# The woman who mispronounced her own name **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2010, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261 "2010-06-15T04:33:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/101 "2010-06-18T12:34:44Z")
I hate it when my last name is pronounce Ver-Says. Versace. Ok, kidding. It’s really pronounced Luxury Yacht. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/102 "2010-06-18T20:42:24Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Of course I have a FAQ. How else I am to spread misinformation about myself? I’d expect less FAQs, more FSBs. That’s Frequently Screamed Beggings. Q: Oh, please, make it stop! A: I’m sorry, we can’t do that right now. Q: Oh god, what do you want?!? A: We want you to die. And so forth. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2010, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/103 "2010-06-18T20:45:00Z")
> [@JSexton](#): > > I’d expect less FAQs, more FSBs. > > That’s Frequently Screamed Beggings. > > Q: Oh, please, make it stop! > A: I’m sorry, we can’t do that right now. > Q: Oh god, what do you want?!? > A: We want you to die. > > And so forth. We need an _I salute you!_ smiley. Remind me to give you one of those perfect cookies. ---
**Author:** ![JoelUpchurch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f05b48/32.png) [@JoelUpchurch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JoelUpchurch)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2010, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/104 "2010-06-20T22:10:38Z")
I have a Thai friend who spells her first name Lane, but pronounces it Lani, like the Hawaiian name. I suspect some issue with how to convert her name into English characters. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/105 "2010-06-21T16:08:46Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > [anecdote snip] Let me tell you - when it comes to names, “unique” is over-rated. Coming in from the other end–having been one of about a hojillion Me(a)g(g)(h)ans in my classes post-gradeschool\*–I would have absolutely \*loved \*to have had a unique name (or even a less common one for my generation). I suspect that unusual names are like freckles: the kids who had them often didn’t want them, and those of us who didn’t, wanted them. \*I was the only white kid in my class for most of K through 8. > [@descamisado](#): > > I know what I’m naming my baby. It’ll be pronounced “Go-shay,” thank-you-very-much. Honeyplease. Everyone knows it’s GOW-chee. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2010, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/106 "2010-06-21T16:57:42Z")
> [@Maggie\_the\_Ocelot](#): > > Because, when you’re a kid, you see those big racks of keychains/license plates/doodads with names on them - and yours is NEVER on them, because your name is either (1) known and standardly spelled, but unusual or (2) not spelled the same way as they have on the keychain/license plate/doodad that you want - NEVER, EVER - it’s really really really annoying. Fuck those racks. They never had any _Neil_s on them. Neils! I mean, we were the first to walk on the Moon! We wrote _Sweet Caroline_ and _Breaking Up Is Hard To Do_! We were sort of the lead singer of Motley Crue! We were the drummer from Rush! We were half of Simon and Garfunkel and the Pet Shop Boys! A quarter of Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young! We were Doogie Howser (M.D.)! This was in Britain, I might add, where we were also the Leader of Her Majesty’s Most Loyal Opposition in the United Kingdom for the last nine years of the Thatcher government. Also, carrying the Welsh rugby team. So, as I say, fuck those racks. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/107 "2010-06-22T14:34:36Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > So, as I say, fuck those racks. Can we just motorboat them instead? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/108 "2010-06-22T15:27:01Z")
We can do both. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/109 "2010-06-22T15:27:34Z")
My friend’s cousin’s girlfriend is named Typhany. That’s pronounced “tiffany”. She’s as white and suburban as I am. I think there may have been a Welsh influence from names like “Myfwany” though. > [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Yes, but you’ve brought up the fact that you’re Black before. That’s just \*so \*gauche. Wait, what? **Skald** ’s black? I thought he was Evil Genius-American. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/110 "2010-06-22T16:21:57Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > We can do both. Depending on your personal proclivities, you might want to give some thought to the order, though. > [@Sunspace](#): > > Wait, what? **Skald** ’s black? I thought he was Evil Genius-American. You say that like the two are mutually exclusive. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/111 "2010-06-22T16:38:55Z")
> [@Shot\_From\_Guns](#): > > Depending on your personal proclivities, you might want to give some thought to the order, though. Well, there’s more than one rack. ---
**Author:** ![Shot\_From\_Guns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@Shot\_From\_Guns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shot_From_Guns)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/112 "2010-06-22T16:48:22Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Well, there’s more than one rack. Tsk. Slut. ---
**Author:** ![UncleRojelio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/unclerojelio/32/3160_2.png) [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/113 "2010-06-22T17:53:38Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > The classical music critic for the St. Louis Post Dispatch is Sarah Bryan Miller. She goes by Bryan, pronounced exactly as it looks. Are you sure it isn’t Sarah Bryan-Miller? ---
**Author:** ![fachverwirrt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@fachverwirrt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fachverwirrt)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/114 "2010-06-22T18:40:33Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Are you sure it isn’t Sarah Bryan-Miller? Positive. She doesn’t go by Sarah Bryan, she goes by Bryan Miller. That is, her friends call her “Bryan”. ---
**Author:** ![kjckjc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e36b37/32.png) [@kjckjc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kjckjc)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/115 "2010-06-22T18:45:07Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > …We were half of Simon and Garfunkel… While my son Neil also hates those racks, you wrote plays, not songs. (Yes I know Paul wrote plays too, I am just saying…) ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/116 "2010-06-22T18:50:09Z")
My shame knows no bounds. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2010, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/117 "2010-06-22T18:50:25Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > My friend’s cousin’s girlfriend is named Typhany. That’s pronounced “tiffany”. She’s as white and suburban as I am. I think there may have been a Welsh influence from names like “Myfwany” though.Wait, what? **Skald** ’s black? I thought he was Evil Genius-American. 🙂 “Evil” is not a heritage. It’s a life-style choice. We even have a magazine. ---
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Bryan\_Miller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Sarah\_Bryan\_Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Bryan_Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/118 "2010-07-10T17:52:30Z")
> [@UncleRojelio](#): > > Are you sure it isn’t Sarah Bryan-Miller? I am absolutely positive. ---
**Author:** ![Sarah\_Bryan\_Miller](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Sarah\_Bryan\_Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarah_Bryan_Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2010, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/119 "2010-07-10T20:02:21Z")
> [@fachverwirrt](#): > > She doesn’t go by Sarah Bryan, she goes by Bryan Miller. > > That is, her friends call her “Bryan”. It’s a family affliction, one applied to one girl per generation in my mother’s (Savannah, Georgia) family: My aunt was Bryan, my grandmother’s cousin was Bryan, my great-grandmother was Bryan… Having a name like Bryan definitely builds character. ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Hazel\_Ice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Ms.Hazel\_Ice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Hazel_Ice)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2010, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261/120 "2010-07-11T00:29:26Z")
As a high school English teacher, I spend the month of September trying to learn anywhere between 75-100 names. The ones that confuse me the most are the very close, but not quite names: Kaileigh, Caileigh, Caileen, Cailin (spread over three classes) and Mikayla, Michela, Michaela (all in one class…we resorted to last names). I suppose their payback is the butchering of my 10-letters-long last name that’s half vowels. Originality is nice (my parents gave my siblings and I unique names), but it seems futile when the quest for originality converges with the quest of several others in the same town at the same time. Is there such a thing as a “pursuing originality when you really have none so you copy what you think is original” meme? I suppose in 15 years or so, I should be anticipating 5 variations each on the names Edward, Jacob, and Bella. :rolleyes: [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-woman-who-mispronounced-her-own-name/543261.md?page=7)