Another one-name post

[notuninvisible.livejournal.com]

I feel like I should post more lists and less just one name at a time, but today in Starbucks the woman in front of me was named Uiyula. (Ou-ee-you-la). And then on that cheesy little map they have where you can stick a pin on where in the world you're from, she put hers in Alaska. So I Googled it, and as I thought, it's Native American. Specifically, it's Inupiaq for whirlwind.

The cockles of my heart are always warmed by Native Americans who have untranslated names. But the workers in the aforementioned Starbucks whined about it not being a real name and being really hard to say, which surprised me because firstly, it IS a real name, and secondly... it's not that hard for me to pronounce. But that might just be me.

Thoughts?

Comments

[qtshorty1625.livejournal.com]

The moment I find out a name is from a different culture than mine, the way I judge the name is completely different. (Kind of like how I used to puzzle over Mathieu Schneider's name: he's from New York and has a German-sounding last name, but a French first name. Then I found out that his mother is French Canadian, and it made perfect sense).

And as for the pronunciation of the name, it reminds me of a quote from Ioan Gruffudd, "We all learned how to say Schwarzenegger."

[harinakshi.livejournal.com]

I'm the same way, it might sound weird, but there's always a chance it's pretty common in another language, and living in California I've run into a lot of different cultures with some odd sounding names, to me, but they turn out to be pretty common for them. Doesn't make them ugly or made up! Just odd in my ears. And I've also learned that my name pronounced in Spanish can sound a lot like their word for "sheet" so I can just imagine that other cultures think our names are pretty weird, too!

[sweetest-asylum.livejournal.com]

i swear everyone in Butler, PA is named Biff or Heidi :)

[qtshorty1625.livejournal.com]

I can just imagine that other cultures think our names are pretty weird, too!
Agreed! I remember having a Spanish teacher from Mexico in high school, and it was the first time I ever had to tell someone how to pronounce my name.