You're doing it wrong.

[being-lola-star.livejournal.com]

I've had the flu and been on an archive binge of this site all day. I'm seeing a lot of uniquely spelled names and as someone who works in child care I've run across quite a few interesting names as well. My question is, does anyone have or know of a name that always gets said or spelled wrong even though it's an actual name.

My name given name is Laurel but I am constantly being called Laura or Lauren or if the person does know my name they mangle it's spelling horribly: Lorelle, Lorel, Lorrelle. Most recently my supervisor at work has everyone confused by actually pronouncing the name itself wrong: Lurr-elle instead of Lor-rul. It's driving me mad and even though she knows she's saying it wrong she's persistent in this incorrect pronunciation. I've even had to reintroduce myself to other staff members because they're confused about the pronunciation.

And a student who is doing a placement at the centre is apparently called Aoife, I've yet to meet her but everyone calls her Eh-Oh-Fe even though I'm pretty sure the original name is Ee-Fa (like Eva but with an F). I'm not quite sure what to do when I meet her because I spotted her daughter's name on a sign in sheet in the office and I got excited about how it was one of my favourite names Saoirse (Seer-sha to the best of my knowledge) but the girl with me was confused about why I said it like that and told me it was pronounced Sar-oh-see.

I'm not sure if she's actually pronounces her name incorrectly or if this is another case of my supervisor getting everyone confused and it being justified by being a name that's not English. Any thoughts?

Comments

[lissalynn.livejournal.com]

I quite like Aoife, which yes, is usually pronounced EE-fa.

As for the confusion over your name, I think that happens to people with just about every name that has more common variations. My name is Alissa- easy to pronounce. But I more often had teachers call me Alison, Alicia ,or Melissa- I think just because those were more common when I was growing up (or they were too lazy to bother reading my name correctly. Either one).

[lalazee.livejournal.com]

I'm with you, Alissa. I'm Larisa, and no one ever bothered to even hear my name correctly, so I was always Alissa, Clarissa, Melissa.

Then there were the pronunciations of LOR-isa and Lah-REE-sah, rather than just Larisa. But that's a whole different thing.

PS: YOUR ICON. I was literally doing the COO-COO CA-CHAAA a couple of hours ago.

[compulsivelyme.livejournal.com]

So would you recommend that people NOT use the name Laurel? It's been one of my favorites forever but my husband doesn't like it, or "get it" as he says-- first of all he says "what about Laurel and Hardy?" and um, that was about 90 years ago. And then he says, "why not just use Lauren?" as if it's basically the same name. So I dunno.

Then again, I'm a Meredith and to me there's nothing complicated about that, and yet I got all kinds of Marybeth and Marilyn and whatever growing up and don't even get me started on Merideth, Meridyth, etc.

I think that some people with difficult to pronounce names resign themselves to whatever it is that people call them. I worked with an (Indian) man whose name is Murali, and everyone pronounced it Murr-AL-lee, except for his fellow Indian coworkers who pronounced it, roughly, MURR-ah-lee. I guess he was basically over correcting people. I wouldn't be too surprised if some of your coworkers have resigned themselves to the same.

[being-lola-star.livejournal.com]

I actually love my name, though I always had to deal with everything having Lauren or Laura on it when I was growing-up. Also I got the Laurel and Hardy thing quite a bit when I was younger but I kind of accepted it because it was what I grew-up with. I actually had a journal with old tv and movie characters on it which I bought because of the representation of the Laurel and Hardy characters. It was something I struggled with quite a bit, which is where my username comes from as quite a few of my friends from high school call me Lola, as one of my friends was joking about the misspellings and it stuck. I've actually seen it's popularity growing and have since met several Laurels.

I just found it so strange that she wouldn't try to correct herself after she'd admitted to knowing that it was wrong. Accidentally mispronouncing it or misspelling it is one thing, but doing it once you've been corrected is sort of rude. Basically I wondered if anyone else had been in a situation like that. Clearly it's not so uncommon if your name, which also isn't unusual, gets misspelled or mispronounced

[schexyschteve.livejournal.com]

I think people are just lazy when it comes to pronunciations. They don't want to take the extra second to learn the right way to say it.

[lalazee.livejournal.com]

I've always known how to say Laurel. It's a freaking plant, how can people get it wrong? But, I mean, that's how it is. At the end of the day, people are just careless and lazy.

My mother's name is Silvija. People pronounce the 'J' ALL THE TIME. Even though it clearly is the name Silvia, with a 'J'. Apparently the silent 'J' is an applicable sound in dozens of languages throughout the world, but not in America. Clearly we should all be named John & Mary ;)

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

That's crazy. Is Silvija Polish? Strikes me as being Polish.

My name is Alicia. Pronounced Alissia. And I get Alisha ALL THE TIME, and I HATE it!!

[doxerssoldout.livejournal.com]

well, i know of an aislin who pronounces her name ace-lin, so perhaps they went with traditional spellings and english-ized pronunciations?

[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

Ace-lin seems to be an American thing. I've heard of a few over there. I think most people pronounce it Ashlin.

[pleasure-past.livejournal.com]

*Raises hand* Mine. Forgive me for not saying what it is, but it's the original spelling (which I think is perfectly phonic. Seriously, I cannot imagine any more phonic way to spell my name than its original and most common spelling, which is the spelling I have.) of a name that is actually fairly popular in a certain (non-WASP) ethnic community, and I've experienced everything from "You know, your name really should have a W in it..." (There is nothing even vaguely like a W sound in my name. WTF.) to people looking at my name and reading it as every WASPy name under the sun that happens to start with the same syllable (sometimes just the same letter), to a instances at restaurants where the works will ask me to spell my name to them, say it back to me perfectly, and then I'll get the receipt and see that they wrote a WASPy name instead. (Which wouldn't bother me, except that... they said it back to me correctly. It's not like they misheard me. WTF.) At this point in my life (I'm 19) I'll actually answer to the WASPy name that's closest to my name, and when people call me by that name (even though they have my name written on a form/nametag/whatever right in front of them) I don't correct them unless they're someone that I know I'm going to have fairly extended contact with (my teacher, my boss, etc.) There just aren't enough seconds in my life for me to waste them making sure that everyone calls me by the correct name.

[being-lola-star.livejournal.com]

It's down right obnoxious. I think the worst part is this is a lady that I've worked with since May and have corrected her several times and she's actually said, "Oh there I go again, saying it wrong." but just continues to do it. I've never had any one pronounce it wrong. Usually I get a variation or a completely different name but the right name, right spelling and an incorrect pronunciation is just cruel.

I once jokingly said, I'll pretty much respond with anything that starts with an L because that's what seems to happen.

[kamelancien.livejournal.com]

ugh yes, ,my name is Caroline and is pretty much always pronounced Carolyn.

[winterjameson.livejournal.com]

And then there's my friend Carolyn who is constantly called Caroline...

And then there's the government's stupidity in splitting her name into "Carl Lynn" and drafting her. (She's currently 62) She finally had to go in, dressed to the nines in her shortest mini skirt and highest heels, make up perfect, for them to finally back off. Although apparently she still gets things from a different government department addressed to Carl...

[jadedsurprises.livejournal.com]

Yep! I'm an Adriana who is constantly called Adrienne, Andrea, Alison, and Amanda! Ughhh.

[bright-eyes-jh.livejournal.com]

How the hell do they get Alison and Amanda?!

[thelasttruth.livejournal.com]

My name is Amber-Lynn and I swear there are a hundred ways to spell it and I've gotten them all. I know people always tell other's not to give their kids names that they'll have to explain the spelling for, but honestly, I love when people actually ask me how to spell my name. Doesn't bother me at all. I tend to get called Amber-Leigh or Amanda a lot though, which does bug me a bit.

[vanish.livejournal.com]

I worked for a lady named Laurie, and someone once called her "lurr-ELLE" and we've been calling her that (much to her chagrin!) ever since. But that's just us being cheeky.

[octobre09.livejournal.com]

My name is Emilie which I don't think is that hard to get even though it's the French spelling. Well I constantly get called Emile or Emilia. I named my daughter Cléa (we've always lived in French/English bilingual areas) and she gets called Clara, Claire, Chloe...But you know even my husband who's got an easy name like John gets called Josh or Shawn occasionally...

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[alyssa22.livejournal.com]

My name is Alicia. Pronounced Alissia. I always get Alisha. If I correct people, they get annoyed about it.

I actually had one woman say to me "That's not how you pronounce it, it's just how you want people to pronounce it".

I use Alyssa online because at least it's close, and people can pronounce it.

[behindgrey-eyes.livejournal.com]

I actually had one woman say to me "That's not how you pronounce it, it's just how you want people to pronounce it". HOW RUDE! There are some names out there that have pretty strict pronunciation imo, but yours could definitely be said with more of an S sound than the SH. Actually if I read your name I'd say it Al-EESS-EE-AH straight away.

You could say my name a couple of ways, but its my name and I've had it said a certain way since birth so people can just deal with it XD

[inmeggsyoutrust.livejournal.com]

I pronounce Laurel and Lorelle differently so that doesn't make much sense to me that people would butcher your name so badly.

I'm a Megan. Simple enough. But people are always adding extra letters. No. My bigger pet peeve is unwelcomed nicknames: meg, meggy, maggie, etc. ugh.

[behindgrey-eyes.livejournal.com]

Laurel is such a pretty name :) I'm Louisa and half the time people call me Louise. I think its because 1. People just don't listen. 2. Its a little more unusual so they can't get their heads round. Its probably something the same for your name too. I've had a few interesting spellings of my name as well.

What is it with people butchering celtic names? I think people want to pronounce them as they see them but its just not how a lot of Irish, Scottish and Welsh names work :p Aoife is defo Ee-fah to me.

[goldopals.livejournal.com]

People butcher celtic names because they do not know how the spelling relates to the sound! If you do not know the rules, you cannot pronounce the names correctly. I have no idea how to pronounce a lot of celtic names, so have to pronounce them phonetically

[carameltrap.livejournal.com]

My name is Lavinia but I always get Lavinnah, Lavinnia, Lovina or even Lavender. My boss calls me by the first. I think people don't read or just don't pay attention when you say your name so they go with what they think and muck it up.

[after-the-ashes.livejournal.com]

OMG. I love-love-love your name. Love.

[amaranti.livejournal.com]

Yeah...I got lectured by a lady on how my name *ought* to be spelled if I want the correct pronunciation. So, my name is Dana (said 'Dah-na'). Not the hardest thing in the world, except for this lady. We worked together over 3 years and she insisted to the *very* end on calling me "Day-na" coz, (and this was the actual reason she gave me): "In America, that's how we read your name. If you wanted to be called 'Donna' you shoulda spelt your name D-O-N-N-A". Yes, *I* should have spelt MY OWN NAME in a way to suit her. Ugh.Also,she was so adamant on this butchering of my name that even people who used to call me the correct form started calling me Dayna. -_-*

[bright-eyes-jh.livejournal.com]

Apparently by "In America", she means obnoxious people who only speak English and are totally incapable of understanding a simple polite correction. Ugh. Sorry, but we have no official language in this country, and PLENTY of people speak Spanish and other languages in which Dana would be pronounced the way you use it.

[thellamaqueen.livejournal.com]

My name is Krysta, and I nearly always get "Krystal" or "Kristen". If people do hear it right, they usually spell it Krista. And for some reason a lot of people want to throw an extra "r" in there (Krystra), which really just doesn't make any sense to me.

My own grandmother still spells my name wrong every time she writes it.

[blaze-villain.livejournal.com]

I'm Kara. I get Car-a a lot when it's pronounced Care-a.
I didn't think it was complicated. Apparently it is.
My daughter shouldn't have that problem, as her name is Lizzy Blaze.

[teahleilah.livejournal.com]

I think Laurel is a beautiful name, and shouldn't be difficult to pronounce. However, it's not as if it's spelled exactly the same as a tree -- oh, wait, it is!

[karohi.livejournal.com]

I love Laurel :)

My given name is Katy, and it REALLY annoys me when people spell it Katie. Having said that, most people just call me Kate, but even if I introduce myself as that, there's always one who calls me Katy/Katie still!

[spaceandclouds.livejournal.com]

No stories of my own, but Sar-oh-see for Saoirse? That makes NO SENSE at all. The 'r' is not even over there. What the...?

[bright-eyes-jh.livejournal.com]

Laurel has always been one of my favorite names.

I go by my full name (Jordan) now, but as a child my parents/family/friends called me "Jori", and I would get everything under the son! There was, of course, Jordi (umm, where did you here me say a letter d? Gah!). There was also Rory, Laurie, Tori, and Corey.

My little sister's name is Jocelyn and there was a woman at our church who FOR YEARS insisted on calling her JOSH-elyn, despite numerous corrections over the years. Wth?! I think she still gets that on occasion - last time I visited my mom and her new fiance, he referred to her as "Joshy" (she goes by Jocie sometimes). I was like seriously?! I didn't say anything at the time since he has only met my sister once, but I'm definitely correcting it next time as it drives me nuts, even if she's not around right then.

[bright-eyes-jh.livejournal.com]

*sun, not son. Derp.

[nochenne.livejournal.com]

My name is Aida. It's Spanish in origin, as I'm named after my Puerto Rican grandmother, so it's pronounced like the English Ida. Not Ada, not Aída (like Verdi's opera - there is no accent over the I in my name, even in Spanish). I've spent most of my life in the United States, though, and as my name is not at all intuitive in spelling OR pronunciation, I've gotten a LOT of creative interpretations. Mostly I've been called Ada and Aída, although I did have a dyslexic history teacher that once pronounced it Ah-da, with a short A. When people try spelling my name for the first time, they often leave off the first A. I'm 21, and I know it's not an easy name to figure out, so I'm used to correcting people, but it does get annoying, especially as my brothers both have perfectly normal names (Richard and Joshua) that are never mispronounced.

[squeaks30.livejournal.com]

My name is Madeleine and it get butchered by almost everyone. I've got spellings from Madeline, Maddeline, Madelynn, etc. I can see why some people write/spell my name as 'Madelynn' since that's how I pronounce it but people even spell it way wrong after I correct them. Heck, I've even had to write it ou for people because, somehow, even when I spell it for them they always leave out an 'e'. People pronouce it as 'Madeline,' like the stories about the little red headed French girl. I've even gotten called Natalie a few times. My middle name is Rena after my great great grandmother and it's pronouced Re-nuh, not Re-nay. I get Rena a lot and, after 21 years, I'm tired of correcting people. It also gets misspelled a lot-mainly Renee.
I named my daughter Kenna Memory and everyone mispronounces her first name. They call her Shena or Jenna or they'll leave out one of the 'n's. I'm scottish and so is my fiance and we wanted a scottish name and Kenna is perfect! It means 'born of fire' and we both love fire :)