When people spell/pronounce you name wrong...

Does anyone else get this? Because I get this ALL. THE. BLOODY. TIME.

It's so annoying. My name's Malena, but it's pronounced [meh-luh-nah] so obviously differently to how it's spelt, but I don't believe it's that much of a complicated name to pronounce! And with spelling, pretty much everyone gets it wrong. It's only six letters...

I've had so many different pronunciation variations, including:
[meh-lay-nah] - probably the most popular.
[meh-lee-nah]
[mah-luh-nah]
[may-lee-nuh]

The list is endless... I just get everyone to call me Mel. I prefer Mel in some ways too.

EDIT: I think I wrote the pronunciation of my name down wrong, I think it should be more like [meh-lah-nah]? Not [meh-luh-nah]. The way you would say the name Melana.

EDIT (again): I understand a lot of you think I'm being pedantic and whiny about this, if I saw this, I thought I would be too. I think the point I'm trying to get across is not when people get my name wrong the first time (I mean, how can you blame them?) it's when they repeatedly get it wrong, after I have corrected them multiple times. I do just put up with it know, but it always annoys me a little bit on the inside.

(edited 10 years ago)

Scroll to see replies

Reply 1

alow

Your parents should have spelt your name right then.

Reply 2

ADAOBI123

Yes its annoying but I deal with it :tongue:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Reply 3

Hail Hydra

Yes it happens to me all the time, but you in particular have no right to get angry because your name doesn't sound like the way it looks at all. It should be Maluna.

Reply 4

elpistolero7

I'm half Indian and have an Indian name.

Its Abhi,

My British mates tends to pronounce it as "Abby". For the love of god :cry:

Reply 5

Care-Free

Samara. Sa-Mar-Rah - Not that hard I think

Sa-Meer-Ah
Sa-My-Rah
Sa-Mi-Rah
Samantha < -- Wtf? don't start adding letters that clearly aren't there!
Tamara

It doesn't bother me too much..I'm too shy to tell them so I just deal with it...I know when they're referring to me. I usually tell people my name and then said " but sam's fine" I hate being called sam but I don't like watching them be too polite to ask how to pronounce it.

I always hates "ooh that's an usual name, you don't hear that every day do you?"...Yes...I do...It's my name, i hear it multiple times a day.
I didn't really like "are you from Pakistan? or the Caribbean?" No I'm English...I look and sound as English as they come!

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 6

awe

Original post by malena123

I'm sorry but that is very contradictory spelling v pronunciation. xD I would say 'May-leena' or 'May-len-ah' and I wouldn't feel bad, though obviously would change if corrected! I know it's annoying but when the 'versions' are that different from one another, it's fair enough that people get it wrong. P: I would write Meluna.

My first name is strange (Astrid) but even people that haven't heard it before can thankfully spell it. But when I'm asked for my full name, people often think that is my last name, as my real last name sounds a bit like 'Natalie'. So on some forms and bits I'm down as Natalie Astrid. -_- Sometimes when I order food/taxi/book an appt. somewhere I'll just call myself 'Meg' or something to cut corners haha.

Reply 7

malena123

Original post by alow

Your parents should have spelt your name right then.

I quite like it spelt like this tbh but I guess it would make more sense.

Original post by Hail Hydra

Yes it happens to me all the time, but you in particular have no right to get angry because your name doesn't sound like the way it looks at all. It should be Maluna.

And I don't get angry at people who spell or pronounce my name wrong the first time, but after I've corrected them loads of times it gets quite irritating.

Reply 8

Robbie242

My surname gets mispronounced a lot of the time

Reply 9

8472

Nathan has been spelt by some as Nathen. And my old football manager wrote Nattan on the team lineup board. Every week we'd correct (me and another player).. yet he'd still do it.

I don't mind now. It is just name. Not unique. Not special. I am the one who is unique.

Reply 10

malena123

Original post by awe

Fair enough, I wouldn't be annoyed with you if you said my name like that the first time you said it because I don't expect you to get it right the first time but it's once I've corrected people and they still get it wrong that bugs me, I guess.

Reply 11

L'Evil Fish

My name is funny, because it sounds like summat else.

But it's quite annoying when people say it in the most foreign sounding way they can, just sounds awful.

Reply 12

kdizzle97

My names Kevin but just because I'm not white quite a lot of people assume it's spelt or pronounced differently...
I've had Keven,Kevon and Kieven quite a few times and lots of people pronounce my name like Kievin/Keeven as they think I'm like South African or something.
Its annoying but I got over it I guess!

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 13

Black Rose

Original post by ADAOBI123

Yes its annoying but I deal with it :tongue:

Posted from TSR Mobile

Ditto

Reply 14

awe

Original post by malena123

Yeah, that's totally justified irritation.

Original post by elpistolero7

I'm half Indian and have an Indian name.

Its Abhi,

My British mates tends to pronounce it as "Abby". For the love of god :cry:

How do you pronounce it then? I can only think of with a focus on the 'h' sound, so Abb-hee? That would get lost in most English accents I think.

Reply 15

x__justmyluck

There are different ways of spelling the shortened version of my name but it does annoy me when I email my tutor and end the email with my name and then she replies and spells my name wrong!!

This is why one of my criteria for naming my baby was that it had to be a name with only one common spelling that was easy to spell and pronounce. I don't understand people who give their child a common name but spell it in an unusual way; that child is going to be forever pissed off at everyone spelling their name wrong.

Reply 16

malena123

Original post by ADAOBI123

Yes its annoying but I deal with it :tongue:

Posted from TSR Mobile

I don't really bother correcting people after a couple attempts now because I can't be bothered but it's just s/t that annoys me from time to time. I mean, I've had the same English teacher since year 7 (I'm in year 11 now) and he still says my name [mah-leh-nah] but that's just my fault for not correcting him.

Reply 17

User1214833

I'm gonna call you Mileena after the Mortal Kombat character.

Reply 18

Welsh Bluebird

Original post by alow

Your parents should have spelt your name right then.

This. I often find that people who get their name pronounced wrong are often those who's parents chose them daft names in the first place. No offence but that's how it always comes across to me. The only names often messed up are unique or daft names.

Nobody gets Harry, William, Elizabeth, James, Edward, Thomas, Charles, Adam, Helen, Robert, etc. wrong in terms of pronunciation because they're quite straight up. You should blame your parents to be honest.

Reply 19

malena123

There was this one time when my physics teacher told me I spelt my own name wrong. Fair enough it isn't pronounced the way it's spelt but you can't really say that, though.