Do folks mess up your name?
What's in a name?
I think the thing that is most frustrating in communicating with someone is when you mess up their name. Folks don't mind too much of you mess up the town they live in or the name of their car, the school they went to, but their name is personal and I think folks feel like you are messing with them when you mispronounce or misspell their name.
Now my given name is Joanne. Not very unusual, but I guess the way I pronounce it over the phone with my accent made it sound like something else. I would often have to say it three times and then get, "Oh hello Jillian!" UGH!
And don't get me started on how to spell it! I'd get Joanne, Jo Anne, Jo Ann, Joann, Johanne, Johanna, Joan and Jillian! LOL Then I got married and my last name became Tabares. Took ME six months to learn to pronounce it right! Tabaras, Tobarus, Tobarez...ROFL
So when I started my business, I began to refer to myself by my nickname I had since I was a wee tot (Yes! Even smaller than I am now!). Joanne was my given name, but I gave it back! Started using JoJo and you know what? Everyone could pronounce it and EVERYONE could even spell it! A 20 minute conversation were 15 minutes was spent explaining my first name became an efficient and succinct 5 minute call!
Do you have an unusual name? Do folks mispronounce it or misspell it all the time? What do you do about it? Leave a comment and share!
JoJo (Alias Joanne, Johanna, Joan, Mom, Mrs. Tabares... and Jillian!)
Art of Elephants Eloquence!
19 comments
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My name is Lafayette Jefferson. When I’m on the phone and say my name people think I’m representing a company and ask for my name again. I’ve actually never thought about spelling out my first name for people, it’s been pretty much automatic ever since I’ve learned how to spell it. My issue now is with Jefferson. How in the hell do people end up calling me johnson. I’m sure Mr. Johnson is a cool dude, but he’s not me. Not that I put much thought in it but the only similarities are the first letter and “son” at the end. My name is three syllables and Johnson is two. ARRRGggh! Thanks for letting me vent. I just hand people cards when they ask my name
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Many people try to make my last name Irish like O’ Glesby or even say it with short o, Oglesby when the o is long. " Ogles" " bee" some want the by to be by as in bye. Yes, it is nice to a Tina. They can’t do too much to it.
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My experience with this told me that this would be a post that brought out a number of comments. I must say I was still surprised by the turn out. I have received countless emails, Facebook and Twitter comments as well as right here on the Communication FUNdamentals blog.
People like to know others are paying attention to them, who they are and what they need. Mispronouncing their name or misspelling it is a big communication faux pas!
Thanks everyone for sharing your stories. It’s been fun to read.
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Oh my, nobody gets my name right!
first or last for that matter.
Not sure how hard B-U-R-N-E-R is but for whatever reason people put it as B-R-U-N-E-R and even though I can say “Burner, ya know like on a stove” they still say BRUNER
and my first name…forget it…
it’s Tara…not TAR-A, not Tera, not Terra
Suppose I ‘could’ use my middle name of Ann but that’s so blah and boring, far from my own personality so while people mangle my name it’s more ‘me’ than any other option I have! -
My first name “Neil” is misunderstood as either “Dale” or “Leo.”
My last name seems more problematic for others as I get older. “Lynch” becomes “Lich” or “Leench” (?!?) and 75% of the time people spell it “L-i-n-c-h” when writing it. These days, I just spell my last name automatically.