Everyone pronounces our daughter's name wrong

Not quite the same but my surname is ALWAYS pronounced wrong. It’s really not an issue at all, I either correct it or just ignore it and answer to the other pronunciation. Might be slightly more annoying with a first name though, although I imagine once she’s corrected it once with people then they should get it right moving forwards so it will mainly be when meeting new people.

Similar situation with our daughter, in that we chose a name common in a different country but I'd never heard of in the UK. But it isn't a name that seems unusual for the UK and since naming her this, a few people have said oh I know someone called that etc, but nobody we actually know or have met in person.
So not the same level of confusion in the pronunciation of the name because it's not common but people constantly pronounce it wrong, even one of my friends I see weekly, who I can't bring myself to correct anymore.

For context, it ends in the letters 'ana' and we pronounce that as 'anna' but according to my aunt it should be pronounced 'arna' because of the spelling.
As in if we wanted it to be pronounced 'anna' we should have spelt it 'anna' and not 'ana', so it's all our own fault!
But the spelling and our pronunciation is from the country of origin (my husbands) & doesn't conform to British spelling standards!

However, because so many people assume the pronunciation is 'arna' based on the spelling, lots of people use that and it's hard to push against it. I corrected all family when they said it wrong and none of them say it wrong now but with nursery workers/people you see occasionally on playdates it's harder.
I honestly thought that if you repeated the name back to people correctly they would get the hint, but I'm realising people are quite unaware and won't notice at all that they are pronouncing the name incorrectly, so definitely feel like there's nothing to be done and don't want to be rude about it as she's now 2 so if they haven't worked it out by now they obviously don't care.

For the record, not trying to derail, I knew someone who pronounced it this way. He was French.

Just use the name as you always wanted to use it. Sometimes you just can’t win with names.
I have a very normal traditional English name. But people constantly either use an alternate spelling for it or lengthen it to another name. The lengthened version is not my name, but I get called that anyway. It used to bother me greatly but now I’ve just learnt to accept I can’t control other peoples wilful ignorance.

My daughter's name is a bit unusual and people don't usually pronounce it 'correctly' (as in, the way we say it). In the country my mum's from my family pronounce my name differently to the way I do. I don't mind either way and neither does my daughter, it seems. If it's something that would bother you then pick an unambiguous name, otherwise go for the lovely name you like and accept that people will pronounce it differently 🤷🏻‍♀️ If it does bother you your child will pick up on that and it will also bother them so don't give yourselves the stress if that's the case.

not the same I know but reminds me of my Irish friend Saoirse when she started at our school back in the 80s. Sayorse? Saywarse? Etc. still
happens now and we are in our 50s!

there was another friend named Nikola who everyone called Nicola which gave her the rage!!

@StarShine23 I do understand how you feel-

My DD has a name that was pretty unusual when she was born but not unheard of. Just not popular.
It has an English pronunciation which we use but also a French one which we/she think of as a slightly different name but same spelling.
She uses the short version in daily life so it's not an issue but although the French version doesn't sound right we tend to just go along with it after years of correcting!

There are 3 different pronunciations of my name and it doesn't bother me at all. As a previous poster said, it's really not a burden, just correct and move on.

I actually quite like the other 2 pronunciations so if I'm just somewhere for the day I usually just let it go and only correct if I will be seeing the people again.

@solongandthanksforallthedish , you are entirely missing the point.
It is me saying other that other people insist I am getting my own name wrong.

my name is pronounced in many different ways and I've had many different variations given to me. My own parents spell my wrong and still after 40 years they refuse to spell it the way everyone else does. Its annoying but I've learnt to live it with it. When I'm being petty I do sign my cards to them in large letters spelt the normal way.

I gave my children simple to spell and pronounce names and they hate them (LOL).

A simple correction once should sort it for most people. I have a name that people often get wrong and both my kids have welsh names but we live in NI - they both sound like Irish but are spelt differently. People who care learn very quickly and want to get your name right. People who make assumptions and/or insist on mispronouncing names even after correction are rude in my opinion. For instance take the name Naomi, I know of at least three ways to pronounce that and always check rather than just assuming. With the multicultural society we now live in people should expect to have to learn name pronunciations and not complain about it or tell people they just have to accept it if others get their name wrong, and parents should be allowed to give their children names from cultures that mean something to them.

Well, exactly.

William can be Will-yum or Will-ie-um.

It's just accent.

The way different accents pronounce the "a" sound in Jane is very different. No-one thinks that people are saying the name "wrong." It's just different.

We have this same problem with my son's name. He's 20 now and even though we use the correct pronuncation all the time lots of other people who have known him all his life use the wrong pronunciation.
I don't really know what you can about it.

@JoanThursday1972 , Sara Cox is really Sarah. The Sara spelling is from a misspelling by an agency and it stuck. She's Mrs Sarah Husbandsurname IRL.

Only your own name as applied to you. You don't get to say someone pronouncing it differently for themselves or their baby is wrong. Just different.

I have a few friends whose names are pronounced differently to the usual pronunciation of the name in English and friends who have “foreign” names. Yes, initially they are pronounced wrong but they are corrected and everyone moves on. Likewise, my name is spelt differently to normal. I always correct the spelling and normally introduce myself with the spelling to new people as it is a talking point. I love that my name is different, and I’m sure your daughter will love her name too.

I think my friend Sara who pronounces it Sarah knows how to say her own name. So does Sara Cox!

My working class London mum says caffee.

@solongandthanksforallthedish , You are not the naming/spelling/pronunciation authority. No one is.
I am on my own name.
It's about respecting others.
Have you considered applying that to yourelf?

I work with a Gui, who does pronounce it Ghee. He's Portuguese. This is one real occasion when people actually did use the oft-quoted-as-an-urban-myth gooey pronunciation to begin with until corrected. Nobody actually called him Guy, funnily enough.

I think this is just an inevitable consequences of globalization and the sharing of names around the world!

In the past, people had much more limited names they used, and communities who all knew how to say them, even in my 1970's school there were just ordinary ways to say things.

Now, we have influences and knowledge of names from all over the world, and the names aren't all said the same. I have the most bog-standard name ever, never misspelt and never mispronounced in 35 odd years, then around 40, people started spelling it a bit differently! In my field, there's a famous (in my field) person who has the Danish spelling of my name and a lot of people use that, in fact, having gone from never ever having it spelt wrong, it is spelled now about four different ways (think Anna type name).

It's just the way is is now. People on here post threads that people get their name spelled wrong on paper (yes, because people hear it and assume what it is ) and said wrong in person (because there's so many different pronunciations depending on country). They are then upset/insulted/think others cannot be bothered and so on.

If you know you always say others names exactly right, and remember first time and never ever address an email or card to the wrong spelt name, good for you! Most people cannot do this and you should adapt to the world that is, not the one you ideally would like.

I have several Elenas in my life and there's three different pronounciations!

Pick the one you like, correct those nearest and dearest. Although even my dad said my husband's name wrong for 20 years...

I would stick with the original pronunciation. But allow for the possibility when she's older she may prefer the other.

I have a name that has a couple of obvious abbreviations, and is quite long, it's also got a couple of variations on spellings. My parents never shortened it.
I have a memory of being at the front in assembly when I was 5yo and correcting the teacher (to the older one's amusement) every time he called me by one of the abbreviations. It was never abbreviated until secondary, when I'd still introduce myself by the full name, but a number of people called me by one of the shortened versions. I never really liked that one though.
I've never worried about people spelling it the wrong way at all.
When I got to uni I starting being called by the other short version and since then I've always been that version and will use it for all except for my parents and official forms.
I now prefer it.

Just out of curiosity, How many different ways do you think people might pronounce the name Leonie?

Is it Amelie?

I have a French name that isn't unheard of here in the UK, not common but not rare by any means. People always mishear or call me the masculine version which is more common. Sometimes even saying the masculine version back to me when I introduce myself as though I've been getting my own name wrong my whole life 😆 The feminine version is the same with an e on the end and rhymes with Christine. I just correct and move on, and enjoy the Starbucks misspellings. Been happening since my school days but it's not a burden in any way, just correct and go forward.