AIBU to think correcting a slightly unusual name pronunciation is unnecessary?

I have a surname with this exact pronunciation difference, and I would find it extremely odd if someone altered their accent to pronounce it the same way I do. In fact, I’d probably wonder if they were mocking me.

I have never once encountered people changing their accent to pronounce my name the same way I do in my accent. And nor should they!

i think this is just an accent thing though, different pronunciation of a vowel. I actually know a FRAN-cis who pronounces his own name like that as do the vast majority of his family and friends as it’s the local pronunciation. His partner is from elsewhere in the country and uses a different pronunciation though, the one that’s usual for her accent. It would sound like she was mimicking him to say it differently perhaps?

I have a name pronounced different in Italy than in the uk, but spelt similar. I kept getting told to stop trying to be different by teachers who wouldn’t pronounce it how my parents wanted. My surname is also non uk, so they do go together. They still couldn’t pronounce it. I gave up at school. wish I hadn’t. My parents told the school but they didn’t listen.

I gave up correcting people as people just read my name as it’s spelt. It’s become a nickname or my professional name. only my family and friends call me by my proper name.

it’s annoying to constantly be correcting the same people. Just call the kid by their proper name.

It's incredibly annoying when people pronounce your name incorrectly... even more so when you're at school, and you get into trouble for not answering to the incorrect pronunciation! (I've been there and done that).

I meet a lot of young people with Welsh names that I've never come across before... and I always check the pronunciation beforehand. Pronouncing someone's name properly is polite and respectful. Insisting on pronouncing everything the English-speaking way is daft, especially if your niece has heritage from a different country.

Pronounce a person’s name the way they say it themselves.
My name is shortened to Dani as I can’t stand the way Brummies (aka my family) pronounce Danielle. They say Danyell instead. There’s a I in my name for a bloody reason!

I think you’re being really unreasonable so insist on pronouncing her name the way you think is correct.

Same with emails. I sign off my emails with the short version of my name, and it is also part of my email address (partly because people are too thick or lazy to spell my name correctly) and yet they reply using my (wrongly spelt) full name!

Sometimes it just about being rude

I know a Sophia/Soph-I-a who this is an issue for.

Saying someone’s name wrong all the time won’t make them like you much either though….

I think it’s good when people include how to pronounce their name in their email footer - I think that’s really helpful.

This reminds me of my primary school. There was a Susan but the teacher pronounced it Syoo-san (like the u in music). Poor Susan was thoroughly confused because he insisted he was correct, which doubtless meant her parents and everyone else were 'wrong'.

Also, saying a foreign word in the middle of a sentence can be quite jarring to the flow of the sentence. Like the name Julie is much easier to say with a softer J when speaking French. It's not that they don't like people called Julie, it just feels unnatural in a French sentence. I think Julie would be quite petty to insist that her name was pronounced the English way.

El-eh-na is the Spanish way. Likely that's more common over there.

I know a number of people who adopted English names. It's very common in the Chinese community and seems to be what most prefer, and I know a few Africans who do the same. I find their names almost impossible so I can see why they'd prefer that to people struggling and failing to say them correctly.

Is it pronounced Shhan? How would you pronounce it? I woke with an Irish Sian and she pronounces it as Cyan, and some people say Shan, I’m confused.

Some names are the same but are said differently in different languages. In some cases people switch naturally, but in others they don't.

In my experience, when they don't there are two reasons. One is that they actually cannot say the foreign pronunciation easily or at all. Sometimes they can't even hear the word properly because their ear is not attuned. Nothing is likely to change this, you can correct them as ll you like but it won't help.

The other issue is where people feel they are just saying the same name while putting on a fake accent. Like the Isabella example. It's literally the same name, but you are asking people to put on a fake accent. To a lot of people that feels rude and that's why they are resistant.

So in both those cases I think it's usually best not to correct people. The exception to me might be something like Edith, you might say, I use the French pronunciation, which sounds quite different but most English people can say with no problem. They just can't tell by looking at the name written down how someone says it.

I don’t know. It’s tricky.

1. loads of baby name threads on mumsnet talk about a name “working” in more than one language and it sounds like that’s what your sister has done for your niece, but almost didn’t mean to? And intended to give them a non-English name. It will cause confusion. If they have the energy to correct everyone, good for them.
2. My name is one of these names. I got renamed by society moving here and I’ve just got on with it, it’s a lot less hassle. The way people say my name in English is actually quite a nice word in my first language so I thought I was magical when it first happened. Equally, having worked abroad in another country that has a version of my name, they pronounced it their way and it actually made me feel more included and welcomed. Kind of like they had nicknamed me.

YABU. FROHN-cis sounds unnatural as hell to me as an American, but if Francis from London moves in next door to me, I’m not going to call him FRAN-cis.

It's not rude. When people read, they don't study each word for the spelling, they just read the whole word. Then when they know your name they just default to the usual spelling. It's not rude that people don't pay particular attention to you and the way your name is written.

Chuffed I read all of these correctly 😆 But then I’m from Liverpool and went to school with lots of them.

My daughter has a name with multiple pronunciations. We use the French one but don’t correct people if they use the Italian one. She can choose which pronunciation she prefers when she grows up.

I think it’s rude mispronouncing or misspelling someone’s name once you have been corrected though. Some people don’t mind and that’s fine but others find it annoying

My name is Michelle. When I worked in London, many of my colleagues from other countries wrote and pronounced it as Mitchelle. It really didn't matter. I think it comes across as a bit drama queen to bother correcting such insignificant things.

I have a legitimate but less common spelled first name - I correct everyone who spells it wrong because it’s rude

Oh OP, you’re being a twit about this!

This is what I’d call an “inside thought”. She is free to have her culture/ language in her daughter’s name, even if it isn’t the way Brits say it.

If they aren’t pronouncing it right then of course it should be corrected!

Reform voter by any chance?

DGC has a French name as her father is French. It’s a gorgeous name.

YABU @Slownie to call your neice anything other than her actual name with the correct pronunciation.

Caoimhe, Niamh, Shiobhan, Graine, Saoirse and Aoife will correct you. My name is not Nymph!