How child's name is pronounced

Tell them.

However, as the mother of a Naomi who is known as Nigh-oh-mee at school instead of Nay-oh-mee, however much we insist, it might not make much difference!

Why wouldn't you suggest speaking to the teacher? It must be easier to verbally demonstrate pronunciation.

Of course you tell the teacher. My son has a name which is not hard to pronounce but they choose to make up variations even though it’s not spelt like that. My son at his sport when shouted as this varied name would just ignore as that’s not his name. With the coach telling me that he wished he listened I replied “he would but you’re not shouting his name.” Petty yes but I’d already explained a million times.

I know how you feel, when my dd started school, her name is Roisin, pronounced rosheen, they constantly called her roysin, everyday I told them, after 2 weeks I got so angry, I’m sure the stupid women did it on purpose, I get it’s unusual but surely after a few times, grrrrrr
stamp it out

Teacher here.

Send an email to the school office and ask them to make the staff aware of the correct pronunciation. The school won't get upset about this - it happens all the time.

Better sorting it out now.

Just speak to the teacher. If it’s day two then the only way the children know the names of each other is because an adult has said them.

Of course you should say something. Don't wait until the error is settled and harder to erase.

You don't have to go in all guns blazing, just go up to the teacher at school drop-off or pick-up and say that "XXX is coming home unsettled because he feels his name is continually being mispronounced so can we please check that you have it right and there hasn't been a mistake?"

@Clotheshorsewhisperer why did you give both kids difficult to pronounce names? Seems such an unnecessary annoyance.You say you've corrected 'everyone' but surely the problem will be life-long if his name is that tricky to pronounce?

Just say it to the teacher! DS has an unusual Irish name, and in reception at an English school felt self-conscious about correcting pronunciation when only four, so I went in and talked to his reception teachers. Who were lovely about it. Never an issue subsequently.

I work in reception and definitely tell the staff! We have a child this year where we’ve double checked with the child that we are saying his name correctly. If we’d missed that and he was going home upset, we would all definitely want to know.

Yes nip it in the bud now!
My middle son has a difficult to pronounce name and we have corrected everyone and now they say it properly. Il be doing the same when my youngest goes to nursery/school as well

Most definitely speak to his teacher. I'm a reception teacher and the first thing I always do is check I'm spelling the name correctly and I'm pronouncing it correctly. It would annoy me if someone kept getting my name wrong so I don't imagine it's any different for a child.

Teacher here, albeit secondary so I’m currently having to learn well over 100 names!

Do tell the teacher, and encourage your son to do the same. I always tell my pupils to tell me if I’m wrong, and that I will never tell them off. Getting someone’s name right is such a basic, an important, thing to do.

My sister has a name that could be confused with another. Think Catherine /Kathleen. She had no hesitation, aged 4, in telling her teacher that she was using the wrong name. Would your LO not just tell the teacher that she's getting the name wrong? Of course if it's an accent problem that's different. And yes you should talk to the teacher if the name is completely different.

I would have a polite word with the teacher and they might even be grateful.
I have a few tomorrow which I could pronounced a few ways as trickier names, but even Evelyn can be say 3 different ways that I currently know of!

They've got so many names to learn. I'd address it but don't bother with the "it's not helping him settle and start his school journey well" that's patronising AF

Obviously tell the teacher how to say it, they'll be glad to be told. Imagine if they realised months down the line they'd been mangling a child's name - they'd be very embarrassed.

I think just politely tell them. 'Please can you call him ....' however you pronounce it. There are presumably several staff members in his class, most reception classes would have a teacher and 1-2 support staff, so even if 1 struggles due to accent, they can't all struggle?

As a teacher I would want to know the correct pronunciation. If she has a strong regional accent its possible she finds it hard to say but she can try.

@OnlyAThought if you've given your child a name that you wouldn't necessarily know how to pronounce by looking at it then it's quite normal to speak to the teacher and tell them the correct pronunciation if you're son's not confident enough to do this.

Teachers aren't mind readers so if no one corrects us we assume it's correct. I usually write a phonetic pronunciation on my seating plan so I don't forget!

If it's a name that should be easy to pronounce then it might be an accent difference.

If its wildly different like his name is Richard and they are calling him Robert then definitely raise it as its likely a mistake but if its an issue where he is called Andre and they are saying An-drey when its On-drey then you can correct it but it will likely still occur ongoing with every new person unfortunately.

My DD just started too and her name gets mispronounced a million different way by the other kids, she hasn't even seemed to acknowledge it yet. Hers is because theres lots of similar sounding rhyming names (example: Milly, Lily, Billie, Tilly, Hilley, Jilly... she has had them all from the other little kids). I'm hoping as they grow and their pronunciation gets better it will stop as adults don't seem to struggle.

I also have a name mispronounced by everyone (god knows how given its phonic) which has never got better and I stopped correcting people long ago... its an Elsa moment where you learn to just 'let it go' for your own sanity.

Of course you say something! The teacher is given a class list, it doesn't come with a pronunciation sheet, they just do the best they can until told different! Just say " zxqwgfh says you are struggling with saying his name, we pronounce it Fred"

How far off is the pronunciation and is the teacher likely to be able to get the right pronunciation, given their accent?

Is it something like, Naomi being pronounced Nigh-oh-mee instead of Nay-oh-me, or Helena pronounced Hel-ay-nuh instead of Helen-uh?

Or as a pp mentioned is it an accent issue like a rhotic/non rhotic r?

I'd probably have a word. You don't need to go in guns blazing and could phrase it along the lines of "DS is upset that some people are pronouncing his name wrongly" - you don't need to focus on the class teacher alone.
It is much better to correct things early. My DD has a name that has a several spellings, all used fairly frequently. When she started ballet classes her teacher used the wrong one and I didn't want to make a fuss when we were new. The result was that even though I repeatedly corrected her later, DD's name was misspelled on all her exam certificates, show programmes, newspaper reports and so on. Once it was in her teacher's head it seemed impossible to shift. One of her aunties is the same - birthday cards etc are always wrong.
When the same error was made at school I spoke to the teacher on day 1 and the mistake was corrected immediately. Much better to say something straight away before it gets embedded.