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AIBU?

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Original poster

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

138 replies

Slownie · 26/04/2026 14:35

Hi all,
So my niece has a parent who isn’t from the uk, she has a name that’s very common in the uk but pronounced slightly different. Think Isabella but pronounced “ee-sa-bell-ah instead of iz-ah-bell-uh or Eva said eh-va not ee-va.

My sister insists on correcting the pronunciation every single time, even if the person mis-pronouncing is most irrelevant and my niece also has started doing this (and also insisting on the longest version of her name)

AIBU thinking that if you are born and raised in the uk you should expect the name to be pronounced the way it normally is, in the uk and not correct everyone, every time?

OP posts:
tinytemper66 · 26/04/2026 14:44

I have a Welsh name. I have been just come back from a cruise and our cabin was served with men from many places. They couldn’t pronounce my name right. Not once did I correct them. It didn’t matter to me at all.

Blimms · 26/04/2026 14:44

This “should expect the name to be pronounced the way it normally is, in the uk” makes me this the op just doesn’t like it because it’s a ‘foreign’ name.

Loulou4022 · 26/04/2026 14:43

So if your name was Louisa and people called you Louise would you correct them? Of course you would and of course you sister can and should correct peoples pronunciation of her daughter name. However she does need to accept that when meeting new people they will probably pronounce it wrong

xOlive · 26/04/2026 14:43

Unreasonable as fuck.
I know an Esme and an Esme… one is Ez-mee and one is Ez-may and I pronounce them as such.
Who the fuck am I to tell a child she should put up with strangers mispronouncing her own name her entire life.
Get off your high horse OP and pronounce your niece’s name correctly.

Hardgarden · 26/04/2026 14:42

SoScarletItWas · 26/04/2026 14:41

Anyone else wondering how OP pronounces it?

And probably repeatedly pronounces it incorrectly just to piss off her sister

ImSoMuchOlderThanICanTake · 26/04/2026 14:42

So a little girl should just put up with being called the wrong name? YABU.

I mean I find it ridiculous that people choose a Welsh name, Sian for example, but pronounce it as Cyan but, at the end of the day, they have the right to say their child’s name however they like, and people should just say the name the way they’ve chosen it to be said.

araiwa · 26/04/2026 14:41

Utter horseshit

How will people know if they aren't told?

Fleur405 · 26/04/2026 14:41

You think it’s unreasonable for someone to politely ask you to stop calling them the wrong name even when their actual name is perfectly easy to pronounce??

SoScarletItWas · 26/04/2026 14:41

Anyone else wondering how OP pronounces it?

Blimms · 26/04/2026 14:40

@sowie I wouldn’t want my name mispronounced.

titchy · 26/04/2026 14:39

Totally agree. If you’re a foreigner in the UK you should absolutely stamp out all characteristics of your original country and don’t tell anyone that you have a different culture. British bland all the way!

IwouldifIcouldreachit · 26/04/2026 14:39

If her name is Ev-ah rather than Eeva, why shouldn't she correct people? She isn't Eeva. I can't decide if you are being obtuse or just want to pick holes in your SIL.

Hardgarden · 26/04/2026 14:36

Ooof I bet you and your sister have one hell of a depressing past together!

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