Hearing it wrong...

[coneygoil.livejournal.com]

My name is Nina and I'm 28 years old. When I introduce myself to people I try to say my name as clear as possible, but somehow people still get it wrong! I have been called "Tina" so many times in my life, more as an adult than I child though. I've also heard Lina, Dina, Gina, Mina, and even Nita. I also get the question, "Is it pronounced N'e'na or N'i'na?" My 3rd grade teacher, no matter how many times I corrected her, would still call me N'i'na. Why is such a simple name like mine so hard to hear or read?

Comments

[boudoir.livejournal.com]

Oh my goodness. I have so many people call me aye-shley, rather than Ashley. It's very annoying, but at least it's only minor! :P

[tames.livejournal.com]

Are you serious?! lol You'd think that would be a pretty um, well-known pronunciation? People are so dumb.

[boudoir.livejournal.com]

I KNOW RIGHT? My boyfriend's dad calls me AYESHLEY every time I see him and I want to stab myself in the eye! I think it's more of an accent or dialect thing rather than a mispronunciation, but still... it's stupid! :P

[tames.livejournal.com]

My kindergarten teacher consistently referred to me as Dan-e-el. Five year old me was constantly annoyed with the woman's inability to say Danielle. My Mom told her that our family always called me Dani, thinking that'd be easier ... Not really =/ I don't know why Nina would be such a hard name for people to get either. Weird.

[lipsty.livejournal.com]

Is N'i'na even a valid pronuciation? I've only ever heard N'e'na.

I think that people mishear your name because there are other popular -ina names, so they probably just hear the -ina bit and add the inital letter that they're most familiar with. If you were named Tina, you'd probably get called Nina :)

[a-tergo-lupi.livejournal.com]

People are willfully ignorant.

[satunian.livejournal.com]

Honest answer? Because it's your name. If your name was Gina or Lina or Tina, you'd get called Nina all the time.
I'm Diana and I get called Diane all the time, without fail. I've literally had exchanges go like this:
Me: Hi, my name is Diana
person: Nice to meet you, Diane!

... That's not what I said. All other Dianas have the same problem, but every Diane I've ever met always gets called Diana.

It's your name, so people are going to mess it up, no matter how simple or easy it is.

Also, people are stupid >:(

[satunian.livejournal.com]

Off topic - you're due July 3rd?? Ooo, My birthday is June 30 - I'm rooting for that day! XD Congrats!

[the-pyre.livejournal.com]

My son's name is Abel, people think it's April.

[retrodancekitty.livejournal.com]

Hello Nina and welcome to baby_names! :)
I really like your name and I'm sorry people mistake it.
I can relate, I'm Jessica and have been called Jennifer countless times!
So weird that it would even occur to people to call you N-eye-nah...

[mossmade.livejournal.com]

I have a young niece named Eden. We all pronounce it very clearly.
And every time, someone says, "Aiden?" *eyeroll*

[myiris.livejournal.com]

My mom is Damita [dah-MEE-tuh], but gets called Danita or Dammit-uh every single day of her life. I agree with a previous comment - people are willfully ignorant. Nina is a very straightforward, easy name. WTF.

[twinklieetoes.livejournal.com]

I can understand the fustration, I personally think if I saw your name on paper, I would pronounce it Spanish, Niña (Nen-ya) but that would be me because I don't think I've seen your name used before :)

[hyperbolepanda.livejournal.com]

I think often people just don't pay attention. My name is Amanda and both when I used to work in a call center and when I talk to people in person, people would get my name wrong on a regular basis. It's a very simple and popular name. I get Amber, Amala (what?), Samantha, April (how do you get that?), etc.

[dararachel.livejournal.com]

I agree with everyone else. People are just stupid. My name is Dara, which rhymes with Sarah, but I get called Dah-rah pretty often, Dana very often, and my 6th grade teacher called me Daria a lot.

[octobre09.livejournal.com]

I love Nina, it's very pretty and different. I kinda feel sorry for my daughter because everybody mistakes her name (Cléa) as Claire. To me, it doesn't sound the same AT ALL but I constantly have to say "it's pronounced like princess Leia with a "c" in front." But you know what, they also manage to butcher my name all the time and it's a very common one. People just go with their own points of reference I guess...

[ringsandcoffee.livejournal.com]

To me, Nina is pretty straight forward and easy to say, though I can also understand people thinking it could be pronounced nine-uh. I'm a teacher, and usually see my students' names before I meet them and hear the pronunciation. If I teach it to myself in an incorrect way, it takes me forever to say it correctly, though I do try. For example, I have a Tiarra this year. When I saw her name, I thought it was pronounced like tiara (tee-are-uh), as in what a princess wears on her head. But, no, it's tie-air-uh. I also got a Josefyn about a month ago, but keep calling her Jocelyn because that's what I first read her name as.

[spaceandclouds.livejournal.com]

I agree with that.

[cybeleadam.livejournal.com]

It was my grandmother's nickname (for Célina). Sometimes people heard Lina instead. It was closer to her name but they didn't know.

[skittlebox.livejournal.com]

I'm Joanna and I get the same thing with Joanne :(

[satunian.livejournal.com]

Yup. Just about any Anne/anna/ane/ana combo will have that problem. Also - Christine and Christina, Janet and Janice (my mom is a Janice) and I'm sure countless other names. Oh yeah - Melissa and Michelle. My bff is Melissa and I also had a friend Michelle in high school/early college, both of them always got called the other name. (though in Melissa's case, she has one of those Pf last names, so I'm sure anyone who saw her name though "Michelle Pfeiffer" and Michelle was always the result)

[satunian.livejournal.com]

Oh, goodness! I hate it when teachers keep calling students by the wrong name. Hello Mrs. Finklestien, It's March and I've been in your classroom since September. Do you think it's possible that you might be able to learn my real, correct name any time soon?
Even when the kid has an unusual and/or ethnic name that an average American (or wherever you are) might be unfamiliar with, you'd think after a few weeks the teacher would get the hang of it.

[satunian.livejournal.com]

LOL they probably think you're from Bahston (Boston) and named your daughtah claiah!

[uberta.livejournal.com]

The name looks like N'e'na to me, but my grandmother always went by N'i'na and were it not for knowing others who go by N'e'na as well as Ginas, Tinas, Linas, ad infinitum, maybe I would think N'i'na. It could be a generation thing to some extent.

My oldest child goes by Nita at times. The only reason she isn't called N'e'na often is because most people know her name is short for Benita.

[kkleigha87.livejournal.com]

I know how you feel. My name is Kendal and I am always getting called Kendra. It gets annoying because people don't care enough to listen so that they can get your name right.

[relevancedenied.livejournal.com]

my english comp professor this past semester got nearly every name wrong the entire semester. there was a girl named lainie, pronounced lane-ee, and he insisted on calling her lee-an-ee, as if the a and i were reversed in her name.

[relevancedenied.livejournal.com]

my name is lyndsey and while i mostly get incorrect spellings (thanks, mom) i also occasionally get called lizzie or (bizarrely) wednesday.