Do you tell them or let them figure it out on their own?

AlsDonkBoxSquat
AlsDonkBoxSquat Posts: 6,128 Member
edited December 19 in Chit-Chat
I have a slightly unusual first name because of the spelling, but the name itself is relatively common. There's a man who works on my floor who is very polite and likes to greet me by my first name. I gave it to him. He called me by something completely different the first few times so I corrected him. Now the error is minor, it's all variations used with the letters from my name, but never my name. It's been a year . . . do I correct it?

Generally I say no, as they usually figure it out eventually. For example, my first initial and last name smushed together is a womans name, as is my first and second initial smushed in with my last name so sometimes I'll have people call me that instead. Usually they have reason to email me or something else going on that they realize.

So, when someone gets your name wrong repeatedly do you correct it or let it be?
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Replies

  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
    my name is forever screwed up. I try to correct them as much as possible, but *sigh* it always happens and its always the same few people.... My name is NOT BRIE. I am NOT cheese.....
  • ericdeken
    ericdeken Posts: 70 Member
    I say let it be. haha. At this point its past the point of no return. Just go with it, nod and smile and call him Jeff or something..haha
  • HeidiMightyRawr
    HeidiMightyRawr Posts: 3,343 Member
    My last name is ALWAYS pronounced and spelled wrong. Most of the time I cba to say anything, and only correct them if they ask directly. My first name is spelt wrong often too, and occasionally pronounced wrong.
    my name is forever screwed up. I try to correct them as much as possible, but *sigh* it always happens and its always the same few people.... My name is NOT BRIE. I am NOT cheese.....

    I must've got it right then, because I've always thought it was pronounced Br-eye(?)
  • RDalton84
    RDalton84 Posts: 207
    Well my first name is Regan (like the president lol) but so many people hear Raven when I tell them my name lol I go by anything at this point
  • jdploki70
    jdploki70 Posts: 343
    I have to deal with this constantly. Jesse is apparently a confusing name, in that everyone spells it like I am a girl...every time. There is no 'i' in my name, anywhere. Really irritates me. Then I get people that call me Jeffy, as well. I correct anyone I have to deal with, because if I don't the constant reminder that they can't make simple corrections makes me not want to deal with them.
  • IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym
    IpuffyheartHeelsinthegym Posts: 5,573 Member
    My last name is ALWAYS pronounced and spelled wrong. Most of the time I cba to say anything, and only correct them if they ask directly. My first name is spelt wrong often too, and occasionally pronounced wrong.
    my name is forever screwed up. I try to correct them as much as possible, but *sigh* it always happens and its always the same few people.... My name is NOT BRIE. I am NOT cheese.....

    I must've got it right then, because I've always thought it was pronounced Br-eye(?)

    yes ma'am, like Bryan, but Bry, rhymes with fry, dry, cry. Ok, technically that's just the short version, but the long version gets much more tangled than Bry...
  • DarkAngellEyes
    DarkAngellEyes Posts: 317 Member
    Since its been so long, I might just continue to let it slide.

    I get called Beth a lot (easily confused with Stef I guess - especially over the phone)...

    Best one was when a guy I was working with one day was calling me Jennifer. Not sure how he got Jennifer out of Stefanie .... but I let him call me Jenn all day because I got a kick out of it :tongue:
  • BAMFMeredith
    BAMFMeredith Posts: 2,810 Member
    For some reason children and not-native English speakers can NOT pronounce Meredith. I never thought it to be a weird name, but apparently it's difficult to pronounce and those who are from regions that do not speak English have never heard of it. If somebody can't pronounce it after a few tries, I just tell them to call me Mer and be done with it.

    The Vietnamese ladies at the nail salon I go to all call me Meredy. I just go with it lol
  • degan2011
    degan2011 Posts: 316 Member
    people constantly mispronounce both my name and my nickname. but it is unusual and unusually spelt. What I get annoyed with is people I have worked with for years can spell even my nickname right even though it is on EVERY peice of email I send out to them. :)
  • digitalbill
    digitalbill Posts: 1,410 Member
    My daughters name is Sydney.
    She will introduce herself (she is 5) and people will call her Cindy.
    She will correct them.
    "No.. It's SYD-NEE!!!"

    If she can do it, so can you :)
  • Qarol
    Qarol Posts: 6,171 Member
    Depends on if I give a flip about this person...most people in my office, I would use it as an excuse to ignore them, if they called me by the wrong name.

    "Oh, sorry, didn't realize you were talking to me because that's not my name."
  • mfanyafujo
    mfanyafujo Posts: 232 Member
    Most Tanzanians have a hard time with my name. It takes them a couple months to get it right, so if I introduce myself to someone new now, and I know I probably won't see them again, I just give them my cat's name. They can pronounce that.
  • WifeNMama
    WifeNMama Posts: 2,876 Member
    Mine is usually mispronounced, I gave up a long time ago. It taught me that my identity is something that does not have to rely on my name.
  • TheRoadDog
    TheRoadDog Posts: 11,788 Member
    Vallandingham. That's "Landing" with a "Val" on one end and "Ham" on the other. Very phonetic, but people screw it up in so many ways. The one that boggle me is when people pronounce it VanLandingham. Wher the heck did they get that extra N.

    On a side note, usually when I am at a counter and spelling my name out, I invariably get "That's a long one." or "That's a mouthhful." Standard reply is "That's what she said."
  • Brittonloves
    Brittonloves Posts: 60
    I'm surprised how many people are saying they DON'T correct people. I don't think it's rude at all-- just clarifying! I think of it this way-- he obviously doesn't KNOW he's mispronouncing your name or he wouldn't be doing it. So LET him know. I wouldn't want to call someone by the wrong name and never have them say anything!

    My twin and I both have uncommon (but not strange) names. I'm Britton (pronounced like the country) and she's Amie (rhymes with Sammy.) We both have our little jokes and tricks for getting people to say it right that we've developed over the years, and even when I'm playing waitress and someone calls me anything other than MY name-- I correct them. No one has ever been offended, I promise.
  • morganhccstudent724
    morganhccstudent724 Posts: 1,261 Member
    My name is Morgan....not Megan.


    Yes...I would correct him. That's not your name.
  • Roni_M
    Roni_M Posts: 717 Member
    I sometimes get mispronounced... Generally they will pronounce it like in rice-a-roni, but it's Roni like the guys name Ronnie. The more disturbing part is that I get called Mr. all the time by people who i communicate with primarily through email, other offices, my kids teachers/principals, etc.

    My full first name is Ronalda (gross I know) and at almost every appointment I go to, when they call out my name it is always Rolanda.... It amazes me how many receptionists are dyslexic!
  • yungnold
    yungnold Posts: 33 Member
    My first name is Sarahno but people mess it up so bad that it became annoying to keep correcting people, now I go by my middle name.
  • Bahet
    Bahet Posts: 1,254 Member
    My first name is Janette. Rhymes with Annette. It is NOT Janet. I get called Janet a lot when people first read my name. My maiden name was an 8 letter Polish monstrosity with 2 z's. When I was in 9th grade my math teacher took roll on the first day. He went past Rhonda Ward and Cindy Weimer and got to me. There was a long pause. Finally he said "Ummm... Janet? ...My God this thing only has 1 vowel!" :laugh: He was one of my favorite teachers.
  • cookieta76
    cookieta76 Posts: 91 Member
    I agree with another poster. If this is someone that you just exchange pleasantries with and don't really know, I wouldn't care, but.....if you do correct him, make a joke of it, but make sure he says it correctly before moving on - then he has no excuse in the future.

    My first name is Tanya. My dad named me and decided on the spelling. It is pronounced with a short "o" sound (as in open up and say, aahhhhh!), not a short "a" sound (as in "and"). Whether he spelled it wrong or pronounced it wrong, it's his fault. I get asked how to pronounce it all the time, and when I do explain it, I get told all the time it's wrong. So I tell people to take it up with my dad. It's annoying. For people who don't see the spelling, I am called Tina, Tracey, etc when they don't remember my name.

    On the other hand, it's your name. Even if you don't want him to feel badly, tell him. If I was pronouncing someone's name incorrectly, I think I'd want to know.

    :smile:
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    People get my name wrong all the time. My first name is Renee. I have been called Lisa my entire life. Teachers, coworkers, people I deal with through work.

    I even get e-mails calling me things like Regina even though my name is on the e-mail to which the person is responding. All the time.

    I usually don't bother correcting people. Especially after the 10th time.
  • kstep88
    kstep88 Posts: 403 Member
    I would call him a random name back until he gets it right. It can be in a nice way- make it a joke, but also make sure he gets the point. It seems like after that long he should know better.

    My youngest daughters middle name(s) are Aukje Katje because she is Dutch... Try that one! ( al-key-uh, kah-tea-uh) lol
  • kstep88
    kstep88 Posts: 403 Member
    I agree with another poster. If this is someone that you just exchange pleasantries with and don't really know, I wouldn't care, but.....if you do correct him, make a joke of it, but make sure he says it correctly before moving on - then he has no excuse in the future.

    My first name is Tanya. My dad named me and decided on the spelling. It is pronounced with a short "o" sound (as in open up and say, aahhhhh!), not a short "a" sound (as in "and"). Whether he spelled it wrong or pronounced it wrong, it's his fault. I get asked how to pronounce it all the time, and when I do explain it, I get told all the time it's wrong. So I tell people to take it up with my dad. It's annoying. For people who don't see the spelling, I am called Tina, Tracey, etc when they don't remember my name.

    On the other hand, it's your name. Even if you don't want him to feel badly, tell him. If I was pronouncing someone's name incorrectly, I think I'd want to know.

    :smile:

    lol Tanya- the whole time we have been friends... I thought your name was TAN-YA not like Tahhhnya. lol Now I know!
  • jmruef
    jmruef Posts: 824 Member
    It depends on who is gettnig my name wrong. If it's someone I'm going to have repeated face to face contact with, sure I'll correct them (though hopefully in a way that doesn't make them feel bad for getting it wrong!). I talk to people all day on the phone, though, and they're sort of "incidental contacts" - so I'm not going to worry about it if they don't get my name right. (Though how I wound up as "Paprika" one day, I will NEVER know...)

    There is a person in my face to face world who has known me for 8 years and STILL gets my name wrong - he can't remember it even after multiple repetitions. Now, when he gets it wrong I just agree that for as long as he's talking to me, I'm whatever name he's calling me by. He's happy because he thinks he's right, I haven't wasted any effort in trying to get him to remember something he's NEVER going to remember... win-win. :)
  • AlbaAngel25
    AlbaAngel25 Posts: 484 Member
    my name is Shemsija , but people dont realize its a silent J....(Shem-c-ya) is how u pronounce it... But i have heard it all , shem-c-gee shem-c-ga ...lol... I just go by shemi for short, and i do correct if it it gets mispronounced or just say my nickname
  • NMJosephs
    NMJosephs Posts: 185
    We have a delivery guy that comes into the office that calls me Allison. My name is Nicole. He's been calling me Allison for over 2 years.

    Too late to fix it now.

    The awesome part is that I wear a name tag! :)
  • coachblt
    coachblt Posts: 1,090
    My name is Coach. However, my kids and players just can't seem to get it right. I get a**hole, pr*ck, mother f*****, son of a b***h, but never coach.

    I've even spelled it for them on the whiteboard for an entire week...nothing!
  • magichatter06
    magichatter06 Posts: 3,593 Member
    Same here with first and last name. Misspelled and Mispronounced all the time! When I was in 7th grade they even spelled my FIRST name wrong on an award that I received.. My first name is Vita pronounced Veeta.
  • HauteP1nk
    HauteP1nk Posts: 2,139 Member
    I used to be called Gabriella by this guy. My name is NOTHING like that. I have a boy name actually lol I never did correct him...lol

    My manager always mispronounces my last name. I have never corrected him either. Makes me laugh seeing him struggle to pronounce it.

    For me it is the spelling that is more annoying. Everyone is continually spelling my name wrong - even people I have worked with for the last 6 years! So annoying! How can you misspell my name when you are sending an email to me and my name pops up? My name is RIGHT there...lol
  • dlblevins
    dlblevins Posts: 4 Member
    My name is Danella, no one every says it correctly. I basically will answer to just about any variation of it because I get tired of correcting people. I have even gone as far as saying it is kind of like vanilla except it has a D in front of it, but the same few people never get it. The girls I work with correct others and it still doesn't help, so I have just given up and answer to most variations of it.
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