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Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

Do you have a name that is often mispronounced?

114 replies

JimbosJetSet · 08/06/2012 08:26

...And does it annoy you? Or do people frequently mispronounce your DC's name?

I really like the name Louis for a boy. But I am wondering if we, and then him, are going to spend the rest of his life having to correct people when they pronounce his name with an 's' on the end... Are we condemning our future DS to a life of being irritated every time someone says his name wrong?

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Spicysalamander · 08/06/2012 09:32

Yes my name is often mispronounced and misspelt and noone understands when I say it (it's only 4 letters too). I give a fake name in Starbucks to save problems and hated being in a new class at school as it was often messed up on the register.

I wouldn't have thought Louis would have too much problems though, maybe he'd need to spell it but it's certainly pronounceable.

cory · 08/06/2012 09:29

Invariably (both me and dc)- because I'm foreign. Even dh can't really pronounce my first name.

Doesn't worry me at all- I just feel there are now two different pronunciations of my name. Dd uses an English diminutive of her name when she is out and about. Ds just accepts the two pronunciations.

But I think Louis is pretty safe due to X Factor.

BenedictsCumberbitch · 08/06/2012 08:55

People often say my name with an e on the end instead of an a, it drives me nuts.

PurplePidjin · 08/06/2012 08:51

My name (the shortened version I'm known by) begins with P and ends with Y. It's a fairly usual, if not overly popular, name and is commonly written in another context.

I have frequently been called Polly and Poppy and even, once, Pammy Hmm

I assume it says more about the other person and their lack of brain cells than either me or my name!

SecretNutellaFix · 08/06/2012 08:43

I don't think there would be as many mispronunciations of Louis as there might have been ten years ago thanks to Louis Walsh on the x-factor.

Louis is a French name and the S is not pronounced, Lewis is English and the S is pronounced

munchymonster · 08/06/2012 08:42

I can't pronounce my own name Sad (Have a lisp)

SecretNutellaFix · 08/06/2012 08:41

Lots of people drop the final "A" in my name. Pisses me right off.

RobinSparkles · 08/06/2012 08:39

You see, I would have always said that Louis was without the S sound like Louie and Lewis was the one with the S sound, until a friend's DS had it as a middle name. I automatically wrote it down as Lewis and she corrected it to Louis.

melliebobs · 08/06/2012 08:37

I gave up wanting to call dd Laila cos I just know people would pronounce it ley-la. when it's spelt and is actually lie-la

tabulahrasa · 08/06/2012 08:35

Yep, no-one who has seen it written pronounces it right and no-one who has heard it can spell it. It's fairly irritating.

I wouldn't think it would be an issue with Louis though, it's not that uncommon a name.

everlong · 08/06/2012 08:32

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RobinSparkles · 08/06/2012 08:32

Do you not like it spelt Louie? It would solve the problem then as people would pronounce it Looee instead of Lewis.

SillyBeardyDaddyman · 08/06/2012 08:31

Yep. My name is Russian and I get lots of wrong pronunciations and spellings!

LadyLillyWilliamSnowflake · 08/06/2012 08:29

I have a name that everyone lengthens to Katie and lots of other variations without realising it (I know, that obviously tells you what my name is, but it's only my first name).

I also got used to it and even answer to it now so my conversations go:

Someone: Katie what do you think about ............
Me: Oh yes I agree....... wait, did you just call me Katie???

Blush