[PackedToTheRafte...]

My friends daughter is Isla and so so many people call her "is la" amazing really. It drives her nutty!!
I have an Eli and get "Ellie" all the time, I love his name, but it does annoy me that people call him Ellie!!!
My next baby is getting a easy name!

[Buggylicious]

My cousin is Madeline and each parent pronounces it a different way, she doesn't seem to mind and she's now 13.

DDs name has 2 acceptable pronounciations, I don't bother to correct people especially if they'll never see us/ remember us (like the nurses at the GP). I just carry on saying it my way until people follow suit.

[lizzzard]

Do people actually respond well to that? Because I'd look at you, nod, say right, yes, Tayla and carry on with my day. Do you know any Toms or Bobs who have corrected your mispronounciation of their name? Not to mention the abysmal name butchering I (and probably you as well) do to pretty much anyone from Asia.

I would feel like a freak putting on a fake American accent for one word, as if I went around talking about my wonderful holiday in Roma and Paree!

I am with you on this.

Although it also reminds me of my inlaws (NESB) who insisted on pronouncing our daughter's name (Charlotte) as...wait for it.... Char-Lot ("Char" to rhyme with "car", and "lot" to rhyme with "pot")...it only took about a year for them to begin pronouncing it semi-correctly (and they quite often pronounce a hard CH even now, DD is 5!)...That wasn't a legitimate accent/dialect difference though -to this day I'm not sure why they do it

This post has been edited by lizzzard: 07/04/2012, 08:11 AM

[Guest_Buy Me A Pony !_*]

pp CharLot is the natural pronunciation of your DDs name in some countries. Similar to Italians saying OwStrAleea for Australia. You've mentioned your ILs are NESB so do they not also pronounce other words similarly?

Johan and John, and Ellie and Eli are clearly different names though so that's just idiocy.

[thestylemanual]

As someone with a name that is frequently and understandably mispronounced, I can tell you that it is important to the name holder. It might not bother you that your child is called AnTHony or An-tony but it will matter to him. Your name is an important part of your identity and when people don't get it right, it can be annoying and frustrating to be constantly correcting people. And it isn't a one time correction either. Throughout their life they will encounter people who, like you, think it doesn't matter and will say their name any way they like. When this happens, it is insulting and disrespectful.

I have had colleagues in work and school that have known me for years yet still mispronounce my name. It demonstrates apathy in the relationship; that they don't care who I am.

This post has been edited by LRD: 07/04/2012, 09:43 AM

[thestylemanual]

My DS's name is Louis and I see red if anyone calls him Lewis (totes other name, totes not my style). But an older friend with an adult son named Louis doesn't mind it pronounced either way...

This is the spelling I wanted for my son. And the pronunciation of Lou-ee. But my DH (also South African, by the way ) didn't want him called Lou-is by mispronounce. However, we named him Lewis so that it is always got right.

(As I mentioned, I have a name that is often got wrong due to it being unusual. DH is Wade and is often called Wayne because, like your DH, people don't pay attention or assume they misheard a more common name. So people getting our kids names right was important to us. On the surface, we don't seem to mind when people get it wrong because we're polite people. But in private, we hate it.)

[suziej]

As someone with a name that is frequently and understandably mispronounced, I can tell you that it is important to the name holder.

Not always. I had a friend called Verena, who actually introduced herself as "Ve-re-na, but you can call me Ve-ree-na because everyone does" - when we asked which she preferred, she did admit to the first - but because everyone always got it wrong, she offered it right up front!!!

[*CalamityJane*]

Not always. I had a friend called Verena, who actually introduced herself as "Ve-re-na, but you can call me Ve-ree-na because everyone does" - when we asked which she preferred, she did admit to the first - but because everyone always got it wrong, she offered it right up front!!!

I work with a lady with a very common Indian name. She introduced herself to me pronouncing it a certain way, and that's how I've always said it. Another colleague who has only recently met her said her name a totally different way and I had a little chuckle with her afterwards about how wrong he got it...and then she tells me "actually that's the correct pronunciation, when I moved to Australia no one got it right so I just went with it". I was so embarrassed LOL.

My name is uncommon, and difficult to pronounce and spell. I always politely correct people. I understand why people can't say it when they read it, so it doesn't overly bother me, but when the same person gets it wrong over and over it irritates the crap out of me.