# Unusual name ends up in spam file **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 3, 2016, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808 "2016-03-03T05:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Always\_thinking](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Always\_thinking](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Always_thinking)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808/1 "2016-03-03T05:08:02Z")
I have an unusual last name that can be sometimes found in spam/junk related emails. Think something like ‘enlarge’ that is innocent on its own, but can be not so innocent when used with other words. Personal email accounts are easy to adjust, but I am now working at a large institution where the email address is firstname.lastname@company… Lately, I have had emails not get to their destination or blocked altogether and I can see no other reason for them not going through. I do a lot of cold emails so cannot always have people add me to their contacts. I did have this problem sometimes when I used my name with gmail. Not sure if company would let me change anything. Any suggestions on how to handle this? ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808/2 "2016-03-03T05:16:20Z")
Can you use a higher order ASCII character in your name. One that looks like the same letter, but might not be recognized as such by the computer. Most vowels have accented forms. You would need to keep the original address as well at least to forward, as those not replying to an email would probably type the standard character. ---
**Author:** ![Scairns](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Scairns](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scairns)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808/3 "2016-03-03T06:01:37Z")
Why not just ask your IT department to change your email address to a format that would not use the word that is triggering the spam issues? For example, if your current username is [john.smith@company.com](mailto:john.smith@company.com), ask them to change it to: [jsmith@company.com](mailto:jsmith@company.com) or [JohnS@company.com](mailto:JohnS@company.com) ---
**Author:** ![usedtobe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ec9cab/32.png) [@usedtobe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/usedtobe)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808/4 "2016-03-03T06:06:23Z")
Since it it your surname which is the trigger, maybe use a suffix-type title? [Joe.DoeJR@boringcompany.com](mailto:Joe.DoeJR@boringcompany.com) Or Jane.DoeII@… You need to change the string without confusing the recipient as to your actual name. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808/5 "2016-03-03T06:27:34Z")
Adding letters to the surname will simply incur the Scunthorpe dilemma. Perhaps they could let you have a second email username that might be your company position? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 8:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808/6 "2016-03-03T08:59:20Z")
> [@Scairns](#): > > Why not just ask your IT department to change your email address to a format that would not use the word that is triggering the spam issues? > > For example, if your current username is [john.smith@company.com](mailto:john.smith@company.com), ask them to change it to: [jsmith@company.com](mailto:jsmith@company.com) or [JohnS@company.com](mailto:JohnS@company.com) Get them to set up an alias on the mail server. It should be easy - then the standards-compliant version will still work (and nobody sending mail internally will get confused), but you can publish an external-facing email address that doesn’t trigger false positives on people’s spam filters. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808/7 "2016-03-03T19:35:53Z")
> [@eschereal](#): > > Adding letters to the surname will simply incur the Scunthorpe dilemma. Perhaps they could let you have a second email username that might be your company position? What is the Scunthorpe dilemma? I tried onelook dictionaries, Wikipedia, and a Yahoo search. Nothing turned up. The closest I got was a story about switching goalkeepers on the Scunthorpe football team. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808/8 "2016-03-03T19:45:17Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > What is the Scunthorpe dilemma? I tried onelook dictionaries, Wikipedia, and a Yahoo search. Nothing turned up. The closest I got was a story about switching goalkeepers on the Scunthorpe football team. Maybe you can’t find it because extra letters were added to the end? Hence the dilemma. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808/9 "2016-03-03T19:51:15Z")
> [@Always\_thinking](#): > > I have an unusual last name that can be sometimes found in spam/junk related emails. Think something like ‘enlarge’ that is innocent on its own, but can be not so innocent when used with other words. Personal email accounts are easy to adjust, but I am now working at a large institution where the email address is firstname.lastname@company… > > Lately, I have had emails not get to their destination or blocked altogether and I can see no other reason for them not going through. I do a lot of cold emails so cannot always have people add me to their contacts. I did have this problem sometimes when I used my name with gmail. Not sure if company would let me change anything. Any suggestions on how to handle this? Your name is V!A6RA? ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2016, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unusual-name-ends-up-in-spam-file/747808/10 "2016-03-03T20:14:56Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > What is the Scunthorpe dilemma? I tried onelook dictionaries, Wikipedia, and a Yahoo search. Nothing turned up. The closest I got was a story about switching goalkeepers on the Scunthorpe football team. [Scunthorpe problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_problem) – basically, text (webpages, email, whatever) gets blocked because of a string of letters in the middle of a word appears to be obscene. In the case of the town of S_ **CUNT** _thorpe, Lancashire, AOL would not let residents register because their filtering software blocked the town’s name.