# Spell my name, spell my name **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2015, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148 "2015-01-18T11:29:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/21 "2015-01-18T18:42:40Z")
I have three pretty common names, all with alternate spellings, but I use the simplest and more common. People often would spell at least one and frequently all three incorrectly. > [@california\_jobcase](#): > > I do think people who give their babies first names that will have to be explained, pronounced, and spelled out for every new person that child meets are doing the babies a disservice. > [@Chefguy](#): > > In addition to the last name problem, my first name can be spelled two ways (mine is not the common spelling). Nobody ever gets it right. Thanks, mom. People can misspell a one syllable four letter name; no one is immune. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/22 "2015-01-18T18:45:25Z")
My last name is 5 letters and almost everyone gets one of two wrong. I always wrote it off to the way I speak but it happens to my wife as well. So we usually say the name and then “X Y M-as-in-Michael, Z-as-in-zebra”. Interesting thing is that our name didn’t get changed when we came here but the pronunciation did. What was written in cyrillic just ends up sounding different in English. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/23 "2015-01-18T18:50:59Z")
I always have to spell my name. 4 letters. Means sunrise. I am female. It’s not D-O-N. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/24 "2015-01-18T19:20:50Z")
> [@chiroptera](#): > > My first name is not common, and there are multiple correct ways to spell it. > My last name is Mac\*\*\*\*\* with the second part capitalized. > So, yes, I spell my name out carefully for people all the time, always have. (And my surname still gets written down as Mc\*\*\*\*\*) > > Additionally, my street address is 13 letters long and hard for most people to spell. So I have to spell that out too. My last name starts with Macc, and the second “c” is NOT capitalized. People have the hardest time wrapping their brains around that. There are even computer programs that automatically capitalize the letter after an Mac in an entered name. My name is Jewish, not Scottish. I get Mc(fourth letter) and even Mc(fifth letter). > [@ddsun](#): > > I always have to spell my name. 4 letters. Means sunrise. I am female. It’s not D-O-N. Not a problem in New York. Once I was at a meeting, and we had a new client, Dawn M. coming in with a caseworker Don F. As it happened, three people at the meeting were originally from New York, and the way we said “Dawn” and “Don” made it obvious who we were talking about. Everyone else at the meeting, who are all from either Indiana, or somewhere else in the Mid-west, had to say Dawn [lastname], and Don [lastname]. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Mama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b5ac83/32.png) [@Atomic\_Mama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Mama)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/25 "2015-01-18T19:25:39Z")
Yup. Two-part surname; it needs distinctive typography; the wrong-way-IS-the correct-spelling of the last part of the surname. My last name MURDERS computers! And my given name is so unusual that my fourth grade teacher couldn’t pronounce it and guessed … “Em i ly?” WRONG. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/26 "2015-01-18T20:46:03Z")
My first name is simple. My last isn’t all that hard, but people tend to misspell it – except when I’m in the UK or Canada, when I can just say, “like the cigarettes.” ---
**Author:** ![Marion\_Wormer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d07c76/32.png) [@Marion\_Wormer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marion_Wormer)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/27 "2015-01-18T20:52:08Z")
Yes, oh god yes. I have a common name. Unfortunately, it contains a syllable in it that makes people uncomfortable. I swear their brains edit it and respell it to something they’re okay with. They don’t even realize they’re doing it. I once had an email service refuse my email address because it could be construed as obscene. When I go to a new doctor or other professional business, I make sure I write down my name for them so they can create my records with the correct spelling. Sometimes when dealing on the phone with people they can’t find my records and I have to spell it letter by letter. Then when I get to the ‘bad syllable’, some women STILL can’t make themselves type it. I’ve never lost my temper, but I was rather short with the woman who suggested I change my name to get rid of that “naughty word”. ---
**Author:** ![Inna\_Minnit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Inna\_Minnit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inna_Minnit)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/28 "2015-01-18T21:29:00Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > My name is so simple and common that if anyone asks me how to spell it I assume they’re trying to conceal that they’ve forgotten my name. Or didn’t hear you properly. People slur and rush their names. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/29 "2015-01-18T21:35:50Z")
My last name is unusual and had a T, and D and a P in it; all those, of course, sound exactly alike. So I say “T as in Tom” etc. This seems to blow the minds of some people too. Oh well, I am lucky in that it’s only 7 letters. I feel for those with long and unusual names. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/30 "2015-01-18T22:45:42Z")
My last name is a German name with an “ei” inside it. So, not only to I have to spell it out for people, I have to correct people’s mispronunciation of it. Or at least, get used to hearing it mispronounced. My niece Sara gets angry when people call her “Sarah”. She says she can HEAR people add an “H” to her name when they _say_ it. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/31 "2015-01-19T00:22:41Z")
I had a co-worker once whose last name was Stoeckeniusillspellthatforyou. And then he spelled it for you. He always answered the phone with just his first name (which was only three letters), but if he had occasion to tell anyone his last name (like, if he was leaving a message with someone) it was always Stoeckeniusillspellthatforyou. And then he spelled it for you. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/32 "2015-01-19T00:32:02Z")
> [@Octarine](#): > > My name is an actual, non-proper noun, so I don’t encounter spelling issues. Thanks, Mom! What is an octarine? Is it good to eat? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/33 "2015-01-19T00:52:34Z")
> [@j666](#): > > People can misspell a one syllable four letter name; no one is immune. Yup. Mine is a common four-letter name that is shared by hundreds of thousands of people across the world - one of them a prominent member of the U.S. government. However, there is a more common spelling, and two more that are not as common but not unknown. When I see my name written down by someone to whom I have not spelled it, it’s almost universally the more common spelling. > [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](#): > > Any issues with spelling your name out to people? Even John Smith has several possibilities. > > My first name I do it two letters at a time. No one wants to put the E before the I and I watch them struggling, pen hovering as their brains do an override on the I before E except after C thing. Sometimes you can almost hear brain clunking through. > > ‘She wants the E first, but that’s not right, this does NOT look right, is the preceeding letter a C? No it isn’t’. > > At this point they often look back at me. I nod. There’s a sigh, and a shaking of the head as they force themselves to scribble it out. I’ve been told I’m being bloody awkward and I’ve been felt sorry for due to my inconsiderate parents naming me so. I have a friend named “Shiela”. I’ve known her for almost a decade, and her name _still_ seems “wrong” to me. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/34 "2015-01-19T01:00:06Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > One is a fruit. > One is an action. > and one is two things together. Pear/Pare/Pair ? > [@RivkahChaya](#): > > My last name starts with Macc, and the second “c” is NOT capitalized. People have the hardest time wrapping their brains around that. There are even computer programs that automatically capitalize the letter after an Mac in an entered name. My name is Jewish, not Scottish. I get Mc(fourth letter) and even Mc(fifth letter). Maccabee? > [@Chefguy](#): > > I used to think my name was a PITA until I spent a career in the military. A career in the military can clarify anyone’s name. (Just read _Catch-22_ for evidence. 🙂 ) Here’s a second-or-third-hand story I heard in college: Guy went to school with another kid who was known, throughout primary and secondary school, by the last name of Colby. In fact, his real last name was Colbjornsen. When he went to boot camp, the sergeant didn’t miss a beat in calling the roll: He said Colbajurgason. So throughout his military career, everyone knew him as Colbajurgason. > [@minionkat](#): > > I spell my last name twice for everyone. It has a series of letters that everyone’s inner twelve year old hesitates at. I can hear them thinking “is that what she just said?”. Not it, but similar, imagine my last name is the completely made up Adcock. I say it, spell it, they say something like Adlock?, and I say, no, cock, c-o-c-k. One day I am going to snap and shout COCK, like penis! It’s not a big deal of a name, but people are so squeamish about those four letters in that sequence. Damn. I spell the word cock more than any other word. I usually say, like rooster. But I think that makes them feel even weirder because their mind went right to penis. 😃 A county or two up the highway, there’s a back road, which I believe is named after a locally prominent family of an earlier day: Glasscock > [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](#): > > I have a friend named “Shiela”. I’ve known her for almost a decade, and her name _still_ seems “wrong” to me. No two ways about _that._ It _is_ wrong! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/35 "2015-01-19T01:07:16Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I have a comparatively simple name and people still fuck it up. How often do you see “Cynthia” spelled with an “S”? I have a ridiculously common first name, but people have so much trouble getting the vowels in the right order. I’ll grant that it’s a little weird as spellings go, but you’d think the amount of exposure it gets would compel people to remember the spelling. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/36 "2015-01-19T01:24:35Z")
My last name is three syllables. Strangers can’t even pronounce it, much less guess at how to spell it. Also, It contains both an “m” and an “n” which constantly get switched. ---
**Author:** ![MareIt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea666f/32.png) [@MareIt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MareIt)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/37 "2015-01-19T01:25:29Z")
My name is not common, even its original language, and is not spelled phonetically in English although it is close. But at only 5 letters, you would think that most people could manage to spell it right with minimal effort. Instead I get called every thing from Matt to Marriott to Meredith. My portion of the "welcome to the company’ training ALWAYS includes a bit about how important it is to pay attention to how people spell their names. We are a sales company, first and foremost, customers will judge you harshly if you can’t pay enough attention to basic spelling. I finish it with the following “If you misspell my name once, you get a friendly warning. Misspell it twice and you owe me booze” ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/38 "2015-01-19T01:58:10Z")
Back to the original question - any trouble with spelling out my name? No. And I typically slow down and emphasize the letters where there is an alternate spelling. And when I take down someone’s name, I spell it out as I am writing it. (And I won’t give people my email address, because the syntax is odd; I insist they give me theirs first. Many fewer tears are shed.) ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/39 "2015-01-19T02:38:36Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > I have a comparatively simple name and people still fuck it up. How often do you see “Cynthia” spelled with an “S”? I work with a woman at the amusement park whose name is Syndie. My last name is French, and if I pronounce it the correct way, no one can spell it. ---
**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:** [January 19, 2015, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148/40 "2015-01-19T03:23:29Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > My last name is three syllables. Strangers can’t even pronounce it, much less guess at how to spell it. > > Also, It contains both an “m” and an “n” which constantly get switched. Nice to meet you, Cimmanom. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spell-my-name-spell-my-name/710148.md?page=3)