to call my name on the first day of school, because he/she would pause and then start with the, “An, Andr, Aria…” and me, “It’s Adrienne.”
This is why I hate it when Starbucks asks for my name to write on the stupid cup. If I tell them, I get to carry around a cup that says, “Andrien.” That’s when I use my Starbucks alias, “Jen.”
Hmmm, Kirsten vs Kristen (and the actress is Kirsten Dunst)?
It really surprises me that people have problems with the name Adrienne. I mean, it’s not super common, but hardly rare. I love that name.
Now my name is long and only has one vowel and it seems like there should be two more vowels in it. So I am used to spelling it and to having people get it wrong. No big deal