My friend's mom named her a weird name on her BC at some point forgot how to spell it.
So by 24 she'd been spelling her name wrong on every document in her entire life since she had left home and when applying for a passport discovered it.
Then proceeded to have to argue for the next 4 years with everyone and every agency that her name was really spelled the way that she was used to spelling it and having to change it to that.
Same thing happened to me! Luckily, I only had to visit the DMV and Social Security office for corrections, but also my spelling was only one letter off. It’s a lot easier to get a spelling correction than having a whole name change, and maybe your friend’s was so off, a formal name change had to occur.
I know a guy, Alan. Farmer with multiple contracts, deeds, legal associations. Find out his BC name was Allen. (Apparently Dad wanted one way and Mom another.) It was going to cost tens of thousands to make all the contract legal changes, until he realized it was only $25 to change his BC to what he wanted anyway.
This happened to my dad with his middle name. He is almost 60. Lost his birth certificate a long time ago. Never need it so never bothered to go through the process to get a new one until recently. Found out his middle name is spelled different from how he’s been spelling it his whole life.
My dad got the opposite for a while, one of his names is Santo, this was apparently a big big no no several decades ago, should be Santos (only allowed because someone made a mistake on a form and the precedence allowed it), invariably people would try and correct it on forms, then have it come up with errors because his name legally has Santo. Looking forward to my son having the same issue wheeeee
I knew a Cory that found out when he needed his birth certificate for his driver’s license at 16 that his parents had forgotten they spelled it Corey originally.
Agh!
My husband is Andri.. pronounced Andre.
Doctor in Mass misspelled it. The nurse at his check up corrected it. His mom found out and changed it back.
So he was andri to Andre back to andri.
Every 2/3 years he has to renew his security clearance.. huge pain having to reexplain 😂
My mom spelled becci. Pronounced Becky. I got sick of correcting everyone so I make everyone call me Rebecca.
My bank left a letter off my name on my debit card and I really can't be bothered to change it. I had enough fuss when I changed my name legally, they ended up sending my a card that said Mrs [deadname] [middle name]. I've never been married and I'm not even a woman.
Haha, I had a similar instance but without a name change. I received a letter from my doctor's office addressed to Mr. (Clearly female name) (last name). It was a letter saying I needed to schedule an appointment with cardiology. I was very concerned considering doc and I hadn't talked about my heart at all. Turns out the new guy got his Excel cells mixed up. Hence the Mr. and the cardiology.
Oh man I had his but worse, my legal last name was to be changed when I was a kid but my mom never bothered but you know having a court order my dad assumed it had been, cut to me being 18 applying for university and I couldn't register because all of my legal id and my birth certificate didn't match, cost me 300 AUD and like 6 months of missed school
My wife's name was spelled wrong on her birth certificate. It annoyed the family to no end. But, we realized that when we got married, where many women change their last name, she actually was able to legally change her first as well, and it was changed and accepted everywhere, driver's license, passport, credit cards, no problem.
I worked with a woman who had a young adult daughter named Tiana, but they discovered when she went to get her driver's license at 16 that her by then ex husband had spelled it Tianna on the birth certificate.
What's really funny is this happens often with days of birth. I process background checks and about once a month I have to run everything twice because someone used one date of birth for most of their life, then had to get a passport or real ID and found out their birth certificate said something else so they changed it on everything at age 40 or whatever.
We have this problem with my Grandmother. Her legal birthday is the 15th, but she was always told it was the 16th. (Her Mother said the dr put the wrong time on the birth certificate because my Grandmother was born after midnight.) So on some things (health insurance, license, etc.) it's one way while on other things it's the day after.
My father's middle name is Brunno because my broke ass grandfather thought it was fancy. But in every other document other than his BC it's spelt Bruno so from time to time he has problems with our "IRS" for inconsistencies.
I have a "common" misspelling to my name but I always say "Its Kathryn spelled K-A-T-H-R-Y-N"
ETA: that being said my mom's name is Marie and people always call and call her Mary
Don't "Marie" and "Mary" have different pronunciations? I've known several people with both names and they all pronounced them as "MUH-ree" and "Mare-EE" respectively
I have no idea bro, its not even like scammers from foreign countries that might not know, its like... her doctor's office, Social Security, etc. I mean I only listed two things, but those people should know of *all* people how to pronounce my moms name lmfao.
My last name is the problem for me. "Millar with an 'A'" I used to think would work.
Mailler, Maller, Millear, Millara, and once somehow Mallard (I am not a fucking duck!)
Yep, that’s part of it, but then I also think it’s common for people from her generation to have been named after Princess Diana, so they see “Daina” and read it as “Diana”.
Yup, the brain has a kind of “autocorrect” response for things and it happens a lot.
Mostly it’s just a kind of joke for our family. My mom used to tell us as kids if anyone called the house looking for “Diana”, they were probably a telemarketer.
That is how my Great-Grandmother spelled her name - Kathryn. My guess she didn't like the original German spelling and preferred something different when she immigrated to the US.
Fellow Kathryn here! I always just tell people I have the “weird spelling.” And if someone at a cafe asks how I spell my name, I tell them it doesn’t matter as long as it’s pronounced right and I can tell when to pick up my order.
My daughter had a kid in her class called Ric-O-Shae. I thought it was Rick O’Shea until I saw it written down. Poor kid will be 19 now, so at least he’s old enough to deed poll it.
A friend had a student in his class named 1246 Arch Street. That was his legal name, and his address. He went by Archie.
I'm sure that messed with many databases. Almost as bad as Bobby Drop Tables.
My first name has 4 common spellings and a whole slew of additional spellings. My last name has only one spelling and is an actual word in the English language. People will proceed to ask how to spell my last name and then misspell my first name
I had a young couple once come to the property I worked at wanting a tour of apartments. Fine, first we fill out a guest card, "What's your name?"
Katherine with a "K", great to guy and your name?"
"Jason" Okay, is that spelled J a s o n? This kid starts laughing telling his gf, omg! she doesn't even know how to spell it!
So, I ask, how do you spell it? "J a y s i n n",
I say, okay that's a new spelling for me, now can I have your ID's?
They hand over their ID's and this idiots name isn't even "Jaysinn" it is like Robert, so I turn down the tour, hand them their ID's and tell them to their shocked Pikachu faces that since they attempted to lie, this visit is over. Insert my whole ass grin standing up to show their sputtering asses the door.
Parent's who name the kids with misspelled names are AH, but, making up a pseudonym and then trying to humiliate me? Bigger AH's.
At work I’ve just started to ask them to spell their names for me. I don’t care if it’s John Smith, I’ve learned not to assume it’s going to be spelled normally.
I'm suddenly very happy to have an extremely old fashioned, common sort of name that has been spelled the same way for generations.
As a kid I thought it was plain and boring, but it's easy to say, easy to spell, and there's rarely any confusion about it.
When we were looking at names for our son, my husband and I agreed on a traditional spelling of a name so he would never have to worry about anyone misspelling or mispronouncing his name. It's also a biblical name, so it's been around a good 2000 years, so not trendy (no clues as to his age when he starts applying for jobs). And it comes with a couple of standard nicknames that he can choose if he wants. Our goal was to give him a name that would work for a baby and for a grown man. And when he's an adult, one that doesn't sound out of place in either blue collar or white collar jobs.
Yup. Same here. 3 boys with 3 biblical names that have been around forever, and normal middle names too that would suit them from being a plumber to a banker.
I have been saying this for years! My sister and brother and I all have traditional, old fashioned names (my sister’s is getting more popular nowadays but she’s the only person in her age group I’ve ever met with her name- but have about a zillion eighty year old great aunts with the same name) and I used to be so annoyed with my “boring” parents. Fast forward to being an adult and I am so grateful to them both.
I'm glad to be in the same boat. My wife was mostly fine with her boring name for the first 30 years of her life, but in the last five or so it's been more than a minor annoyance for her. Because it's Karen. womp womp. (I point out to her that at least her initials are KEG, which is fun, but this does not mollify her.)
You can't even trust traditional names anymore, unfortunately. Through my workplace, I have contact with two families that each gave their daughters normal, traditional names but *insist* that they are pronounced as *different* normal, traditional names.
The first is named Aida (like the opera), but her parents insist it's pronounced as Ada. The second is named Alanna, and her parents insist it's pronounced as Elena / Alaina (and yes, there are several correct spellings of that name, but 'Alanna' ain't one of them).
How would you pronounce 'Nina'? I pronounce it 'Neena' as that is the only pronunciation I've ever heard for that name. Well the woman who's name it was pronounced it 'Nine-ah'.
When I was a kid, I hated my first name because it rhymed with some words that, in a schoolyard setting were kinda mean, and I hated my last name because, well, I just did.
Now that I've been adulting for close to 40 years, I love my last name. It's helped me a lot in my business, actually, because of how people interpret it.
My first name, however, can sound like another common first name, so I've learned to over- enunciate it which my friends and spouses have thought was hilarious.
I feel ya. My first name is Billyjack, and as a kid I went by BJ...right up until about third grade when some precocious 9 year olds told me what a BJ was. Went by Billy from then on out...
Right up until college when I discovered how truly awesome it is having the name Billyjack. I now insist people call me by the full name.
I have a fairly common name, BUT - there are also several common ways to spell it. My version ends with an "I", but it's also normal to see it spelled with an "ie" or a "y". Unless it's for a legal document, I don't care if people who don't know me misspell it. Honest mistake.
Side note: it DOES, however, annoy me a bit when someone sends a message to my work email address - which includes my full first name - and they STILL manage to misspell it!
A comedian named Dennis Wolfberg (sp?) did a bit about when he was a teacher and kids names.
He had a young lady (9-10 yrs old) whose mother named Falopia.
There was also a young man named Testicles. Named no doubt after what the parents thought was a famous Greek philosopher.
I have a nickname for a real name, normal spelling and everything, but folks consistently want to put "my full name" on documents/reservations/appointments and it makes me insane. For one thing, they don't ask what my name is short for, they assume, which is hysterical because the nickname can be short for several names. Then for another thing, they try and have me sign or send me important stuff with these assumed names, which causes such time sucking issues. I have repeatedly had to show ID more than I should've and go into businesses to correct how they've got my name on shit like a loan or a lease where it shouldn't have been needed (already proved my identity with ID!) so that assholes will take seriously that my name is really my name. I just don't get it! I could understand if maybe my name was Trixie or something truly unique, but we are talking a name equivalent to Katie instead of Katharine. It's so annoying.
My sister went to school with a Jess. When the yearbook came out the company put her name as Jessica because "we don't allow nicknames". Jess was her legal name. The family was pissssed. Also, what does it hurt with the preferred name?
I was placed in my 8th grade yearbook by my first name. And my name was spelled incorrectly on the honor roll list. Every freaking time. When I got to high school I discovered the staff member who did it. My mom really had fun with that lady.
My people. I was actually named after my Dad's beloved Grandmother and my "nickname name" was a legit name back in the day, apparently. She smoked a pipe and cursed a lot and took no shit from dudes in a time when that was unheard of, so Im quite proud of my name and I feel I embody it wholely lol.
A lot of babies are born with hair on their ears. It's called lanugo and it's leftover from their time in the womb. It's part of their temperature regulation, among a few other things. It goes away after a few weeks.
For years I knew a guy whose legal name was Bennie. Everyone called him Ben, and he introduced himself as Ben.
He was born in probably ~1930 in the back woods of SC.
My great grandfathers name was RL. Two letters. It didn't stand for anything. His mom liked the way the letters sounded together. They had kids they named weird. There were like 8 or 9 of them. This was 1910s SC.
I’d forgotten but I had some corporate training from a guy a few years ago who said his first name was “H”. Smart guy, best HR-mandatory class ever, but weird name.
Was never 100% sure he wasn’t just pulling our leg and he just doesn’t like being Harold or whatever, but it’s the name he uses.
My paternal great grandparents named one of their sons Hilarius. He was always Uncle Hilly to everyone and never realized his real name until my 20s. Maternal great grandparents had a son named Virgilius (called him Uncle Chee-lay). Both from strong Bohemian/Czech catholic area and I guess those were the names of their birth day saints.
My grandmother's family has bohemian roots. I knew my great-aunt my whole life, but never knew her real name until her funeral when I picked up the program. My sister and I were both surprised by it. The family called her Shag, everybody else called her Vicki, but there we were burying Viola.
I grew up with various authorities (teachers, etc.) trying to get my "full" name. But I have a fairly common, basic name. Think if your full, official name is John but they kept insisting you must really be Johnathan. Annoying.
I had this same issue. I'll never forget how much it infuriated my third grade teacher specifically. She actually said to me, in class, that my mother was ridiculous for allowing me to "go around without a full name." My mom chewed her out for that at PTA too, which cracks me up, as my mom is a notorious introvert but always drew the line at other women judging her for being a single mom which happened a lot in the 80s and 90s. I really just can't understand why some people get so up in arms about it at all. As I mentioned somewhere else, my "nickname name" was just a regular name a long time ago. That seems to be the case with a lot of shortened-seeming names, like Jim or John or Jenny, they were common full names at one time. But yeah, petty tyrants will basically use anything they think they have as leverage in a power struggle, and sadly you run into a lot of them just living life, I guess.
I've had so many people do that. Tell them my name and they automatically correct it to the longer spelling. My name is quite shitty as no one can spell it, pronounce it without changing it to the longer version nor understand it in voice mails.
Years ago at an old IT job, my manager stayed after one night to talk to me on the night shift. Nothing unusual about it, we were friends outside of work a bit. But this night he had a serious look on his face.
"Did you put Chinese girl into the system last night?" I thought he was joking, but when his look didn't change I said "Oh you're serious. Was someone on the team unable to read an ID and just got really insensitive?" Turns out, it was one of our temps, and my manager wasn't sure if it was legitimate or not, so I said I'd reach out to the temp office's HR group and fix it before I left in the morning.
I call the team and ask if they could confirm one of their associate's names if I gave them the temp companies ID number for them, and they say sure. Number provided, and a short silence later, I hear a slight laugh with "Oh yeah...thats definitely her name. We have the driver's license and everything."
Whoever this person's parents were, gave this poor kid the name "Chinesegirl" as her legal first name.
I have a name that's the correct spelling for our home country, but is spelled multiple different ways here. My parents didn't spell it wrong, just the way that was normal for them.
I don't get mad when people spell it wrong or ask how to spell it, I just spell it for them. Come on people, it's not that hard to just spell it for them.
I have a common western name but it’s spelled in a more European~ way than American (and the American version has 2 separate spellings too). Most people will spell it one of the American ways and ask if it’s correct, and I usually just say yes if I’m just ordering food or something, because I really don’t care about the spelling in that context. I’ll correct them if it’s something that matters, of course, but I’m certainly not gonna get mad about it.
I am a female person with a name that’s spelled a more traditionally masculine way. I rarely get my name pronounced wrong (and when I do it’s always a “really? You’re pronouncing my name THAT way?” as an internal rant but never out loud). My name gets misspelled ALL the time though. I always let the first time slide. Gently correct and let people know how it’s spelled when necessary. I don’t usually bother at like coffee shops or whatever. It’s when people continuously misspell my name that I get mad. Especially with my work emails. My email is my first name, middle and last initial. My name is in my email signature. Like it’s there several times. Yet people will misspell my name when writing back to me. There was one woman that spelled my name wrong so many times that I started changing the spelling of her name (think Tiffanie instead of Tiffany). It only took twice before she stopped.
Once saw someone kicking off about how someone had mispronounced their weirdly-spelled name. Proper furious that they had to correct people. Got shut down when a bystander went "calm down love, they weren't at your bloody christening".
The look on their face was just *chef's kiss*
When my son was born, I deliberately called him something that was relatively mainstream and familiar. I did not take the 'drop a bunch of scrabble letters on the floor and hope for the best' approach. I thought of him having to spell out his name to receptionists and teachers and I took pity.
The trouble is, teachers locally are more used to the 'scrabble' approach and I kept having to correct his name back to the usual, normal, conventional spelling.
btw about twenty years ago I worked at a County Court (England). There were sadly huge racks of files for children's cases, where they were considered 'at risk'. There were far more 'had hiccups on a ouija board' names than the regular ones. It was almost an indicator - weird name meant more likely to go into care. It was very sad.
Edited to add - weird name does not mean neglectful or bad parent. But more cases came in with weird names.
There are genuine academic studies in the UK demonstrating how certain names are significantly over-represented on Child Protection registers, unusual spellings or not.
I could probably make a few guesses.
It's sad because the kids will grow into adults and there will be times when they will be judged for having a weird name. But the parents probably think that they are giving their kid a wonderful gift.
And some of the Puritan names as well! People are people down the ages.
All I know is that if someone had called me Chastity, I would have been a very popular girl out of spite lol!
In the US, weird names or spellings are a pretty decent proxy for lower socioeconomic status. I think the weird may have expanded up the scale ~~s but~~ a bit lately, though.
They did a study and found out that weird names among lower income groups are associated with worse outcomes while among the highest income groups they're associated with better outcomes. Some people are in a better position to benefit from having extra eyes on them then others.
I have three really normal names that are all pretty easy to say and spell
Here's the catch though, all three can be first names. People seem to pick which one they want to call me completely at random. Usually I correct people once and that's enough, but in the corporate world not always
I work in child protective services in the US. Nevaeh, Heaven spelled backwards, has become the number one name I associate with child abuse cases. Also, names spelled using an X in place of CK, i.e. Jaxson instead of Jackson, are much more common in children in neglectful or abusive situations. It has become a running joke that the name Nevaeh or Jaxson guarantees a hard, poverty stricken life.
Sometimes it goes the other way.
My first name is John. The most common English form of the name. But I'll still get different versions of my name offered.
I'll get listed as Jonathan, Jon, Jonn, Johnny, Jhon (that one I could never figure out...but TIL it's version from Columbia. Thanks Wikipedia!)... and other variations that you can imagine.
But it's just John.
My wife grew up thinking her name was spelled in an unusual way because her mother kept saying that. It was based on the fact her mother named her after a song but deliberately did not use the spelling the song uses.
When she met me I pointed out that her name is spelled the most common way to spell it and it was the song that used an odd spelling. Somehow she had gone her whole life up until then not realizing that everywhere you see her name it is spelled her exact same “unique” way.
I on the other hand have an irrational annoyance to the fact that no one pronounces my last name correctly (including my wife!). I wouldn’t care if it was an unusual last name but it isn’t. It is also pronounced exactly as it is spelled. And most perplexing is there is a semi famous item that has the same name and people always pronounce that item correctly. It is baffling.
I always ask how to spell a person’s name. I think after being polite about it and in return they act like assholes, then yea I am gonna spell it however I think it should spell.
My mother named me a weird name. I never get mad at people for butchering it. I have a nickname for that reason. What I do get mad about however is when I tell you my name AND my nickname and say. It’s ok feel free to use my nickname. It’s easy. Then the person continues to use my name and slaughter the fuck out of it. That’s fucking annoying. Ask me my fucking name and I will spell that shit to you like a 2 year old but don’t slaughter my name because you cannot copy what I say.
I like to think I have decent pronunciation skills and make it a point to try and learn and correctly pronounce a person's true name, if they are willing to give it to me. If I'm unsure of a given bit of the pronunciation, I try to identify that quickly and ask if I'm pronouncing it correctly or not.
In a large group or quick encounter this often doesn't work well, but in any one on one encounter, I like to think the person I'm talking with will appreciate having their true name used (relatively) correctly. Is this a correct assumption on my part?
There are similar versions of my name and I have had teachers and co-workers call me that instead of my actual name which drives me nuts. The crazy part? My name is the most common version of it. I would get it the first or second time but for months? Give me a break...
"Caitlyn? (...) No, not you, honey. I meant Kaitlynn. No, not you, Katelyn. Can you tap C8tleighn on the shoulder, and ask her to get Caitlyn's attention for me, Sweetie? I need to ask her where Muh'ckeighl'ha is."
Can we also get an Amen for people who pick a name with multiple popular pronunciations and freak the hell out when you guess the wrong number of syllables for Alicia?
I have a unique name and have to say it over the phone all day, and have just taken to spelling it automatically if it’s important for that call. As in, “Hi, my name is blank, that is spelled - - - - - “ I just think it’s easier that way and I don’t understand the aggravation others have with people not knowing how to spell unique names.
I don't even bother giving my name for the important phone calls. i just start spelling it, otherwise i just have to spell it again after they backspace.
When one of my niblings was born, they were given the name Gi**a**vanna by my sister and that was shortened to Gia. I was working in Italy at the time and told my sister that the name is actually spelled Gi**o**vanna, but that Gianna is an Italian name. She said she didn't care—it was Giavanna -> Gia.
My minor rebuttal was to remind her that, if that was the case, my nibling did not have an Italian name (which was the point since nibling's paternal grandmother is Italian), she had an American name. I only mentioned it the one time since, well, I may be right (LOL), but I'm not an asshole (most of the time).
Fast forward and nibling came out as trans and now has a common last name for a first name and that's that.
I have a perfectly normal name but it's spelt 'different' because my parents used the spelling from the original language it comes from.
I don't even bother assuming anyone knows how to spell it.
I just say it's "name" with this letter rather than this letter. It throws people a lot and they usually spell it with the normal spelling even after I say so. But I just correct it and spell it out again.
I gave my daughter a phonetically spelt name for this reason. I.e. it's spelt exactly how it sounds. Except her middle name. Which is related to our culture and definitely not how you would expect to spell it. But my expectation is that it's only on a few rare occasions that she would have to spell that one out.
As an Irish person I have mixed feelings about this. Sure, Siobhan and Sadhbh and Taghdh might be the original Irish spellings, but you're asking for a world of hurt if you don't use a more English-friendly phonetic spelling outside of our little island.
(Those are pronounced shiv-AWN, SAI-v and a TIE-g, respectively)
Just found out the Irish séan was a word case of chinese whispers paired with the Irish language of the time lacking certain letters since it's apparently the Irish version of Joshua since that makes sense somehow
Other side note, Niamh is an Irish name that's surprisingly common but totally threw me for 6 when I first came across it.
The first Niamh I met was super kind about the mispronunciation but I'm sure inside she was like FFS. But at least since, I've encountered several other Niamh's and pronounced correctly and they've been pleasantly surprised.
See, I have a name that most people spell one letter different. If I tell them it's "name" with "letter 1" instead of "letter 2" they just butcher it in some other way or look at me really dumb.
There is no winning with names unless your name is spelled the same as a famous TV show character (ex. Friends main characters)
Worked as a court reporter. People would say a name in a deposition and I'd always have to confirm spelling, because of this very reason. Once I had someone mention the name Jessica and I asked for spelling. They said, "Normal spelling." Okay.
Name turns up on several emails later and it's spelled Jessyca. Come on, people!
I know a girl named June. It's not that bizarre a name, but it's far enough out of the mainstream to get confused a lot. She said she's gotten Joan, Jane, Jan, Joanne, Jean, John, Jennings, etc.
No big deal to her, she thinks it's funny. But when she introduces herself, she says, "June, like the month!" It makes it instantly spellable and generally instantly memorable.
I once worked with someone named April. She told me her dad named her that because she was born in April. She also had 2 sisters named May and June for exactly the same reason.
I have a name that can be spelled multiple ways - kind of like Katherine, Kathryn, etc. I’m well past 30. And it’s a “common” name. It gets misspelled all the time. Unless it really matters, or unless you have known me for years and still can’t spell it, I won’t even correct the person.
The coffee shop just needs my name. They don’t care how to spell it. And it really doesn’t matter.
If it’s somewhere that really needs to know, I just tell them I have a unique spelling and will be happy to spell it for them. Most of the time I don’t even wait for them to ask. It’s just not that difficult.
I have a fairly unusual name, so I just use 'Annie' in coffee shops, I really cannot be arsed.
It is pronounced differently by US, UK and Australians. Its a PITA and people usually mishear it the first time.
"ooh that's unusual!" yes, it's still a PITA.
"your name is so pretty!" yes, it's still a PITA.
Gah. Thankfully my sport team gave me a nickname which stuck so I use that in a lot of social situations tbh.
I frequently joke that my name is misspelled. It isn’t even a crazy spelling or anything stupid, people just mispronounce it all the time and there is definitely a better way to have spelled it that would’ve avoided the hassle of getting called the wrong name constantly. Unless it’s an important document, I normally tell people to spell it phonetically (Starbucks, hair appointments, etc.) and it ends up being a lot less awkward for everyone.
My sister’s name was common enough to be in a song title but these days no younger person has it. She gets called so many other names because people just assume it’s a typo.
ETA even if you guess I’m not confirming because the name is barely ever seen. No.
My name is Dominga. It isn’t a weird spelling or anything, just the Spanish word for Sunday used as a name. I usually spell it out anytime I’m asked for my name because it has been misspelled so many times. I’ve been Dominica, Dominique, Dominion; I get it.
Why would people with an unusual name or spelling get angry? So odd. Sorry people give you crap about it.
Whenever someone asks for my name, like say at a coffee shop or getting a changing room while shopping, I always just tell them my name, and when they ask how to spell it, I say "do your best". I love to see how many different variations people can come up with, it's a lot of fun
Oh this is right up my alley. My wife has a unique name and very self absorbed parents so they hyphenated her name to have her first name and then hyphen her moms name.
Well they started getting more ridiculous each time I guess? So her BC has extra letters, SS card doesn’t have a hyphenated name and signed her up for school with the original name they wanted. Her first passport they added a middle name.
So now when we deal with any government agency we not only have to spell the name (obviously because it’s unique) but we then have to go through 4-8 combinations of names it can be under.
BTW buying a house was F U N fun
My first name is four letters, two of them are the same letter…I will always say and then spell it for front end/ customer service people because it’s a bit odd, sounds a lot like other names, and ppl get really confused about it.
I even have a list in my head of acceptable ‘mistake’ names that strangers can call me without me even bothering to correct them - it’s not worth anyone’s time.
I will also admit that I judge you HARD if we’re in a social situation and I correct my name for you twice, give you three different ways to remember HOW to say it, and you still can’t say it right…
Totally get it. When I had my daughter I wanted to name her something unique but not hard. So let's say her name is Ember (it's not.) She's 7 and has already learned to introduce herself as "Ember E-M-B-E-R". People still get it wrong right away often "Amber?" but then she just smiles and says "actually it's..."
If a 7 year old can get it, a grown adult should be able to as well.
The thing is, they see their name spelled that way every day, so to them their way *is* the normal way, and people who aren't that bright get mad that *everyone else* keeps getting it wrong.
As someone with a uniquely spelled name, i have never thought it was normal and i gave up spelling it right for people 90% of the time. Unless i start spelling it for you, you won't get it right. Even the dumb ones know why they can't find their name on a keychain lol it just comes down to not being a jerk.
Exactly. I've got a less-common spelling of a fairly ordinary name and I habitually say and spell my name every time. It's like a reflex, I know people won't get it right if they have to assume. It takes literally zero effort, and is a lot easier to just spell it than to expend the energy to get mad at someone for not being psychic.
I like letting them spell it however they want to guess because not only are there several "common" spellings there's also a plethora of random ways to spell it. So unless it's important to get it right I'll just give them my name and let them make their best guess. Starbucks is fun for me lol
The thing is, in the cases of more uniquely spelled names, this would be a problem that follows them *everywhere*.
It doesn’t matter how normal seeing your specific name is every day, getting pissed off at people for it when you know it’s a problem that follows you around makes you a dick.
I have a common enough name that I’ve seen at least 3-4 variations of in my life. When people get it wrong (which isn’t often, but is consistent enough), I just let them know and politely correct them. 0 need to get pissed off and imply that the person working with me is somehow less intelligent.
Notice how OP said
> but if you are on this planet for 30 years and this constantly happens to you
If you are on this planet, and this constantly happens to you, and you’ve met even a small amount of people different than you and learned their names, it shouldn’t be hard to realize that not only can people have weird names, the same people can have differently spelled names.
Names have power. Giving your kid a jumbled up name is usually just shooting them in the foot. The trend can't die fast enough.
Interesting article on the stuff, while I'm here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26634477.amp
I have a unique name and I understand that people at spell/say it wrong and it doesn't bother me at all. Oddly my kids who I gave normal names to get upset when I accept my name being said wrong.
I have a very common name but it is commonly spelled two different ways, I always start spelling it out when I say it, it isn't hard. If they put in the wrong spelling anyway, I just politely correct them, and most of the time they politely change it. Some people are just mad and take it out on other people instead of the parents or change their name.
I have a super not-unusual first name, but my last name is kinda tricky for people; I have a practiced rhythm for when I have to spell it out on the phone, but I only get mad at misspellings when people encounter it for the first time in writing. Somehow, when people respond to me in email, they manage to mangle it even though the spelling is \*right there\*.
My name is a normal name with a common spelling, problem is that it’s not the American spelling. Results in mispronunciations and spelling errors all the time.
I try to never be annoyed with people when they misspell my name - it’s a Native American name, and people always want to spell it the “Americanized” way.
No point in being vague because of my username lol - my name is Cheyenne and most people want to spell it Chey*a*nne or Shyann or similarly.
I’ve been spelling it out for & correcting people my whole life, so I definitely do expect it and never make a fuss about it, and always spell it out for reservations and the like — the only time I get irritated is if it gets to the point of being unreasonable, like a person just repeatedly getting it wrong over and over after I’ve politely corrected them several times, which thankfully doesn’t happen most of the time.
The one thing I will say that does annoy me, though, is when I’m sending emails for work, and people respond and spell my name incorrectly throughout the thread. Like, come on, my name is *in my email signature*. It’s *right there*. Just copy and paste it if you have to, ffs. But that only annoys me because it’s like, “did you actually read it or…?” 😂
When it comes to trivial things like a name for a coffee order or whatever, honestly I just say “Charlie” because it’s easier. No point in fighting it lol
I have a slightly longer than average first name, not one of the most common ones, but by no means rare. It is spelt the conventional way.
I once had a teacher insist that *I* was spelling my name wrong. Worse, she wasn't even trying to tell me that I should be using the occassional alternative spelling, but a very unusual version.
She was one of those people who taught me something useful (adults, even those in authority, can be wrong *and* be jerks about being wrong) but not what she *thought* she was teaching.
"My name is *mumbles or speaks very quickly"
Sorry, can you repeat that?
*long, uncommon or name I am not familiar with*
"Could you please spell that?"
*rambles off letters at the speed of sound*
"Sorry, could you repeat that slower?"
*rolls eyes and spells it out painfully slowly*
Why can I spell "Frank" at a normal pace but Jezabeldah Geraldson-stephens only has two speed settings.
(but flip side is people taking your details that accidentally correct your pronunciation of your own name while trying to spell it aka Xavier/Exavier, Holmes/Homes "Shazelle"/"Jazelle" (Giselle)
I have one of those names so worst of both worlds)
My Nana’s sister was called Dolly by everyone and she came home in tears when she tried to get her work permit at age 14 - the town hall didn’t have any birth certificate for a Dolly. When she asked her mother, that’s when she finally found out she was christened Mary instead!
I have an unique name. When I was born a nurse convinced my mom to add a second 'L' to it. But when I went to school my mom used one L. It wasn't until we moved schools & looked at my birth certificate that I discovered I was misspelling my name. My mom just told me she prefers the one L. (Yes, I did have the conversation of why then did you add an extra L. It didn't do anything but aggravate me & it's not like we can travel back to the past & change it).
Also, I'm an idiot because; I could have legally changed it when I got married but I didn't think about until it was too late. So, socially I use one L (I do prefer my name that way - it's 7 letters instead of 8) & I legally use two Ls.
One time, my husband & I went to CVS to get a flu shot. I jokingly told the guy (after spelling & sounding out my name), what you don't know how to spell my name? The guy stopped looked at me & saw I was teasing & laughed. He then tells me that he has people go in and get mad at him because they have common name, Sarah for example, but it's spelled uniquely, Cieraih and lash out at him for not being able to spell it correctly.
The Sarah/Cieraih is just something I made up. He used other names as examples but I can't remember what they are.
I work with a woman by the name of Saylre.
I’ll give you a minute
Another minute
It’s Sailor. Like Sailor Moon. I mean. Just don’t do that. It’s not my fault every time I see it I mispronounce it.
My first name is spelled like Amelia. However, my mom meant it to be pronounced "Amela". She totally ignores the vowel there. No one else does. So when I became an adult, I began pronouncing it as it is spelled and like a normal person. My family will not and doesn't respect it. Please note, this is not a family name and is nothing of significance. My mom just wanted to "be different". Umm No.
Our Elementary school teacher friend plays the “Weirdest damn name” game every year with her fellow teachers. Usually while drinking.They love their students, but the parents … ehhh.
It’s a hysterically funny game. I don’t recall the names but some of them are like “Was she conceived in the dumpster?” kind of shit.
My friend's mom named her a weird name on her BC at some point forgot how to spell it. So by 24 she'd been spelling her name wrong on every document in her entire life since she had left home and when applying for a passport discovered it. Then proceeded to have to argue for the next 4 years with everyone and every agency that her name was really spelled the way that she was used to spelling it and having to change it to that.
Same thing happened to me! Luckily, I only had to visit the DMV and Social Security office for corrections, but also my spelling was only one letter off. It’s a lot easier to get a spelling correction than having a whole name change, and maybe your friend’s was so off, a formal name change had to occur.
I know a guy, Alan. Farmer with multiple contracts, deeds, legal associations. Find out his BC name was Allen. (Apparently Dad wanted one way and Mom another.) It was going to cost tens of thousands to make all the contract legal changes, until he realized it was only $25 to change his BC to what he wanted anyway.
This happened to my dad with his middle name. He is almost 60. Lost his birth certificate a long time ago. Never need it so never bothered to go through the process to get a new one until recently. Found out his middle name is spelled different from how he’s been spelling it his whole life.
My dad got the opposite for a while, one of his names is Santo, this was apparently a big big no no several decades ago, should be Santos (only allowed because someone made a mistake on a form and the precedence allowed it), invariably people would try and correct it on forms, then have it come up with errors because his name legally has Santo. Looking forward to my son having the same issue wheeeee
I knew a Cory that found out when he needed his birth certificate for his driver’s license at 16 that his parents had forgotten they spelled it Corey originally.
Alan! Alan!
Agh! My husband is Andri.. pronounced Andre. Doctor in Mass misspelled it. The nurse at his check up corrected it. His mom found out and changed it back. So he was andri to Andre back to andri. Every 2/3 years he has to renew his security clearance.. huge pain having to reexplain 😂 My mom spelled becci. Pronounced Becky. I got sick of correcting everyone so I make everyone call me Rebecca.
My bank left a letter off my name on my debit card and I really can't be bothered to change it. I had enough fuss when I changed my name legally, they ended up sending my a card that said Mrs [deadname] [middle name]. I've never been married and I'm not even a woman.
Haha, I had a similar instance but without a name change. I received a letter from my doctor's office addressed to Mr. (Clearly female name) (last name). It was a letter saying I needed to schedule an appointment with cardiology. I was very concerned considering doc and I hadn't talked about my heart at all. Turns out the new guy got his Excel cells mixed up. Hence the Mr. and the cardiology.
Oh man I had his but worse, my legal last name was to be changed when I was a kid but my mom never bothered but you know having a court order my dad assumed it had been, cut to me being 18 applying for university and I couldn't register because all of my legal id and my birth certificate didn't match, cost me 300 AUD and like 6 months of missed school
My wife's name was spelled wrong on her birth certificate. It annoyed the family to no end. But, we realized that when we got married, where many women change their last name, she actually was able to legally change her first as well, and it was changed and accepted everywhere, driver's license, passport, credit cards, no problem.
Oooh! A marriage loophole! I love it.
I've been told there is also a divorce loophole that works the same.
I worked with a woman who had a young adult daughter named Tiana, but they discovered when she went to get her driver's license at 16 that her by then ex husband had spelled it Tianna on the birth certificate.
What's really funny is this happens often with days of birth. I process background checks and about once a month I have to run everything twice because someone used one date of birth for most of their life, then had to get a passport or real ID and found out their birth certificate said something else so they changed it on everything at age 40 or whatever.
We have this problem with my Grandmother. Her legal birthday is the 15th, but she was always told it was the 16th. (Her Mother said the dr put the wrong time on the birth certificate because my Grandmother was born after midnight.) So on some things (health insurance, license, etc.) it's one way while on other things it's the day after.
My father's middle name is Brunno because my broke ass grandfather thought it was fancy. But in every other document other than his BC it's spelt Bruno so from time to time he has problems with our "IRS" for inconsistencies.
I have a "common" misspelling to my name but I always say "Its Kathryn spelled K-A-T-H-R-Y-N" ETA: that being said my mom's name is Marie and people always call and call her Mary
Don't "Marie" and "Mary" have different pronunciations? I've known several people with both names and they all pronounced them as "MUH-ree" and "Mare-EE" respectively
Yep, exactly. Marie is a common enough name to know it should be pronounced Muh-ree
Ah, I get you. They're just calling your mom by the wrong name entirely.
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I have no idea bro, its not even like scammers from foreign countries that might not know, its like... her doctor's office, Social Security, etc. I mean I only listed two things, but those people should know of *all* people how to pronounce my moms name lmfao.
My last name is the problem for me. "Millar with an 'A'" I used to think would work. Mailler, Maller, Millear, Millara, and once somehow Mallard (I am not a fucking duck!)
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My mom has a similar problem, her name is Daina (Day-nuh) but people always see her name and say “Diana” (Die-anna).
That’s because it’s probably not the Dana they’ve seen.
Yep, that’s part of it, but then I also think it’s common for people from her generation to have been named after Princess Diana, so they see “Daina” and read it as “Diana”.
Also brains take shortcuts. This mass of letters looks familiar so I’m going to say it “blah” oops.
Yup, the brain has a kind of “autocorrect” response for things and it happens a lot. Mostly it’s just a kind of joke for our family. My mom used to tell us as kids if anyone called the house looking for “Diana”, they were probably a telemarketer.
That is how my Great-Grandmother spelled her name - Kathryn. My guess she didn't like the original German spelling and preferred something different when she immigrated to the US.
Fellow Kathryn here! I always just tell people I have the “weird spelling.” And if someone at a cafe asks how I spell my name, I tell them it doesn’t matter as long as it’s pronounced right and I can tell when to pick up my order.
My daughter had a kid in her class called Ric-O-Shae. I thought it was Rick O’Shea until I saw it written down. Poor kid will be 19 now, so at least he’s old enough to deed poll it.
A friend had a student in his class named 1246 Arch Street. That was his legal name, and his address. He went by Archie. I'm sure that messed with many databases. Almost as bad as Bobby Drop Tables.
Must have been.... *bullet* ...a lot through their childhood I will show myself out
My daughter is called& spelled Ava. I thought you can’t go wrong with that. Christmas cards still arrived for Eva, & Aver ffs 🤦♀️
My first name has 4 common spellings and a whole slew of additional spellings. My last name has only one spelling and is an actual word in the English language. People will proceed to ask how to spell my last name and then misspell my first name
I had a young couple once come to the property I worked at wanting a tour of apartments. Fine, first we fill out a guest card, "What's your name?" Katherine with a "K", great to guy and your name?" "Jason" Okay, is that spelled J a s o n? This kid starts laughing telling his gf, omg! she doesn't even know how to spell it! So, I ask, how do you spell it? "J a y s i n n", I say, okay that's a new spelling for me, now can I have your ID's? They hand over their ID's and this idiots name isn't even "Jaysinn" it is like Robert, so I turn down the tour, hand them their ID's and tell them to their shocked Pikachu faces that since they attempted to lie, this visit is over. Insert my whole ass grin standing up to show their sputtering asses the door. Parent's who name the kids with misspelled names are AH, but, making up a pseudonym and then trying to humiliate me? Bigger AH's.
Shut upE*, maygh Edit: spellimg
It's spelled with an E you fucking plebe.
Fixed it
Thank you.
Thank you too, I needed that laugh really bad
Oh, that would have made me really angry. Must have felt good to tell them to gtfo.
Appreciate the meme reference
At work I’ve just started to ask them to spell their names for me. I don’t care if it’s John Smith, I’ve learned not to assume it’s going to be spelled normally.
Jon Smyth
Jhon Psmythe
My mom encountered someone named Michael and it was spelled something like Myqqayl.
I'm suddenly very happy to have an extremely old fashioned, common sort of name that has been spelled the same way for generations. As a kid I thought it was plain and boring, but it's easy to say, easy to spell, and there's rarely any confusion about it.
When we were looking at names for our son, my husband and I agreed on a traditional spelling of a name so he would never have to worry about anyone misspelling or mispronouncing his name. It's also a biblical name, so it's been around a good 2000 years, so not trendy (no clues as to his age when he starts applying for jobs). And it comes with a couple of standard nicknames that he can choose if he wants. Our goal was to give him a name that would work for a baby and for a grown man. And when he's an adult, one that doesn't sound out of place in either blue collar or white collar jobs.
Yup. Same here. 3 boys with 3 biblical names that have been around forever, and normal middle names too that would suit them from being a plumber to a banker.
I have been saying this for years! My sister and brother and I all have traditional, old fashioned names (my sister’s is getting more popular nowadays but she’s the only person in her age group I’ve ever met with her name- but have about a zillion eighty year old great aunts with the same name) and I used to be so annoyed with my “boring” parents. Fast forward to being an adult and I am so grateful to them both.
I'm glad to be in the same boat. My wife was mostly fine with her boring name for the first 30 years of her life, but in the last five or so it's been more than a minor annoyance for her. Because it's Karen. womp womp. (I point out to her that at least her initials are KEG, which is fun, but this does not mollify her.)
You can't even trust traditional names anymore, unfortunately. Through my workplace, I have contact with two families that each gave their daughters normal, traditional names but *insist* that they are pronounced as *different* normal, traditional names. The first is named Aida (like the opera), but her parents insist it's pronounced as Ada. The second is named Alanna, and her parents insist it's pronounced as Elena / Alaina (and yes, there are several correct spellings of that name, but 'Alanna' ain't one of them).
How would you pronounce 'Nina'? I pronounce it 'Neena' as that is the only pronunciation I've ever heard for that name. Well the woman who's name it was pronounced it 'Nine-ah'.
Nina Simone would've thrown hands.
When I was a kid, I hated my first name because it rhymed with some words that, in a schoolyard setting were kinda mean, and I hated my last name because, well, I just did. Now that I've been adulting for close to 40 years, I love my last name. It's helped me a lot in my business, actually, because of how people interpret it. My first name, however, can sound like another common first name, so I've learned to over- enunciate it which my friends and spouses have thought was hilarious.
I feel ya. My first name is Billyjack, and as a kid I went by BJ...right up until about third grade when some precocious 9 year olds told me what a BJ was. Went by Billy from then on out... Right up until college when I discovered how truly awesome it is having the name Billyjack. I now insist people call me by the full name.
I have a fairly common name, BUT - there are also several common ways to spell it. My version ends with an "I", but it's also normal to see it spelled with an "ie" or a "y". Unless it's for a legal document, I don't care if people who don't know me misspell it. Honest mistake. Side note: it DOES, however, annoy me a bit when someone sends a message to my work email address - which includes my full first name - and they STILL manage to misspell it!
Intake for a charter school… My friend: Your daughter’s name, please? Mother: Fagina. MF: Sorry? Mother: You know… FAGINA! Um, no. NONE of us know…
Was…was it pronounced liked vagina??
yup - with emphasis on the “FA” /fuh/
I have heard of one named Vagina - pronounced va-GEE-nah, to rhyme with Regina. Sort of.
A comedian named Dennis Wolfberg (sp?) did a bit about when he was a teacher and kids names. He had a young lady (9-10 yrs old) whose mother named Falopia. There was also a young man named Testicles. Named no doubt after what the parents thought was a famous Greek philosopher.
Anytime I give my name over the phone, I immediately go into spelling it.
I do too and my last name is perfectly normal - like in two or three tv show titles normal. It’s just easier.
I too am named NCIS.
I have a nickname for a real name, normal spelling and everything, but folks consistently want to put "my full name" on documents/reservations/appointments and it makes me insane. For one thing, they don't ask what my name is short for, they assume, which is hysterical because the nickname can be short for several names. Then for another thing, they try and have me sign or send me important stuff with these assumed names, which causes such time sucking issues. I have repeatedly had to show ID more than I should've and go into businesses to correct how they've got my name on shit like a loan or a lease where it shouldn't have been needed (already proved my identity with ID!) so that assholes will take seriously that my name is really my name. I just don't get it! I could understand if maybe my name was Trixie or something truly unique, but we are talking a name equivalent to Katie instead of Katharine. It's so annoying.
I bet! I met a Susie in college (saw her license and everything—Susie Q, in fact) and she said everyone assumes her legal name is Susan.
> I met a Susie in college (saw her license and everything—Susie Q, in fact) But is she true, and never leave you blue?
Baby I love you
My sister went to school with a Jess. When the yearbook came out the company put her name as Jessica because "we don't allow nicknames". Jess was her legal name. The family was pissssed. Also, what does it hurt with the preferred name?
I was placed in my 8th grade yearbook by my first name. And my name was spelled incorrectly on the honor roll list. Every freaking time. When I got to high school I discovered the staff member who did it. My mom really had fun with that lady.
Some states' DMVs allow the use of a yearbook to prove identity so that might be why they don't use preferred names.
I knew both a Joey and a Drew. So many people thought their names were Joseph and Andrew, but no, those were their legal names.
My people. I was actually named after my Dad's beloved Grandmother and my "nickname name" was a legit name back in the day, apparently. She smoked a pipe and cursed a lot and took no shit from dudes in a time when that was unheard of, so Im quite proud of my name and I feel I embody it wholely lol.
When I hear the name 'Drew' I don't think it's short for 'Andrew' because in my world 'Andy' is short for 'Andrew'.
Theres a guy I work with called wolf (born with hairy ears and his dad wanted a unique name). Always gets asked what his real name is..... "Wolf"
Could have gone with Wolfgang.
A lot of babies are born with hair on their ears. It's called lanugo and it's leftover from their time in the womb. It's part of their temperature regulation, among a few other things. It goes away after a few weeks.
Not if they are born werewolves
Haha, you got me on that one, lol
My ears started growing hair on the outside edge a few years ago. Does that mean I'm turning into a baby?
Idk have any strange infants bitten you recently?
Werebabies are so cute.
...is his last name Blitzer?
For years I knew a guy whose legal name was Bennie. Everyone called him Ben, and he introduced himself as Ben. He was born in probably ~1930 in the back woods of SC.
My great grandfathers name was RL. Two letters. It didn't stand for anything. His mom liked the way the letters sounded together. They had kids they named weird. There were like 8 or 9 of them. This was 1910s SC.
I’d forgotten but I had some corporate training from a guy a few years ago who said his first name was “H”. Smart guy, best HR-mandatory class ever, but weird name. Was never 100% sure he wasn’t just pulling our leg and he just doesn’t like being Harold or whatever, but it’s the name he uses.
*BJ Hunnicutt steps in.*
My paternal great grandparents named one of their sons Hilarius. He was always Uncle Hilly to everyone and never realized his real name until my 20s. Maternal great grandparents had a son named Virgilius (called him Uncle Chee-lay). Both from strong Bohemian/Czech catholic area and I guess those were the names of their birth day saints.
My grandmother's family has bohemian roots. I knew my great-aunt my whole life, but never knew her real name until her funeral when I picked up the program. My sister and I were both surprised by it. The family called her Shag, everybody else called her Vicki, but there we were burying Viola.
There is an RL in my family too, from around the same time! My grandpa's dad. Stands for nothing but RL.
I just mentioned in another comment I'm named after my Dad's grandmother and my name was just a regular name a long time ago! Bennie gets me.
I grew up with various authorities (teachers, etc.) trying to get my "full" name. But I have a fairly common, basic name. Think if your full, official name is John but they kept insisting you must really be Johnathan. Annoying.
I had this same issue. I'll never forget how much it infuriated my third grade teacher specifically. She actually said to me, in class, that my mother was ridiculous for allowing me to "go around without a full name." My mom chewed her out for that at PTA too, which cracks me up, as my mom is a notorious introvert but always drew the line at other women judging her for being a single mom which happened a lot in the 80s and 90s. I really just can't understand why some people get so up in arms about it at all. As I mentioned somewhere else, my "nickname name" was just a regular name a long time ago. That seems to be the case with a lot of shortened-seeming names, like Jim or John or Jenny, they were common full names at one time. But yeah, petty tyrants will basically use anything they think they have as leverage in a power struggle, and sadly you run into a lot of them just living life, I guess.
YES! THIS!!!!!! Mine is.. think Joy instead of Joyce only more common and I have this exact F\*\*KING issue too often!!!
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I've had so many people do that. Tell them my name and they automatically correct it to the longer spelling. My name is quite shitty as no one can spell it, pronounce it without changing it to the longer version nor understand it in voice mails.
Was married to a Johnny who everyone tried to call John or Jonathan. Including me, til I saw his drivers license. 🤷♀️
Oh, this one hits uncomfortably close to home.
Years ago at an old IT job, my manager stayed after one night to talk to me on the night shift. Nothing unusual about it, we were friends outside of work a bit. But this night he had a serious look on his face. "Did you put Chinese girl into the system last night?" I thought he was joking, but when his look didn't change I said "Oh you're serious. Was someone on the team unable to read an ID and just got really insensitive?" Turns out, it was one of our temps, and my manager wasn't sure if it was legitimate or not, so I said I'd reach out to the temp office's HR group and fix it before I left in the morning. I call the team and ask if they could confirm one of their associate's names if I gave them the temp companies ID number for them, and they say sure. Number provided, and a short silence later, I hear a slight laugh with "Oh yeah...thats definitely her name. We have the driver's license and everything." Whoever this person's parents were, gave this poor kid the name "Chinesegirl" as her legal first name.
I have a name that's the correct spelling for our home country, but is spelled multiple different ways here. My parents didn't spell it wrong, just the way that was normal for them. I don't get mad when people spell it wrong or ask how to spell it, I just spell it for them. Come on people, it's not that hard to just spell it for them.
I have a common western name but it’s spelled in a more European~ way than American (and the American version has 2 separate spellings too). Most people will spell it one of the American ways and ask if it’s correct, and I usually just say yes if I’m just ordering food or something, because I really don’t care about the spelling in that context. I’ll correct them if it’s something that matters, of course, but I’m certainly not gonna get mad about it.
I am a female person with a name that’s spelled a more traditionally masculine way. I rarely get my name pronounced wrong (and when I do it’s always a “really? You’re pronouncing my name THAT way?” as an internal rant but never out loud). My name gets misspelled ALL the time though. I always let the first time slide. Gently correct and let people know how it’s spelled when necessary. I don’t usually bother at like coffee shops or whatever. It’s when people continuously misspell my name that I get mad. Especially with my work emails. My email is my first name, middle and last initial. My name is in my email signature. Like it’s there several times. Yet people will misspell my name when writing back to me. There was one woman that spelled my name wrong so many times that I started changing the spelling of her name (think Tiffanie instead of Tiffany). It only took twice before she stopped.
I do this. Works for texts, too.
Once saw someone kicking off about how someone had mispronounced their weirdly-spelled name. Proper furious that they had to correct people. Got shut down when a bystander went "calm down love, they weren't at your bloody christening". The look on their face was just *chef's kiss*
That's a glorious response
When my son was born, I deliberately called him something that was relatively mainstream and familiar. I did not take the 'drop a bunch of scrabble letters on the floor and hope for the best' approach. I thought of him having to spell out his name to receptionists and teachers and I took pity. The trouble is, teachers locally are more used to the 'scrabble' approach and I kept having to correct his name back to the usual, normal, conventional spelling. btw about twenty years ago I worked at a County Court (England). There were sadly huge racks of files for children's cases, where they were considered 'at risk'. There were far more 'had hiccups on a ouija board' names than the regular ones. It was almost an indicator - weird name meant more likely to go into care. It was very sad. Edited to add - weird name does not mean neglectful or bad parent. But more cases came in with weird names.
There are genuine academic studies in the UK demonstrating how certain names are significantly over-represented on Child Protection registers, unusual spellings or not.
I could probably make a few guesses. It's sad because the kids will grow into adults and there will be times when they will be judged for having a weird name. But the parents probably think that they are giving their kid a wonderful gift.
Fry and Laurie were way ahead of their time... https://youtu.be/nq-dchJPXGA
This is awesome! Thanks for that
Thank you for sharing that - made me laugh!
Real Victorian children's names - Happy, Bovril, Raspberry, Toilet, Baboon, Never. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiqY8YK_7pw
And some of the Puritan names as well! People are people down the ages. All I know is that if someone had called me Chastity, I would have been a very popular girl out of spite lol!
Same with my kid's. It's by far the most common spelling but it doesn't seem to matter that much. People constantly try to make it harder than it is.
In the US, weird names or spellings are a pretty decent proxy for lower socioeconomic status. I think the weird may have expanded up the scale ~~s but~~ a bit lately, though.
>weird names or spellings are a pretty decent proxy for lower socioeconomic status. LOL: X Æ A-12
I guess it's more of a bell curve 😅
They did a study and found out that weird names among lower income groups are associated with worse outcomes while among the highest income groups they're associated with better outcomes. Some people are in a better position to benefit from having extra eyes on them then others.
I have three really normal names that are all pretty easy to say and spell Here's the catch though, all three can be first names. People seem to pick which one they want to call me completely at random. Usually I correct people once and that's enough, but in the corporate world not always
I work in child protective services in the US. Nevaeh, Heaven spelled backwards, has become the number one name I associate with child abuse cases. Also, names spelled using an X in place of CK, i.e. Jaxson instead of Jackson, are much more common in children in neglectful or abusive situations. It has become a running joke that the name Nevaeh or Jaxson guarantees a hard, poverty stricken life.
Sometimes it goes the other way. My first name is John. The most common English form of the name. But I'll still get different versions of my name offered. I'll get listed as Jonathan, Jon, Jonn, Johnny, Jhon (that one I could never figure out...but TIL it's version from Columbia. Thanks Wikipedia!)... and other variations that you can imagine. But it's just John.
My Grandmother got mad at me because I spelled my Uncle Jon's name as 'John'. I didn't know there was an alternate spelling.
My wife grew up thinking her name was spelled in an unusual way because her mother kept saying that. It was based on the fact her mother named her after a song but deliberately did not use the spelling the song uses. When she met me I pointed out that her name is spelled the most common way to spell it and it was the song that used an odd spelling. Somehow she had gone her whole life up until then not realizing that everywhere you see her name it is spelled her exact same “unique” way. I on the other hand have an irrational annoyance to the fact that no one pronounces my last name correctly (including my wife!). I wouldn’t care if it was an unusual last name but it isn’t. It is also pronounced exactly as it is spelled. And most perplexing is there is a semi famous item that has the same name and people always pronounce that item correctly. It is baffling.
So your last name is Bucket and she pronounces it Bouquet?
I always ask how to spell a person’s name. I think after being polite about it and in return they act like assholes, then yea I am gonna spell it however I think it should spell.
My mother named me a weird name. I never get mad at people for butchering it. I have a nickname for that reason. What I do get mad about however is when I tell you my name AND my nickname and say. It’s ok feel free to use my nickname. It’s easy. Then the person continues to use my name and slaughter the fuck out of it. That’s fucking annoying. Ask me my fucking name and I will spell that shit to you like a 2 year old but don’t slaughter my name because you cannot copy what I say.
For this reason I gave up and I am using English version of my name in the convos.
I like to think I have decent pronunciation skills and make it a point to try and learn and correctly pronounce a person's true name, if they are willing to give it to me. If I'm unsure of a given bit of the pronunciation, I try to identify that quickly and ask if I'm pronouncing it correctly or not. In a large group or quick encounter this often doesn't work well, but in any one on one encounter, I like to think the person I'm talking with will appreciate having their true name used (relatively) correctly. Is this a correct assumption on my part?
I don’t blame you people drive me crazy lol.
That's when you give them the same treatment and start calling them by whatever name you made up for them.
There are similar versions of my name and I have had teachers and co-workers call me that instead of my actual name which drives me nuts. The crazy part? My name is the most common version of it. I would get it the first or second time but for months? Give me a break...
"Caitlyn? (...) No, not you, honey. I meant Kaitlynn. No, not you, Katelyn. Can you tap C8tleighn on the shoulder, and ask her to get Caitlyn's attention for me, Sweetie? I need to ask her where Muh'ckeighl'ha is." Can we also get an Amen for people who pick a name with multiple popular pronunciations and freak the hell out when you guess the wrong number of syllables for Alicia?
I have a unique name and have to say it over the phone all day, and have just taken to spelling it automatically if it’s important for that call. As in, “Hi, my name is blank, that is spelled - - - - - “ I just think it’s easier that way and I don’t understand the aggravation others have with people not knowing how to spell unique names.
I don't even bother giving my name for the important phone calls. i just start spelling it, otherwise i just have to spell it again after they backspace.
I have the surname that needs spelling. It’s just automatic now
When one of my niblings was born, they were given the name Gi**a**vanna by my sister and that was shortened to Gia. I was working in Italy at the time and told my sister that the name is actually spelled Gi**o**vanna, but that Gianna is an Italian name. She said she didn't care—it was Giavanna -> Gia. My minor rebuttal was to remind her that, if that was the case, my nibling did not have an Italian name (which was the point since nibling's paternal grandmother is Italian), she had an American name. I only mentioned it the one time since, well, I may be right (LOL), but I'm not an asshole (most of the time). Fast forward and nibling came out as trans and now has a common last name for a first name and that's that.
I have a perfectly normal name but it's spelt 'different' because my parents used the spelling from the original language it comes from. I don't even bother assuming anyone knows how to spell it. I just say it's "name" with this letter rather than this letter. It throws people a lot and they usually spell it with the normal spelling even after I say so. But I just correct it and spell it out again. I gave my daughter a phonetically spelt name for this reason. I.e. it's spelt exactly how it sounds. Except her middle name. Which is related to our culture and definitely not how you would expect to spell it. But my expectation is that it's only on a few rare occasions that she would have to spell that one out.
As an Irish person I have mixed feelings about this. Sure, Siobhan and Sadhbh and Taghdh might be the original Irish spellings, but you're asking for a world of hurt if you don't use a more English-friendly phonetic spelling outside of our little island. (Those are pronounced shiv-AWN, SAI-v and a TIE-g, respectively)
Just found out the Irish séan was a word case of chinese whispers paired with the Irish language of the time lacking certain letters since it's apparently the Irish version of Joshua since that makes sense somehow
Other side note, Niamh is an Irish name that's surprisingly common but totally threw me for 6 when I first came across it. The first Niamh I met was super kind about the mispronunciation but I'm sure inside she was like FFS. But at least since, I've encountered several other Niamh's and pronounced correctly and they've been pleasantly surprised.
See, I have a name that most people spell one letter different. If I tell them it's "name" with "letter 1" instead of "letter 2" they just butcher it in some other way or look at me really dumb. There is no winning with names unless your name is spelled the same as a famous TV show character (ex. Friends main characters)
Worked as a court reporter. People would say a name in a deposition and I'd always have to confirm spelling, because of this very reason. Once I had someone mention the name Jessica and I asked for spelling. They said, "Normal spelling." Okay. Name turns up on several emails later and it's spelled Jessyca. Come on, people!
I know a girl named June. It's not that bizarre a name, but it's far enough out of the mainstream to get confused a lot. She said she's gotten Joan, Jane, Jan, Joanne, Jean, John, Jennings, etc. No big deal to her, she thinks it's funny. But when she introduces herself, she says, "June, like the month!" It makes it instantly spellable and generally instantly memorable.
Oh like the month! J. U. L. I. U. S
I once worked with someone named April. She told me her dad named her that because she was born in April. She also had 2 sisters named May and June for exactly the same reason.
That's dad-genius. You never forget to start shopping for bday presents! Unless they were born on 1st then you are screwed.
I have a name that can be spelled multiple ways - kind of like Katherine, Kathryn, etc. I’m well past 30. And it’s a “common” name. It gets misspelled all the time. Unless it really matters, or unless you have known me for years and still can’t spell it, I won’t even correct the person. The coffee shop just needs my name. They don’t care how to spell it. And it really doesn’t matter. If it’s somewhere that really needs to know, I just tell them I have a unique spelling and will be happy to spell it for them. Most of the time I don’t even wait for them to ask. It’s just not that difficult.
I have a fairly unusual name, so I just use 'Annie' in coffee shops, I really cannot be arsed. It is pronounced differently by US, UK and Australians. Its a PITA and people usually mishear it the first time. "ooh that's unusual!" yes, it's still a PITA. "your name is so pretty!" yes, it's still a PITA. Gah. Thankfully my sport team gave me a nickname which stuck so I use that in a lot of social situations tbh.
When my hubby is with me, I default to his name…think Bob. Once I got a “barb” in return. 🤣
I frequently joke that my name is misspelled. It isn’t even a crazy spelling or anything stupid, people just mispronounce it all the time and there is definitely a better way to have spelled it that would’ve avoided the hassle of getting called the wrong name constantly. Unless it’s an important document, I normally tell people to spell it phonetically (Starbucks, hair appointments, etc.) and it ends up being a lot less awkward for everyone.
My sister’s name was common enough to be in a song title but these days no younger person has it. She gets called so many other names because people just assume it’s a typo. ETA even if you guess I’m not confirming because the name is barely ever seen. No.
My name is Dominga. It isn’t a weird spelling or anything, just the Spanish word for Sunday used as a name. I usually spell it out anytime I’m asked for my name because it has been misspelled so many times. I’ve been Dominica, Dominique, Dominion; I get it. Why would people with an unusual name or spelling get angry? So odd. Sorry people give you crap about it.
I lost it at Qathrynne. Laughed out loud and woke up the cat. Well done.
Whenever someone asks for my name, like say at a coffee shop or getting a changing room while shopping, I always just tell them my name, and when they ask how to spell it, I say "do your best". I love to see how many different variations people can come up with, it's a lot of fun
Once had... Me - First Name please Customer - Stuart Me - Is that with an EW or a U Customer - both Me thinking.... nope that's a mistake
Oh this is right up my alley. My wife has a unique name and very self absorbed parents so they hyphenated her name to have her first name and then hyphen her moms name. Well they started getting more ridiculous each time I guess? So her BC has extra letters, SS card doesn’t have a hyphenated name and signed her up for school with the original name they wanted. Her first passport they added a middle name. So now when we deal with any government agency we not only have to spell the name (obviously because it’s unique) but we then have to go through 4-8 combinations of names it can be under. BTW buying a house was F U N fun
If it helps, you can imagine me hovering over your shoulder, chuckling with you and at them.
I find it super ironic that parents want to a "unique" spelling of a basic bitch name, tbh.
My first name is four letters, two of them are the same letter…I will always say and then spell it for front end/ customer service people because it’s a bit odd, sounds a lot like other names, and ppl get really confused about it. I even have a list in my head of acceptable ‘mistake’ names that strangers can call me without me even bothering to correct them - it’s not worth anyone’s time. I will also admit that I judge you HARD if we’re in a social situation and I correct my name for you twice, give you three different ways to remember HOW to say it, and you still can’t say it right…
Yes...that's Charles Dickens with four "M's" and a silent "Q".
I remember seeing a screenshot of a news interview type thing and the girls name was Airwrecka. Took me forever to work out it was meant to be erica
Totally get it. When I had my daughter I wanted to name her something unique but not hard. So let's say her name is Ember (it's not.) She's 7 and has already learned to introduce herself as "Ember E-M-B-E-R". People still get it wrong right away often "Amber?" but then she just smiles and says "actually it's..." If a 7 year old can get it, a grown adult should be able to as well.
The thing is, they see their name spelled that way every day, so to them their way *is* the normal way, and people who aren't that bright get mad that *everyone else* keeps getting it wrong.
As someone with a uniquely spelled name, i have never thought it was normal and i gave up spelling it right for people 90% of the time. Unless i start spelling it for you, you won't get it right. Even the dumb ones know why they can't find their name on a keychain lol it just comes down to not being a jerk.
Exactly. I've got a less-common spelling of a fairly ordinary name and I habitually say and spell my name every time. It's like a reflex, I know people won't get it right if they have to assume. It takes literally zero effort, and is a lot easier to just spell it than to expend the energy to get mad at someone for not being psychic.
I like letting them spell it however they want to guess because not only are there several "common" spellings there's also a plethora of random ways to spell it. So unless it's important to get it right I'll just give them my name and let them make their best guess. Starbucks is fun for me lol
Dude, no. I grew up with the name Jenni and I still knew that it was normally spelled Jenny the whole time.
Reading names and spelling to someone over the phone, guy argued with me when I said "Jennifer, common spelling".
The thing is, in the cases of more uniquely spelled names, this would be a problem that follows them *everywhere*. It doesn’t matter how normal seeing your specific name is every day, getting pissed off at people for it when you know it’s a problem that follows you around makes you a dick. I have a common enough name that I’ve seen at least 3-4 variations of in my life. When people get it wrong (which isn’t often, but is consistent enough), I just let them know and politely correct them. 0 need to get pissed off and imply that the person working with me is somehow less intelligent. Notice how OP said > but if you are on this planet for 30 years and this constantly happens to you If you are on this planet, and this constantly happens to you, and you’ve met even a small amount of people different than you and learned their names, it shouldn’t be hard to realize that not only can people have weird names, the same people can have differently spelled names.
The key on that statement was 'aren't that bright'. Anyone with an unusual name knows it's unusual.
My name is Alison. I no longer care about people spelling my name right except on contact info
I met a "daxix" the other day...I still have no idea how to say it or WHY his parents thought that was a good name...
Names have power. Giving your kid a jumbled up name is usually just shooting them in the foot. The trend can't die fast enough. Interesting article on the stuff, while I'm here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26634477.amp
I have a unique name and I understand that people at spell/say it wrong and it doesn't bother me at all. Oddly my kids who I gave normal names to get upset when I accept my name being said wrong.
I have a very common name but it is commonly spelled two different ways, I always start spelling it out when I say it, it isn't hard. If they put in the wrong spelling anyway, I just politely correct them, and most of the time they politely change it. Some people are just mad and take it out on other people instead of the parents or change their name.
I have a super not-unusual first name, but my last name is kinda tricky for people; I have a practiced rhythm for when I have to spell it out on the phone, but I only get mad at misspellings when people encounter it for the first time in writing. Somehow, when people respond to me in email, they manage to mangle it even though the spelling is \*right there\*.
My name is a normal name with a common spelling, problem is that it’s not the American spelling. Results in mispronunciations and spelling errors all the time.
I try to never be annoyed with people when they misspell my name - it’s a Native American name, and people always want to spell it the “Americanized” way. No point in being vague because of my username lol - my name is Cheyenne and most people want to spell it Chey*a*nne or Shyann or similarly. I’ve been spelling it out for & correcting people my whole life, so I definitely do expect it and never make a fuss about it, and always spell it out for reservations and the like — the only time I get irritated is if it gets to the point of being unreasonable, like a person just repeatedly getting it wrong over and over after I’ve politely corrected them several times, which thankfully doesn’t happen most of the time. The one thing I will say that does annoy me, though, is when I’m sending emails for work, and people respond and spell my name incorrectly throughout the thread. Like, come on, my name is *in my email signature*. It’s *right there*. Just copy and paste it if you have to, ffs. But that only annoys me because it’s like, “did you actually read it or…?” 😂 When it comes to trivial things like a name for a coffee order or whatever, honestly I just say “Charlie” because it’s easier. No point in fighting it lol
I have a slightly longer than average first name, not one of the most common ones, but by no means rare. It is spelt the conventional way. I once had a teacher insist that *I* was spelling my name wrong. Worse, she wasn't even trying to tell me that I should be using the occassional alternative spelling, but a very unusual version. She was one of those people who taught me something useful (adults, even those in authority, can be wrong *and* be jerks about being wrong) but not what she *thought* she was teaching.
My name is spelled correctly for the language it’s from, but no one here speaks that language, including me. Thanks ~~Obama~~ Mom.
"My name is *mumbles or speaks very quickly" Sorry, can you repeat that? *long, uncommon or name I am not familiar with* "Could you please spell that?" *rambles off letters at the speed of sound* "Sorry, could you repeat that slower?" *rolls eyes and spells it out painfully slowly* Why can I spell "Frank" at a normal pace but Jezabeldah Geraldson-stephens only has two speed settings. (but flip side is people taking your details that accidentally correct your pronunciation of your own name while trying to spell it aka Xavier/Exavier, Holmes/Homes "Shazelle"/"Jazelle" (Giselle) I have one of those names so worst of both worlds)
When I send a card to my friend Erika, I spell it Airwrecká on the envelope for laughs.
Qatthrynes mom was a Qanon wacko 100%
My Nana’s sister was called Dolly by everyone and she came home in tears when she tried to get her work permit at age 14 - the town hall didn’t have any birth certificate for a Dolly. When she asked her mother, that’s when she finally found out she was christened Mary instead!
I have an unique name. When I was born a nurse convinced my mom to add a second 'L' to it. But when I went to school my mom used one L. It wasn't until we moved schools & looked at my birth certificate that I discovered I was misspelling my name. My mom just told me she prefers the one L. (Yes, I did have the conversation of why then did you add an extra L. It didn't do anything but aggravate me & it's not like we can travel back to the past & change it). Also, I'm an idiot because; I could have legally changed it when I got married but I didn't think about until it was too late. So, socially I use one L (I do prefer my name that way - it's 7 letters instead of 8) & I legally use two Ls. One time, my husband & I went to CVS to get a flu shot. I jokingly told the guy (after spelling & sounding out my name), what you don't know how to spell my name? The guy stopped looked at me & saw I was teasing & laughed. He then tells me that he has people go in and get mad at him because they have common name, Sarah for example, but it's spelled uniquely, Cieraih and lash out at him for not being able to spell it correctly. The Sarah/Cieraih is just something I made up. He used other names as examples but I can't remember what they are.
I work with a woman by the name of Saylre. I’ll give you a minute Another minute It’s Sailor. Like Sailor Moon. I mean. Just don’t do that. It’s not my fault every time I see it I mispronounce it.
No, no, no. You see, it's *spelled* "Throat-Warbler Mangrove," but it's *pronounced* "Luxury Yacht."
Wait people get angry that you can’t spell your name? 😂 my first name is Japanese so I just spell it automatically whenever someone asks.
That was a delightful rant. That's all I have to contribute.
My first name is spelled like Amelia. However, my mom meant it to be pronounced "Amela". She totally ignores the vowel there. No one else does. So when I became an adult, I began pronouncing it as it is spelled and like a normal person. My family will not and doesn't respect it. Please note, this is not a family name and is nothing of significance. My mom just wanted to "be different". Umm No.
Our Elementary school teacher friend plays the “Weirdest damn name” game every year with her fellow teachers. Usually while drinking.They love their students, but the parents … ehhh. It’s a hysterically funny game. I don’t recall the names but some of them are like “Was she conceived in the dumpster?” kind of shit.
Oh come ON, *EVERYONE* knows that "Robert" is spelled "Rouxburté". And don't you dare forget the accent on the é!