Do you have a name that is often mispronounced?

Mine is Hebrew and always mispronounced unless the person already knows someone with that name (probably only if they're Jewish) and often even when I've corrected them! My MIL still (after seven years) can't (or won't?) say it.

But I don't mind, don't let it stop you calling him Louis, he will just be good-humoured about it.

squoosh- yes it's Helena :) I can't remember ever meeting anyone else in England who pronounces it Hel-ee-na but I'm sure there must be a few of us out there :) I am of Irish descent and was named after my aunt so that's where it comes from. It's just astonishing how rude some people can be by telling you that it's 'wrong'- I need to move to Ireland!

One kid in ds's class misheard my name so for years the kids called me an african country.

So many times
I once got called breadbin
Actually more than once because my best mate thought it was hilarious and carried on calling me it

What FarelyKnuts said, except I have no dd!

I have an Irish name that never took off anywhere but Ireland. It gets mangled all the time. People ask me to spell it and it just baffles them more. My surname, which is English and is spelled very phonetically, also ends up mispronounced.

I thought I had found a foolproof name for DD1 but a lot of people give hers an IA ending where it is actually IE.

surname always misspelt/spelled
DS is Joseph - that would be with an S not a Z!! and not Joe!
friend has just named new baby boy Llewyn - I foresee trouble

I know that feeling... As if signing myself up for a lifetime of constantly spelling out both my names for people, we've given DD a first name that has multiple spellings, so we've done the same to her.

My first name is very unusual - no one can usually say it or spell it . I tend to say it's like 'more common name' but without the H. I'm then met with blatant disbelief when I spell it.

And now I've done the same thing to DS .

at Frontpaw.

I am chanelling Father Jack!

- am roaring Frontpaw!

First name always getting an H added in to email replies , usually from people who I've also spoken to on the phone. It's not as if Kathy sounds remotely the same... Still, it's only as bad as constantly having the Y substituted for an IE.

Surname gets mispronounced and misspelled all the time. But that's my own fault for marrying someone with a surname noone can pronounce or spell

You know it's bad when you ditch the 'proper' alphabet and say:

F for fuckinghell, who is this so hard?
R for runt
O for oh my god can't you spell?
N for numpty
T for tosser
P for piss off
A for arse
W for wanker.

Mispronounced and misspelled pretty much always.

Yes it does get a bit wearing, but I'm not too bothered about it now that I'm an adult.

I correct mistakes if it's someone I'm likely to see again, or they're likely to be saying my name more than once. If it's a one off then I don't bother.

Ds has a very easy to spell and pronounce name, and it's not a coincidence

Only my surname. It is not weird, odd or foreign. This a Scottish version of Smith or Brown. It is mostly misspelled too - its spelled exactly as you say it!. And I am talking both north and south of the border! DS has suggested I change - it to stop me moaning probably.

My first name is easy though - there are foreign versions of it and I love the way French and Italians pronounce it!

Yes - some of my name is forrin but it's the English bit that always gets mispronounced and written wrongly. I'm starting to think it's me.

Frequently have conversations like this (different name but same idea):

Idiot: "What's your name?"
Me: "Elephants Cookson-that's-C-for-cat"
Idiot: "Elephants Bookson, great"
Me: "COOKSON beginning with a C, you know, like C-for-cat or clown or c*nt cloud"
Idiot: "Oh COOKSON. Well why didn't you say so?"
Me:

My name is Kay and I've lost count of the number of times I've been called Faye over the years.

We recently recieved a postcard, "To DP and Faye"...it was from my OH's Father and we've been together over 6 years now.

metrognome: Yes, and it drives me mad. I have a name that has 3 different pronounciations, and unfortuantely mine is the least common pronounciation, the Irish way.

Is your name Helena? I always pronounce it the Irish way Hu-lee-nah. But everyone I meet with this name outside of Ireland is Helen-a or Hu-lay-na.

I like the Irish pronunciation best

My name is Cheryl pronounced sheryl, I totally understand some people getting it wrong first time as it can be pronounced either way but there are at least 3 people who I have worked with at different points in my life for 2 years plus who, no matter how many times they were told or corrected, would still pronounce it wrong.

I have a really boring common name. It doesn't get mispronounced. But there always seem to be at least three others with the same name in my peer group (at school, at uni, almost everywhere I've worked) and I find that really annoying. I always wished I'd been given an unusual name instead!

I find people have problems pronouncing all sorts of names which are normal enough so I wouldn't use it as an excuse not to use a name if I love it.

Only by non uk nationals (such as foreign dr's etc)

DS is Gabriel and often that gets pronounced as Gabrielle

and DD is Georgia but often gets George-ee-ah (which only annoyes her, i love it, especially when on holiday in Grece ha ha)

Myname is spelt the way you say it, and still occasionally mispronounced. Doesn't really bother me too much though, because when others try and add an extra r/y/l to my name I can snootily point out it's not there.

A bit of trivia for you: I'm from the same place as One Direction's Louis Tomlinson, and he seems to be known as 'Lewis' back home! I can only assume he was inspired by Louis Walsh whilst on the X Factor! (Alternatively, it could just be the standard pronunciation of 'Louis'. YANBU, OP. )

With the shortening thing, I quite like it. There is an element of endearment to it. I especially like it from people who I have just met as it's like an endorsement of you as someone they intend to get to know (iykwim).

abbypumpkin That must grate after a while but people tend to try to associate new things with something they have heard before don't they? I guess most people who call themselves Jen are called Jenny but I would always use the name the person gave me.

Our surname is similar to a well used word and when asked to spell it on the phone I do, then 9 times out of 10 the person will say "Oh, you mean [popular word] "