# I'm tired of people getting my name wrong **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 23, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778 "2010-09-23T16:03:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/41 "2010-09-23T23:21:17Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > My first name has two common spellings, one with a c and one with a k. Mine is the latter, so I generally have to correct people on it, but it’s easy to say “FirstName-with-a-k” and people figure it out pretty quickly. > > The fun begins with my last name…starts with a C, but the pronunciation is “kay—”. People invariably start writing a K before I get a chance to start spelling it after I say it, but if I just start spelling without saying the name first, people get really confused. > > So, in sum, it’s FirstName-with-a-k, LastName-with-a-c. Got it? > > Also, my last name is pronounced kind of, but not really, like a first name, so some idiots call me that name sometimes. Odds are, though, people have at least subbed in a short A for a long one in my last name. Hi, Karl. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/42 "2010-09-23T23:30:48Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > How? Does the mispronunciation rhyme with “how”? Yep. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2010, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/43 "2010-09-23T23:40:37Z")
I am Jesse. Not Jessie, Jessica, Jeffery, Jeffeny (seriously!) JEFFENY ISN’T EVEN A REAL NAME YOU DICKS ahhhhh… Sorry it happens all the time. People constantly spell my name like a girl’s name. I am not a girl, never have been. And not just strangers, but coworkers too! There was one guy who could never email me because my name didn’t spell right to him in the directory or something, so he’d always do a reply to a previous email. THEN he would spell it “Jessie” oh man I wanted to kill him. It’s not that hard to spell. J as in Jay. E as in eye. S as in sea. S as in sea. E as in eye. Simple! ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/44 "2010-09-24T00:20:19Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > > [@mnemosyne](#): > > > > My first name has two common spellings, one with a c and one with a k. Mine is the latter, so I generally have to correct people on it, but it’s easy to say “FirstName-with-a-k” and people figure it out pretty quickly. > > > > The fun begins with my last name…starts with a C, but the pronunciation is “kay—”. People invariably start writing a K before I get a chance to start spelling it after I say it, but if I just start spelling without saying the name first, people get really confused. > > > > So, in sum, it’s FirstName-with-a-k, LastName-with-a-c. Got it? > > > > Also, my last name is pronounced kind of, but not really, like a first name, so some idiots call me that name sometimes. Odds are, though, people have at least subbed in a short A for a long one in my last name. > > Hi, Karl. 😃 Wrong gender! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/45 "2010-09-24T00:27:57Z")
I’m with you, Jesse and others like you. My name is Tracey - maybe not THE most common variation, but pretty damned common. If I had a nickel for every time it was spelled without the “e”, I’d be fairly rich. The real kicker is the emails, when people can see the correct spelling of my name TWO MILLIMETERS away from what they’re writing, and still mis-spell it. I’m very careful to check the spelling on people’s names, probably because I know what a pain in the ass it is to go through life with your name constantly being mis-spelled. ---
**Author:** ![velvetjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/5f9b8f/32.png) [@velvetjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/velvetjones)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/46 "2010-09-24T00:33:59Z")
My last name has two variants, one with an S on the end (not mine) and mine, the one without the S on the end. A few years back I was visiting a specialist on the recommendation of my family Dr. I called and made an appointment. When I got there I filled out the requisite forms for a new patient. When I went to check out at the end of the visit I saw that someone had penciled in an S on the end of my last name. I’m sure they did this so it would match the name that whomever took my appointment put in the computer but, seriously folks, did they really think I’d spelled my own name wrong? I asked them to fix it and they did. To this day, close friends still get my name wrong. Co-workers with whom I’ve worked for years and years, add the S to the end. Yes, it’s annoying. P. S. My first name is Julie. I had a regular gig where the owner was French. When he made my check out at the end of the night he always spelled my name July. I didn’t have the heart to correct him. The bank always deposited the checks. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/47 "2010-09-24T00:37:20Z")
Gees, TND why are you so sensitive? ---
**Author:** ![missred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/missred/32/14096_2.png) [@missred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/missred)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/48 "2010-09-24T00:47:39Z")
> [@Haunted\_Pasta](#): > > My last name should be easy. It’s five letters long. Two syllables. Consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel-consonant. According to the rules of phonics we all learned in first grade, the pronunciation on that first vowel should be long, right? Like in the word “boner.” You wouldn’t say “Man, I’ve got a total BON-ner after seeing your grandmother’s underwear drying on the line.” No, you’d say it gave you a BO-ner. > > And yet my name frequently gets the equivalent of the BON-ner treatment. Sis? Dad? 😛 I get the same thing. Even when I give a spelling / pronounciation, people will usually get it wrong. I actually use another name when performing that is almost twice as long, but has never, ever been mispronounced or misspelled. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/49 "2010-09-24T02:47:05Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > I am Jesse. Not Jessie, Jessica, Jeffery, Jeffeny (seriously!) JEFFENY ISN’T EVEN A REAL NAME YOU DICKS ahhhhh… Sorry it happens all the time. People constantly spell my name like a girl’s name. I am not a girl, never have been. And not just strangers, but coworkers too! There was one guy who could never email me because my name didn’t spell right to him in the directory or something, so he’d always do a reply to a previous email. THEN he would spell it “Jessie” oh man I wanted to kill him. > > It’s not that hard to spell. J as in Jay. E as in eye. S as in sea. S as in sea. E as in eye. Simple! Blame Rick Springfield for the confusion. He’s the one who spelled it wrong in “Jessie’s Girl.” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/50 "2010-09-24T02:58:58Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > > [@Chefguy](#): > > > > Hi, Karl. 😃 > > Wrong gender! 😉 Oops, sorry Kristine. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Cymbeline](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_cymbeline/32/9244_2.png) [@Green\_Cymbeline](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Cymbeline)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/51 "2010-09-24T03:12:17Z")
Not as bad as some of you, but my name is Brooke (I’m female) and it is very often misspelled Brook, often by people responding to e-mails where my name is spelled correctly in my e-mail address! And another one that perturbs me is when people call me “Brooks” or spell it with an s. Brooks??? WTF? I also receive telemarketing calls and junk mail for Mr. Brooke [Lastname]. ---
**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/52 "2010-09-24T03:41:10Z")
My last name is a common, short English word with only one spelling, no variants. For some reason, people can’t pronounce it when they see it written (the upper-case first letter somehow throws them) and they can’t write it when I dictate it to them unless I spell it out. And then they always add an “s” on the end. ---
**Author:** ![RadicalPi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/radicalpi/32/9806_2.png) [@RadicalPi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RadicalPi)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/53 "2010-09-24T04:14:48Z")
Very few people can spell or pronounce my last name. It isn’t objectively difficult. Neither of the two syllables is rare in English; it’s just that when you put the two together, people tend to get it hopelessly wrong. It used to really get to me. Then, a few years ago, I pretty much decided I didn’t care. I stopped spelling it out (except for official records), I stopped correcting people who pronounced it wrong, I changed the subject when people asked. The variety of spellings and pronunciations that I have read and heard has more or less become a personal running joke. The key highlight: about a few months ago, I was at a party, and someone for some reason called me by my last name to ask me something. Then someone else turned to him and told him that he was pronouncing my name wrong. A third person then chimed in with yet another pronunciation. Thus ensued a five-minute conversation among these people with me pretending to be engaged with some friends mine so that I couldn’t just go over to them and end the debate, listening to them argue about my name for a full five minutes. Needless to say, even though all three of them were certain that they were right, not one of them was. It was hilarious. Sometimes it does get to me, though, especially with people I consider close. I dated a girl who for years always had to ask me how to spell my last name. On the other hand, she never remembered my birthday, either. She was always off by two days, either before or after. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/54 "2010-09-24T07:12:10Z")
My last name is a noun five letters long. People always ask me how to spell it. I’m tempted to ask them how _they_ spell it, given they’ve probably known how to spell it since their third or fourth grade science classes… > [@nyctea scandiaca](#): > > Not as bad as some of you, but my name is Brooke (I’m female) and it is very often misspelled Brook, often by people responding to e-mails where my name is spelled correctly in my e-mail address! And another one that perturbs me is when people call me “Brooks” or spell it with an s. Brooks??? WTF? I also receive telemarketing calls and junk mail for Mr. Brooke [Lastname]. Brooks is a guys’ name, isn’t it? The only Brooks I’ve known was an elderly gent. ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 9:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/55 "2010-09-24T09:10:21Z")
My surname is a plural, which is a less common form of the singular surname, but still very ordinary. Every single school or university I’ve ever been to has filed me under a different name. That different name starts with a different letter, too, so they don’t happen to see my file as they flick through. The staff often won’t believe me when I say it’s filed wrongly, too. I have seriously considered changing my surname thanks to the number of problems it’s given me over the years. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/56 "2010-09-24T09:32:57Z")
I’m used to my first lastname causing trouble. I mean, it’s three words, that’s uncommon enough that people who are interested in lastnames can figure out what area it comes from just based on that detail, it’s a pain in the ass but we’ve had it in the family for over one thousand years and, what can I say, it’s like the dumb cousin, a bother but we’re attached to it. That lastname has led to things like air carrier computers insisting that my lastname was “de” (since my lastname was listed as “Maria 1stword de 2dword”, they deduced that the third word in the list had to be my lastname), or my library cards being filed anywhere under M, O, D or V (usually with misspellings thrown in). But my second lastname is, according to the Spanish census, one of the 20 most common in Spain. So how come in the last three months people have managed to bet it wrong in the contract for my ISP (with a misspelling which isn’t even a lastname) and in my ID card at work (ok, at least there they picked a similar and also-common lastname)? It had never happened before! They got the first one right and the second one, the easy one, wrong. I’m still confused. And my firstname. Ah, my firstname. The complete structure is María de la [Something]. Non-hispanics insist in calling me Maria. Dude, my signature says Marisomething, read it. Hispanics insist in MariSomething, MarySomething, María Something, Mari Something… Again, read the motherfucking signature! You’re responding to my email! Can you read? Aaaaaaarrrrggggh! ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/57 "2010-09-24T09:36:19Z")
> [@mittu](#): > > > [@Ale](#): > > > > You would assume that having a three letter name (I go by Ale, short of Alejandro\*) people would easily get it the first time but nooooo… > > > > -Ah-leh… easy, isn’t it?. > > _Some time later_ > > -Oh, hello Ali/Aille/Alale! > > > > :dubious: > > > > \*_Sometimes I wonder if I should blurt out the full thing when meeting new people, but by the way most seem to struggle with “Ale” I’m afraid they’ll have a seizure or something._ > > I would be surprised if anyone pronounced ‘Ale’ ‘Ah-leh’. Without knowing it was short for Alejandro I would never pronounce it that way. If I saw those 3 letters wrote down I would pronounce it the same as the drink. You have made the choice to spell your (abbreviated) name the same as a commonly understood word but you pronounce it completely differently. It’s hardly surprising it causes confusion! He’s Uruguayan and living in IIRC Thailand, people there don’t know “ale” as being “a kind of beer”. Ale as short for Alejandro is common in the countries where the pronunciation “Alehandro” is incorrect. Also Alex and Alejo (which can also be a different name). ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/58 "2010-09-24T10:40:27Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > Oh, the supreme glory of marrying a man with a short, anglo surname… after a lifetime with a long, irritating ethnic name. > > I can still hardly believe it when I say my name once and don’t get asked how it’s spelled. People just KNOW. It’s awesome. Isn’t it awesome!? I had a maiden name and first married name that were both unusual and while very phonetic, I was constantly asked to spell them. Then I remarried and my new last name is super common, easy to understand, and impossible to spell wrong. I love it! ---
**Author:** ![OpalCat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8edcca/32.png) [@OpalCat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OpalCat)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 10:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/59 "2010-09-24T10:43:07Z")
> [@Morgis](#): > > What makes me crazy is when I tell someone my name and they immediately start calling me Chris. Yes, this would be a valid nickname for me, but I have never gone by Chris, and I’ve never asked anyone to call me that. 😕 My first name is Katherine and people will automatically start calling me “Kathy”… which I loathe. I have to then find a polite way to ask them to never call me that again without looking like I’m being an asshole. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [September 24, 2010, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778/60 "2010-09-24T11:24:20Z")
My family name is a variant of a fairly well-known literary character, but otherwise not very common. So I often get the literary characters spelling applied to me. Well, I did back when I lived in an English speaking country. But I’ve always been used to going by aliases anyway, so misspellings never bothered me. Back in university I worked as a waiter at the Hilton and they were too cheap to make up new nametags for the staff so they just randomly handed out ones from a box the kept in reserve. I was “Robert” for a year - it only took a day or so to get used to customers calling for Robert to make me turn around. If someone were to call out Robert on the street I’d probably still turn around. Prior to the Hilton I worked in a function hall as a drinks steward, with no nametag, and was told to introduce myself to each table as their drinks steward for the evening. Yeah, you guessed it, when glasses needed refilling, “Stewart!, Where are you Stewart”. I got used to that too. Now, when I make a dinner reservation over the phone I just use a Japanese fake name - saves time and trouble on both sides. When I want to make an impression I’m Sekuhara Echigoya. 😛 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-tired-of-people-getting-my-name-wrong/554778.md?page=4)