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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To get annoyed with people not spelling my name correctly?

105 replies

HomityBabbityPie · 18/04/2017 09:55

I have a fairly common name but one that is spelt two separate ways. Let's say it's Jayne instead of Jane.

People (mainly at work) INSIST on spelling it as Jane even when they receive emails from Jayne and signed Jayne. Even people I work really closely with who know full well how it's spelt. Like I'll go:

Dear xx

Please could I have Y document.

Kind regards,

Jayne

And get back:

Dear Jayne,

Please find attached etc etc

It's pissing me right off as that's not my bloody name!

OP posts:
Original poster
HomityBabbityPie · 18/04/2017 09:55

Sorry, get back Dear JANE. Argh now I'm doing it!!!

OP posts:
Lovelongweekends · 18/04/2017 09:57

I'm a Claire.
It's never spelt correctly- Clare/Clair/Claire.
It's incredibly annoying but I just ignore it now unless it's an official document!

Original poster
HomityBabbityPie · 18/04/2017 10:00

I know I shouldn't get annoyed but I just don't see how I can send someone repeated emails and they still don't spell it correctly

OP posts:
MardAsSnails · 18/04/2017 10:01

Yep, I get it the same. It's in my bloody email address as well.

Pisses me off too

Foureyesarebetterthantwo · 18/04/2017 10:02

I make a big effort to spell the name the way it is written in an email, especially for students who have unusual names or sometimes use different names than their 'given' name.

I agree it's a bit rude to keep going with the wrong spelling, but lots of my colleagues cc me into emails where they spell names wrong, all the time!

WashBasketsAreUs · 18/04/2017 10:04

Yep drives me mad too. I have a e mail address that specifies my name, think Jayne with a_y @ wherever. com, and people reply with the wrong name! Gives me the rage!

Crunchyside · 18/04/2017 10:05

I do think it's unintentional, it's just people have no attention to detail. I have a similar name issue although my variation is much less common than the "standard" spelling.

Although it's unintentional I still think it's rude - I always check people's spellings before writing to them. For example, my boss has a name like Theresa, I always forget the spelling so I always check her signature whether it's Teresa or Theresa before sending emails! It's not that difficult. Unless you're not a native English speaker, most people know there is more than one way of spelling names like Jane, Sarah, Hannah, Tracy etc. So why don't people check!?

spidey66 · 18/04/2017 10:07

Mine's similar (not Jane but a common name with two different spellings, mine being the less common one.)

It doesn't bother me generally when people spell it wrong initially...tbh if I meet someone else with the same name my default position is to assume it's spelt the more common way. However it annoys me when people I've known years still spell it wrong. A colleague I'd worked with for about 10 years still spelt it wrong, despite numerous reports and emails with it spelt ''my'' way!

Crunchyside · 18/04/2017 10:10

Oh, and even worse, let's say my name is Katherine, and I have a colleague called Catherine. I have lost track of the number of times people have come to my desk and started discussing something that doesn't seem quite relevant to me, only to discover halfway through the conversation they thought they were speaking to Catherine. Countless emails copying her in instead of me, or vice versa.

Worst thing was recently I got some reward points at work which can be redeemed for gifts, John Lewis/M&S vouchers etc. I got about £50 worth of points with a big thank-you note about all my hard work on a project I had no recollection of. After some investigation it turns out they were meant to Catherine not me. Okay, it wasn't the worst thing ever because I got to keep the points and they made sure she still got hers too Grin

We don't even have similar surnames!

Missmac84 · 18/04/2017 10:16

I have something similar......

Except my name is not normal but what people do is say it incorrectly because when they look at how it's spelt they believe it's spelt wrong!!

(I'm not bothered about my name showing - I don't ever post anything that friends and family don't already know...)

My name is Keiranne (if you say Keir and then Anne)
But I constantly get called Kerrianne as people believe it's me who has incorrectly spelt my name wrong!!

Igneococcus · 18/04/2017 10:16

I have a German version of a name which exists in some form in many European languages including English. The difference to English is one vowel and there are no funny letters or accents or diacritics or anything like it. A large percentage of people seem to be unable to spell it properly even if they must have seen my name many times, it's part of my private email address, and in my signature for my work email address. I don't mind if it happens once or twice when people have just met me but I still get people misspelling it after years of aquaintance and that bothers me slightly.
It's also pronounced differently but nobody seems to be bothered to at least try and pronounce it right.

MammyNeedsASpaDay · 18/04/2017 10:17

I have this but I have an unusual name. I sometimes put it down to autocorrect!

Original poster
HomityBabbityPie · 18/04/2017 10:21

I have no issue with people misspelling it initially, I just get annoyed when I'm having a long email back and forth with someone and they still keep spelling it the other way!

OP posts:
FamilySpartan · 18/04/2017 10:24

This has been my entire life, coupled with a long a difficult surname. I have to say it doesn't really bother me as it's never been any different.

I do notice when people get it right and feel quite pleased rather than feeling annoyed when people get it wrong.

nothercupoftea · 18/04/2017 10:24

Same here, it drives me nuts. Emails from complete strangers are just lazy, they had to check my signature to know my name, so I am not sure how they can get it wrong by the time they write dear xxx! Let's blame autocorrect...

From colleagues it's just not acceptable, they are lazy at best.

x2boys · 18/04/2017 10:30

I feel your pain I have a seventies double barrell name that i have always been known as, Say Sarah -Jane i get would you prefer Sarah or Jane ,cant you just call me Sarah -Jane as thats my name ?Apparently its too hard for many people.

ShotsFired · 18/04/2017 10:32

I have a perfectly normal name, but there is a far more common variant of it.

So I get people CORRECTING ME! Er, no. I think I know my own fucking name!

x2boys · 18/04/2017 10:33

And when i insist on being known by my full name people thing i,m being a bit of a twat,

x2boys · 18/04/2017 10:40

Even worse my sil had a name that had a far more common derivitive say Julie/Julia and she was Julia everybody just couldnt be bothered getting it right and called her Julie she sadley died a couple of years ago and even the Crematorium had her down as Julie its really rude and ignorant IMO.

Fluffyears · 18/04/2017 10:46

My name only really has one spelling (anyone spelling it a different way is an
Illiterate twat in my book) and despite it showing up on e-mails at least 3 times some people spell it in a stupid manner. I also have a really common surname (think it's 3rd commonest in Britain) and some people fuck that up....its also an everyday word!

Fluffyears · 18/04/2017 10:49

X2 I had s colleague with similar l, she told us on her first day 'it's not sarah or Jane it's sarah-Jane or SJ!' Her name was similar but not exactly the same as yours and this twat in our team insisted on using just the first part no matter how many times he was corrected.

starfishmummy · 18/04/2017 10:50

Management at work suddenly started getting my name wrong internal ckrrsspondence. I kept telling them yo no avail so I sent stuff back as it was obviously not intended for me. Yes I know it was PA but they got the message!!

Elendon · 18/04/2017 10:54

I sometimes get called Eleanor or Angela. My name begins with a vowel, but I cannot begin to even imagine why my name is sometimes confused with the above. As for the spelling of my name, I have long given up.

wasonthelist · 18/04/2017 10:58

Lots of people don't seem to give a fuck about spelling - even of someone's name. My last name, whilst not especially difficult, isn't that well known and is spelt and pronounced incorrectly on a regular basis - I find it annoying too but I'm out of step with contemporary mores.

thefairyfellersmasterstroke · 18/04/2017 10:59

My name has three spellings so often a good chance that people will get it wrong unless they ask. I rarely let this bother me though, if it's a random person.

But my stepmother has been spelling it wrong for 40 years! I'm not sure why, as my dad was always fastidious about names, however she seemed to take over all the greetings cards when they married and I guess my dad didn't tell her, or didn't check. I did tell her once, after she pulled me up for mispronouncing my half-brother's name, and I thought since we were talking names anyway... But it had no effect. It's become a bit of a joke now.