Hard to pronounce surname - do you have one?!

[Jamesonwhite]

I'm getting married later this year and will be taking DPs name. It is extremely hard to pronounce and spell. I'm undecided whether or not I will keep my maiden name as my name at work to make life easier (or will it just be more complicated having 2 names?!)

Anyone have a hard to pronounce surname? How have you found it?

I have a short, hard to pronounce surname and DH has a long hard to spell surname. Both are of (different) UK origin but people do get very flustered because they both have the thing that someone mentioned upthread of hidden vowels. The number of times you spell it out and see someone write it down wrongly because they intuit wrongly how it should be spelled and then can’t work out why it is wrong is staggering.

The dc have his surname and if I’m doing something that needs a full spelling of their names and then mine I need a steady nerve. Both DC have very unambiguously spelled first names!

The idea of double-barrelling mine and dH’s surname would make you want to shoot yourself!

I always thought mine was easy to pronounce and spell but apparently not 😂

Nope mine is Jones!

Mines not difficult in theory, but people always say it wrong. There are 2 ways to pronounce it and most people say it the wrong way.

My maiden name was only 4 letters long, and a commonly used word, but I was forever spelling it, because people were never sure whether I'd said something else entirely! I took DH's name when I married him, it's only three letters, but I still end up spelling it

I have an Irish surname that most people say entirely wrong. I just spell it out. People usually spell it strongly despite that.

I didn't change it when I got married however.

I have a 2 syllable 6 letter surname which is pronounced exactly as it is spelt. For some bizarre reason I'd say the 80% of people mis pronounce it. So on that basis it makes no difference what your name is

MustardScreams I have now spent ten minutes trying to think of a Welsh surname with no English vowels.

I had a very Yorkshire surname that was spelled very obviously, but if people were not familiar with it as a name, they asked for it spelling. I would just break it down in to pieces, like; Old Field... Oldfield (not really my name).
I also tried to keep my old name for work, as I was quite identifiable, but it got so confusing. Had to sign my name a lot for work, and during night shift trying to remember who I was got confusing.

Mine is very similar in spelling to a slightly more common surname, and that is often how people choose to pronounce it if they see it written down, which I understand. However what I do struggle with is when people still don’t get it after I’ve corrected them because it’s actually pronounced phonetically, so once they know it’s not the name they’re thinking of it should be easy

I’m still planning on keeping it if I get married though! I guess it depends exactly how unusual the surname is?

SirVix I'd guess Clwyd.

Sorry if I put you mustard!

My married surname is not very difficult to pronounce or spell, but nobody gets it right, to the extent that I automatically spell it out if someone asks what I'm called. I have an extremely easy to spell first name too which is always queried as there are several versions of it. I have given up explaining my surname as "just like (extremely commonly known surname such as Brown or Smith) but with an X (not actual letter)" because that confuses people too.

I had a surname which was perfectly easy to pronounce and spell but uncommon, so virtually everyone you said it too would repeat back a similar but more common name. I changed my name when I got married but now I regret it hugely and I wouldn't change my name at all now, especially for a more difficult one.

Despite having a 6 letter, 2 syllable surname that unusual but pronounced exactly how it is said no fucker can seem to spell it. The usual spelling mistake is to turn the xamxxx into xarrixxx. Caused a bit of a kerfuffle at a hospital appointment the other day when they were asking for Miss xarrixxx and I didn't answer. My name was printed in capitals infront of them and they still got it wrong ffs.

My surname is unusual & many people seem to think it's foreign even though I can trace the name back to immigrants in the actual 16th century which means my surname has been English for umm nearly 500 years!!

Yet people can't seem to spell or say it & combined with my unusual first name I get people saying 'are you English??' Like it matters.

OP I would only change your name if you really want to.

Bayleyf and mustard there is a road near me with no English vowels and tourists really struggle with it. Also a village with a longish name but only one english vowel.

My maiden name was Colquhon. That was fun to live with .

Yes. I regret deeply taking DH’s surname. I have really grown to hate the amount of time I’ve wasted on it. Saying it properly, spelling it, explaining where it’s from. It’s obviously a foreign name, which isn’t pronounced at all how it’s spelt. I’ve said to DH I literally don’t care anymore about ‘authentic’ pronunction. I had a beautiful maiden surname but was just swept along with changing it as that is just what you do, right

I went from a hard to pronounce surname (no idea why, it's perfectly normal but got all kinds of pronunciation) to a surname that's hard to pronounce and spell. If I get asked my surname, I'll just go straight in to phonetics and won't say it first.
If I'm waiting for appointments, everyone else will be called out as "Mr Bloggs" and i know it's me because I'll be called out by my first name.
It can't be that hard because our three year old can say it. Obviously not read it yet.
It's Greek Cypriot. I love that it's so rare in the U.K. that myself and my MIL are the only people in the country to have it, because we have the female versions.

My married name always trips people up when saying and spelling but I’m not too sure why - it’s phonetic. Just say what you see! Because of this I automatically spell it out.
I’ve kept my maiden name for work and although it’s easy to spell there are a few variants so it’s not often spelt right.

Mine is a fairly simple straightforward Northern city. It's still spelt incorrectly quite often.

Had my Polish Grandad not changed his surname my maiden name would have been very hard to pronounce. He changed it so my Nana, Dad and Uncle could pronounce it. It's German now but to the English spelling so the W is a V instead (Werner to Verner)

I married an Italian who has a difficult to read surname. If you know anything about how Italians pronounce certain combinations of letters then it's completely logical how it should be said, however I would say that it's only ever pronounced correctly (by UK people reading the name) about 5% of the time.

It's fine though. I always expect a weird pronunciation when I go to appointments and listen out for anything that sounds like it could be my name. I also speak and then spell my surname when I'm asked for it rather than just saying it because it's highly unlikely anyone could spell it from pronunciation alone.

I like having an unusual surname tbh (I also have an unusual first name) but maybe that's because my previous surname was very ordinary.

I married an Italian who has a difficult to read surname. If you know anything about how Italians pronounce certain combinations of letters then it's completely logical how it should be said, however I would say that it's only ever pronounced correctly (by UK people reading the name) about 5% of the time.

It's fine though. I always expect a weird pronunciation when I go to appointments and listen out for anything that sounds like it could be my name. I also speak and then spell my surname when I'm asked for it rather than just saying it because it's highly unlikely anyone could spell it from pronunciation alone.

I like having an unusual surname tbh (I also have an unusual first name) but maybe that's because my previous surname was very ordinary.

My maiden name was often misspelled but not mispronounced and I preferred it. Kept it for work. Married name is nearly always mispronounced, doesn't bother me though. I have to spell it but then I'm used to that and doesn't bother me either.