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Original poster

Hit me with your hard to pronounce names!

63 replies

pancakes222 · 14/04/2022 12:01

Hi all
Starting my first job in the NHS next month! I'm sure I should be getting worried about more important things but one thing I'm really paranoid about starting to work in a public facing environment is pronouncing someone's name wrong as im notoriously bad at this!
Does anyone have a name that people get wrong all the time and if so, can you phonetically write it for me so I can try and be better Smile
Thank you!

OP posts:
romdowa · 14/04/2022 14:07

@EatSleepRantRepeat

Lots of British and Irish names can be toughies:

Siobhan : Shuh-vorn
Niamh: Neeve
Caolfhionn: Kay-Linn
Jolyon: Jo-Lee-un
Beauchamp: bee-chum (usually a surname)
Cholmondley: Chum-lee (usually a surname)

I work in a hugely multinational team and google/youtube is a godsend for foreign names. I just type "how to pronounce" and the name, and most results have recordings.

That is not how you say siobhan 🙈🙈 it's shiv -awn bh in irish makes a v sound.
carpepm · 14/04/2022 14:08

I have a difficult to pronounce Irish name. I think people are often embarrassed to ask, but it really doesn't offend me if people just ask me how they should pronounce it.

badlydrawnbear · 14/04/2022 14:32

DC1 has a Welsh name (we don’t live in wales) that isn’t pronounced like you would think from reading it. In A&E recently I listened carefully for any vaguely similar sounding name to be called. It was very quiet and she was the only girl of the right age and ethnicity there so the triage nurse came over and asked how to say her name. I am also a nurse, and, as others have said, it is ok to ask someone how to pronounce their name.

TwoLeftSocksWithHoles · 14/04/2022 14:39

I never could quite grasp the pronunciation of this...

Hit me with your hard to pronounce names!
RussianSpy101 · 14/04/2022 14:43

@MorrisZapp I’m so glad it’s not just me who sings this 😂

LizBennet · 14/04/2022 14:48

I can see Keeley now Lorraine has gone

picklemewalnuts · 14/04/2022 14:54

@MorrisZapp @GaiaWise there's also

K 'air' run

I knew a Sharon who was sh-air-un, too.

MardyOldGoth · 14/04/2022 15:04

Used to know a Cae. It was pronounced Chay, rhymes with day. Maltese apparently.

Georgeskitchen · 14/04/2022 15:13

Wow it didn't take long for the outrage bus to set off did it!!
Now everyone who struggles to pronounce an unusual name is a nasty racist bigot!!

CPL593H · 14/04/2022 15:21

@CasZekey

I think of all these I struggle with Irish names the most, the phonetics just totally blows my mind. But there's some I can mostly pronounce correctly from sight as I'm used to them.

DS is Castiel, apparently that's hard to pronounce.

Names like Evelyn (eve-lyn, ev-lyn) you'll always need to ask

Is your Castiel a little angel? Grin

Super name!

OnoNotagain · 14/04/2022 15:34

Some quite common names can trip you up too. There was a thread on here not so long ago about how to pronounce Sara .... (to rhyme with carer, or to rhyme with Zara). For the record I know two women called Sara, who pronounce it differently ......

Pyri · 14/04/2022 15:41

@Georgeskitchen

Wow it didn't take long for the outrage bus to set off did it!! Now everyone who struggles to pronounce an unusual name is a nasty racist bigot!!
No, but there are enough on MN from all the many “what are the worst names you’ve heard” threads where one bright poster will always say “my mum’s cousin’s neighbour taught a child called L-A!! (Pronounced ledasha!)”
Gilead · 14/04/2022 15:50

I’m of the opinion that if you can pronounce Tchaikovsky you can pronounce most names, asking is good, claiming you’ll never learn it is out of order. Good on you for asking.

IsadoraQuagmire · 14/04/2022 15:57

@Georgeskitchen

Wow it didn't take long for the outrage bus to set off did it!! Now everyone who struggles to pronounce an unusual name is a nasty racist bigot!!
I know, it's ridiculous. OP didn't specify "foreign" names anyway. My own (English in my case, but used in lots of countries) name can be pronounced 2 different ways and I'm usually called in for an appointment at the hospital with the "wrong" version. I just answer to both, it's not a big deal.
Maireas · 14/04/2022 15:59

@CheshireCats

I also know a Deer-dree
Me too. Several when I was growing up. Always Deer-dree
Maireas · 14/04/2022 16:03

I'm a teacher and I just usually ask if unsure. If you pronounce it wrongly, just apologise. Sometimes I write it phonetically on my seating plans so I remember. There's an Alicia that's pronounced Aleesha for example, so I need the prompts sometimes.

Joolsin · 14/04/2022 16:12

If I see an unusual name in work, I'll have a stab at it - and I'm quite good at guessing usually, but I always say "please tell me if I'm pronouncing your name correctly, I want to make sure I will always get it right in future" and people are always happy to tell me because I'm not belittling them but am curious and eager to learn and be correct. I'll then write it phonetically beside the name and ensure to pronounce it correctly ever after. The one that surprised me was the Chinese surname, Ng, I asked and was told it's pronounced "Ing" - I laughed at myself and said "well how dopey am I, that's so obvious" and the person laughed along with me and agreed it's obvious when you know.

OnceuponaRainbow18 · 14/04/2022 16:16

I prefer when people ask me how to pronounce my name rather than look awkward and try and get it totally wrong

RosesAndHellebores · 14/04/2022 16:21

My first name is unusual, think Cressida/Pandora genre. My married name is unusual and is not pronounced phonetically My maiden name was German.

Just ask about the correct pronunciation op and what the patient wishes to be called. There is no need to add comments, opinions, questions. "Ooh what made your mum call you that" "oh that's unusual", "where's that from?" The comments are so very very tedious when one is white. I cannot imagine how tedious and hurtful they must feel for people of diverse ethnicities.

NuffSaidSam · 14/04/2022 16:24

@MorrisZapp

Everyone knows that Deidre is pronounced deer-dree.

As in 'I can see Deirdre now Lorraine is gone'

Isn't is Deer-dree in England and Deer-drah in Ireland (and maybe America too)?
applewhitenights · 14/04/2022 16:27

Don't worry about it. I work in healthcare and have to call patients names out. Just take a stab at any you're not sure of and apologise for making a hash of it. Most patients will correct you, so just apologise and repeat it back to memorise it.

You'll always get someone who is offended and it's normally someone who has a name that can be legitimately pronounced two ways.
For example the lady who complained I pronounced her daughters name Lucia as Loo-sha (as in St Lucia and how my cousins daughters name is pronounced) instead of Lu-chia the Italian way (no indication patient was Italian).

TheCanyon · 14/04/2022 16:39

@blackheartsgirl

I have an unusual but really not hard to pronounce first name at all. It’s bloody obvious and yet people still get it wrong or call me something else entirely Confused
Same. Two very normal and fairly common British names just combined into one very unusual name. I get called everything and anything not remotely similar.

@pancakes222 Please just ask if you're not sure.

picklemewalnuts · 14/04/2022 16:40

The most irritating one, I'd say, are calling 'Christian' 'Christine', or 'Frieda' 'Fred'.

Just pay close attention and acknowledge that it matters.

Also, 'great name' is a good catch all when you've made a mistake or taken several attempts to spell/pronounce it!

I have a non ethnic, unusual, hard to spell name. I've heard it all.

JenLC · 14/04/2022 16:48

@pancakes222

Hi all Starting my first job in the NHS next month! I'm sure I should be getting worried about more important things but one thing I'm really paranoid about starting to work in a public facing environment is pronouncing someone's name wrong as im notoriously bad at this! Does anyone have a name that people get wrong all the time and if so, can you phonetically write it for me so I can try and be better Smile Thank you!
I work for the NHS and normally just say "hi my name is Jen, I'm your carer for the day. What would you like me to call you?" And they will tell you.

There's no point fretting about mispronouncing a name - I assure you that you will soon be told how to say it right!

Good luck in your new job

CreaturefromtheDeep · 14/04/2022 16:59

@MrsPear

All I can say is don’t have a bloody attitude *@pancakes222* I’m seriously fucked off with the receptionists who sigh and huff and puff when it comes to our names. They are all white little englanders who do my head in. My advice is open your ears and listen. If they say a name ask to repeat slowly and repeat back. If someone says a name and then spells it with a for apple s for sugar don’t go ‘what’?! You sound like an idiot and are marked as racist by most. Just listen. Oh and accept that a name does not equal immigration status. That and there is such thing as mixed marriage. Finally there is most wrong with apologising for ignorance and asking how to say someone’s name - no one minds the first time.
This. As someone who took my husband's lovely and really not at all difficult to pronounce (it's short, 100% phonetic and and has no sounds which are remotely alien to the English language) surname, I get royally pissed off at this common conversation:

Me: Hi I have a booking/appointment under the name of (x)
Them: (frowns then rolls eyes) Do you mean echudioplerquipay? (or some other utterly random combination of consonants and vowels, adding 4 syllables to the name for good measure).
Me: Yes, yes actually you're right - I've been mispronouncing my own name this whole time. Thanks for correcting me. I would never had known.

In direct response to the OP though, I worked with a woman who used to refer to one of our regular clients as Grainy. Her name was Grainne (pronounced Gron-yuh) and no matter how many times the poor woman would gently correct her, she would look puzzled, look down and her notes and repeat "Grainy" over and over again.