to want in laws to correctly pronounce my very ordinary name?

[DrSeuss]

I have a very ordinary, English-of-Greek-origin name. Spelled in the traditional way, couldn't e simpler, really.
For over twenty years, ILs have mispronounced it. For twenty years, I and my husband have periodically corrected them. Not a huge thing, granted but it grates every time they say it wrongly.

AIBU to slightly mispronounce their names just a little, e.g. Sarah becomes Sorah, Jim becomes Jom? Childish, I know, but it is pretty much the only thing I have asked of them in twenty years! Other family members ask for and receive special food despite having no real grounds for this or meals served at a particular time despite having no children. I'd just like them to say my name without me mentally wincing!

Marjorie Dawes says choklit

loopy you are not s pedant I'm Kenyan - hearing keenya makes me shudder.

Liverpudlians would say Steevin, wouldn't they?

It's chok-lee-ut, isn't it?!

Choc-lut

I'm a shwa too. Although I've been H to friends and family for nearly 30 years now.

Always hated Hell-in. Have never heard Hell-en in southern England, unless spelled the French way. I do know a Helene with no accent, pronounced Heleen.

I've also always hated EE-von, MEE-shell and NI-omi.

My friends MIL is called Ellaine,as opposed to Eeelaine, the only way I can get my tongue around it is to pronounce it Allaine. She's never said anything so I hope it sounds correct.

I thought it was always Eh-laine?

And I say choc-o-late

It's just an accent thing. I'm from Northern Ireland. I'm not going to insist that my Home Counties in-laws pronounce the R in Martha and get all huffy if they call me Mah-tha. It's just the correct pronunciation of the same name in different accent.

I'm posh southern and I pronounce my daughter's name as Helen! ;) Ali

Is it not just an accent thing? I'm broad geordie and my husband comes from Warrington - his family 'talk funny' compared to me and the same goes for when they're around us - my IL's find it difficult to understand me sometimes. My husband has picked up a lot of our accent from living here a while but my IL's haven't, despite being up here 25 years. My BIL (also from 'up here') and I just roll our eyes at each other when we're all together, as my SIL and my husband change their accents to match their parents. It is hilarious at times however.

My name is 'Michelle' and I hate it being pronounced 'meeshell' but it's just an accent/locality thing I think.

Blame the beatles for that aspoonfulof

Meeechelle ma belle...

Helen is far from being an unusual name. If I were expected to subtly change my pronunciation of Helen to suit every individual called Helen that I know, I'd feel a bit pissed off about it, tbh - it's a common enough name that it is extremely difficult not to come out with one's habitual pronunciation each time. Also, tbh, it would feel as utterly unnatural and embarrassing as calling Paris "Paree" or Newcastle however you would write that to represent a Geordie accent, both of which would frankly sound farcical if inserted into the middle of a sentence in my usual accent...

I am a Helen (hellon to rhyme with melon)
Most people say it this way but there are people like my second ex husband who always said hellin my aunt does and this is no way regional accent as they come from same place as me it's just idiocy!
I stopped answering to ex in the end and when I met third husband and now potential fourth one (just call me Liz) one of the first things I have done is get them to say my name!
My in laws always mispronounced my name too they always said it as Collette (hubbies ex) 😩

My DH pronounces it Hellin, I'm really not sure why but he does.

I've never heard Helen said the way you like. I'm from the south west and I've only ever heard Hell-in and Hell-un

I'm afraid I'm not surprised to learn that the Keen-ya thing is an offensive harking back to colonial times... sounds like the sort of thing my mum might get mixed up in I shall tell her this next time though.

I am totally ok with the whole different accents pronouncing things slightly differently (very big of me, yes, I know) but I am totally convinced the Hel-in thing is not that! You tend to find one or two people, out of a group of otherwise v similar speakers, decide to go all 'Hel-in' (and Ell-in) about it. They are totally capable of saying Hel-un but choose not to! And yes, I am talking about my mum again!

Notsure I think we established that the OP does like Hel-un. She just struggled to render it phonetically to start with. She has since declared (several times!) that she prefers the schwa (uh) as the second vowel sound. Like all right - thinking people. ..

I was married to a Hong Kong Chinese guy for 20 years. His parents called me "Carol" with a heavy accent for the entire marriage. My name is Karen. I just gave up in the end. I'm sure I pronounced many things wrong speaking to them over the years.

Strangely i have never heard Helen said to rhyme with melon. They don't sound at all alike to me.

i have never heard Helen said to rhyme with melon

The lives of pretty much everyone named Helen would be substantially less irritating if those two words sounded completely different to each other. Trust me on this.