No one can pronounce my baby's name!

I have a name that I have to spell out loud and that is constantly mispronounced and it is a pain (and I have to say I didn't pick a name like that for my own DC!) but it really isn't the end of the world, either - it's a nuisance, not a disaster. If you love the name I wouldn't worry. Lots of people with common names hate that their name is so generic (maybe my DC will) so there isn't a 'right' option here. Just keep correcting people you know and try not to worry too much about people you'll only see once - pick your battles!

[quote Bewilderbeastie]@yellowmaoampinball yes, mostly older people. I had hoped someone might say this - gives me hope![/quote]
If you chose a name that is hard for mono-English speakers to pronounce then why are you surprised people can't pronounce it?

One thing when choosing a name for your kid you need to ensure people can pronounce it and any mispronunciation isn't rude

I was on the Irish name thread and pointed out my DP changed his name I kept mine. The difference being I went to school in London and he went to school in the NW. In my case for every person who couldn't pronounce my name there were people, particularly from Latin language countries, who had no issue. There as my DP had none of this so changed his name by Deed Poll. In both our cases we have had people being very rude about our names but in his case it was relentless.

Off topic, but that is a brilliant clip, from a fabulous film!

Is it really meant to be Ma'am to rhyme with ham?

I have a difficult to pronounce name. Tbh it has caused me a lot of anxiety as a shy kid.

Each time the register was read, I'd be nervous that a new teacher would mispronounce my name. I'd avoid any task where they'd ask you your name publicly because I knew I'd get the puzzled look whenever I mentioned my name and have to repeat again and again.

Even as an adult, whenever I contact a call centre I have to always spell out my name and getting introduced to new people always sent a shot of "will they be able to pronounce my name" anxiety through me. My driving instructor for 2 whole years never said my name correctly.

I ended up shortening my name and life did get much easier. At my workplace I am known by the shorter name and even have my emails with this version. It is much simpler and less bothersome.

My friend at school was called Scheherazade. Once a new teacher did the register, came to her name and said "Gobbly-di gook....... sorry I have no idea."

One of my ds is called Kareem. Pronounced Ka-reem. Very simple.

Everyone still to this day, bar me and my husband and our other children calls him Cah-rim.

Really, we're a long way past the days of everyone in school being called Emma, Tracy or Sharon. If you love the name, keep it. Your child's peers probably won't struggle with it at all.

I like the idea of saying what it rhymes with. Or are there any famous people with the same name? E.g., it's Moira, like Moira Stewart, the news reader if people ask.

Unfortunately there might be a bit of confusion if there are different possible pronunciations. Unless you're in an official setting such as a doctor's or nursery perhaps just let it go. If it's just a stranger in a shop commenting "what a lovely baby, what's her name?" maybe it's not worth correcting them.

Is it generally older people who struggle with it? I find younger people/ kids dont struggle with my name. Times have changed and there are lots of unusual names out there now. People are much more open minded. I was the only one in my class with an unusual name but I bet that wouldn't be the case these days.

YY to the hook. Give people a rhymes with word, especially one that is a little bit funny. People will remember.

Helena Bonham Carter has a great line here demonstrating it about 20secs into the clip

My 2 year has a name a lot of people struggle with. There are it turns out multiple pronoucations, most of which I find ugly. I correct and smile on repeat.

Without knowing the name it’s impossible to say really, but I think mispronunciation is rife with a lot of names, if not for being unusual then for accent variations. But if you’ve chosen something like Saoirse then I think you need to be prepared for more of this.

If it’s affecting you very badly don’t forget you can change the name legally up to 1 year old on birth certificate without much bother. You just fill in a form, costs around £40 where I am, I know someone who has done this.

I can see why you can't say the name, but could you give an example of something similar, or say what it rhymes with?

My name is Lorna and I've been called Laura or Lauren all my life. It's just one of those things.
The people that know and love your child will get their name right and that's all that matters.

It can be shortened even further, so that's an option. But it's not the name we fell in love with.

I saw on an 'Irish name' thread where a poster had given her DD a welsh name and she insisted that everyone could say it perfectly, but it turned out that those who couldn't say it was using an abbreviation.

She might as well have given the child two names.

Every time I hear someone say it wrong, I cringe inside. I can only imagine what it's going to be like for my LO.
I've posted about this many a time, and always get shot down in flames.

Honestly, change it. Use the name you love as a middle name.

It's because people don't have an 'anchor' in their brain for it. Sadly, this happens a lot with unusual names. I wish I'd had a more recognisable name - also annoying having to spell my email out every single time!

My daughter has a similar name, we aren’t bothered by mis pronunciation really. Why is it so cringy? What’s so bad??