Work email

[lmnabc]

This is a work situation which I don't have an issue with but always wonder about:

My email address is Jennifer.Blogs@ but I always sign my name as "With best wishes, Jenny" and my email signature underneath is Jenny Blogs.

The majority of people reply with Dear Jennifer rather than Dear Jenny. Is it that people have an issue with shortened names? Just interested.

fuck knows. I got “Dear Pam” today. My name is not Pam, or Sam, or Ann - or even anything beginning with P. 🤷‍♀️

.... not to be rude, it's just i assume that if your email is Jennifer.Blogs, that's your name.

it can be really confusing if your work email directory is done in first name order because i could be looking for Jen, Jeni, Jenny, Jennie, Jennifer etc.

Initial email I'll use your formal name, if you make it clear in your replies you want to be known as Jenny I'll use that from then on.

If it gets the email/job done and off my desk , I don't actually mind what I'm called!

I would always try and go with whatever people sign off as. I think most people just don't read things properly. I job share with someone, and we both have the same first name. Email addresses have our full names on, as do the signatures. Most people don't even realise we are 2 different people. Although one did congratulate me on getting married a few emails in, as he had noticed the name change....

I always go by what people sign off buy.

Every so often I get caught out by people who have a first name as a surname and inadvertently mix them up if I’ve had a long day……

*with…… (definitely not buy).

I always go by what people sign-off with, rather than what's in their email signature, though they could be the same thing.

My name frequently gets abbreviated by people who email me, who then act shocked and affronted when I correct them.

I get the opposite! I use my full name and so many people shorten it. I just find it odd. I don’t relate to the shortened version of my name so it just feels like they are talking to someone else!

I would email you as Jennifer....I use my Sunday name at work....outside of work a shortened version ....mainly because I am on a professional register with my Sunday name

Out of interest, where does the phrase "Sunday name" come from? Never heard that before but it's a lovely phrase!

I always match how people sign off as.

I have the opposite problem where people make assumptions about my nickname and often get it wrong. It really annoys me as one nickname I hate with a passion. At work I introduce myself with my full name and sign off emails this way but some people are just rude. They’ll even write about me in an email and use the incorrect nickname!

I correct them all pretty much every time but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. I think it’s incredibly disrespectful. My boss gets really pointed with people and will say “that is NOT her name”.

For me, it’s because when displayed in my inbox list it displays as the first and last name of the sender according to whatever is registered with outlook/the company.

So my brain registers “an email from Charlotte Smith” so I read what has been said and hit reply without reading the signature/my brain just sort of filters it out, even if they have signed off as “Lottie/Charlie”.

It probably feels quite rude to the recipient! I will try to slow down.

I have a long name and a shorter common nickname of that name. When I joined the company I used the shorter version so people see my name in their inbox as the one that I’m more comfortable using anyway.

If anyone used my full name I’d feel as if I was in trouble 🤣.

I’ve had this quite a bit over the years as I’m always known by a shortened version of my given name, but as it’s not the most common version of my name, people often assume my given name is different.

On more than one occasion, I’ve had to ask the IT dept of a new job to create my email address as what I’m known by rather than my given name. I always sign off as ‘version’, but it’s pretty common for people to make an assumption and address me by what they think is my given name.

My dd has the opposite problem.

Her email is 'jenny@.....'

She signs off with 'Jennifer' and they reply Dear Jenny.

She only likes close friends shortening her name.

I go with what people sign off as. Mainly because I too have the short name thing - I wasn't asked what I wanted my email address as and they went with my full name. I also find some of my colleagues with non-english names sometimes have their names the "wrong" way around e.g. [email protected] when others have firstname.lastname@blah

Happens to me all the time and it bugs me no end. Always sign it off with my preferred name and every day get emails back using my formal name, sometimes even from people who have met me and use my short name in real life!

I’m the other way round. My name is Catherine. My email address is [email protected]. I’m known as Catherine but people still call me Cath or Kate.

I find it incredibly frustrating

I found it more irritating in a very formal business environment where it was only ever title or initial and surname to find some people using my first name because Outlook would use the address book entry with my full name, rather than display the InitialSurname of the equally formal email address.

1. Who told you that you could use my given name? I didn't include it in my signature because that isn't the way my employer wanted us to present.
2. It certainly wasn't me, or you'd have used the shortened version I've been known by since 1989, rather than the one pulled from HR records by the bloody external IT contractors.
3. I rather enjoyed the fact that it was not immediately obvious that I was female. Many responses were far politer when it wasn't known you were emailing a woman.
4. If I started my emails to you as 'Hey, Phil', you'd be spitting feathers about how unprofessional I had been in addressing you so inappropriately.
5. Whilst we're at it, if you're going to say it doesn't matter these days and you should be able to call me whatever I'm called in the office, I'd rather like to call you by the name you're known by in ours. But there's a filter on our Exchange server, fortunately.

How many dans get called Daniel or mikes Micheal or Jon’s Jonathan.. Drives me mad that they are happy to call makes by their preferred shortened name but not females as unprofessional

Leaving aside the number of typos which make this only just understandable as English, actually, I disagree. I don’t believe it’s a sexist thing but an unthinking thing.

There are a lot of male names which are traditionally shortened. I know a Jonathan and a Michael who prefer not to shorten their names but are constantly called John or Mike.

I’m another who’s the opposite and it really annoys me for some reason.

My email is [email protected], my signature is Stephanie Surname and I still get ‘Hi Steph’.

That’s not my name!

Mind you, my full name is often spelt wrong anyway - Stefanie, Stephney etc. 🙄

NeverDrop, what would you have liked them to use?

"Dear N. Mooncup" would feel very weird to write. I suppose you could guess Ms/Mr from the name, but if you were a Rowan or something I'd worry about getting it wrong.

This!

Most of the people who email me I have met in my work setting where everyone calls me Jenny and my boss introduces me as such. These people still email me as Dear Jennifer! 🙃

Yes. I have a very common name that is very commonly shortened. I go by the shortened name but my email address is the long form (NHS mail), I sign off as the short form and still people reply with the long version. Drives me nutty.