To ask why people have such a hard time spelling names correctly

[emberflames]

So my name is Bryony. the 2 most common ways to spell it are my way or Briony. I have my full name in my email address and of course always sign off with it but after 34 years it still amazes me how many people will respond with "hi Byrony/Bryany/bryoni" etc etc. I mean my name is right THERE on the email- twice !

My mum also has a name that can be spelt two ways and she constantly receives emails with it spelt wrong. Even some of her friends she's known for years don't get it right.

Another example is a Latvian lady I work with named Liisa. Of course we would naturally be inclined to spell it Lisa, but that's not her name. After 8 years of her working for the company so many people still get it wrong.

I really don't understand how this happens. I can understand a typo but when it happens over and over again I struggle to see how just looking at how the email was signed off or the name in the email is so difficult.

And I feel awful for my brother as we have a surname that's also a first name , and his first name can also be a surname. So he's constantly getting called by his surname. I know in the grand scheme of things it's a minor issue but it's just befuddling to me.

All the Aarons I've known have pn it Arron.

My surname gets misspelled constantly, there's a huge game with the same name.
It only has one M!

@IHaveBrilloHair Is it Monopoly?

If so, I’d love to have such a cool surname.

Yep, that's the one

I feel your pain OP. I do try not to be so bothered by people's lack of attention to detail, but it's frustrating.

I have a name with a common version ending in 'e' but mine ends in 'a' - along the lines of Joanne/Joanna. My name is in my email address and I'll sign off 'Joanna' and the person will reply 'thanks Joanne'. I've told my mother she has burdened me!

My married surname is the same name as the place I live in.

People STILL ask me how to spell it!

Yep i feel your pain I have a 1970,s double barrell name think Sarah -Jane the amount of times I have been called "Sarah" or"Jane" even on mumsnet its wrong of me to want my full name according to some on a thread apparently also my sil had a slightly less comment variant of a more commonly used name think "Julia" rather then "Julie" people were constantly calling her "Julie" even when she tragically died suddenly the crematorium couldn't be bothered getting it right

Thankfully my name never gets misspelled (my surname is apparently unpronounceable but that's another issue).

My OH is a Ewan and the bloody council tax bill keeps coming to us with his name as Euan despite me correcting them several times. Just hope he never needs it as proof of address!

my daughter is a Phoebe and the Pheobe spelling gives me the rage! Even now at nearly 5 her auntie and cousins sometimes spell it wrong. It’s laziness

No it's actually quite difficult to spell. I am good at spelling but have to think carefully whether it's o before e or vice versa.

@NinaMarieP It took months for NPower to correct the spelling of my very common and easy to spell surname, I was beginning to wonder if I should just stop paying as the bills were obviously addressed to the wrong person.

At least it was a change from trying to get my middle name spelt correctly- I've just noticed my GP Surgery has 'corrected' my spelling so I'll have to get them to put it right again.

Yes, totally agree OP. My name is only spelled one way (and it's not particularly unusual either), but I often get another L stuck in the middle or one S. It's annoying. Our surname too is only four letters. Now it comes in various spellings, I get that, but even when I spell it out - all 4 letters of it - people still get it wrong. Drives me round the bend.

Yanbu op.

My name is Melanie. I have only ever seen it spelt this way officially and it's not exactly an out there name.

I get Melonie, Melony, Melaynie, Mellanie, Melanee, Melonee and many more.

I'd say at least 1/3 times my name is spelt by someone it's wrong, sometimes repeatedly.

Another person here who sometimes receives emails with my name wrong, even though it's a reply to my email so they already have the correct spelling in front of them. You could even copy and paste my name instead of typing, but no.

It shows sloppiness at work, and a lack of attention to detail. If the sender couldn't even check the spelling of my name, what else have they got wrong? It's worrying if they've sent me an invoice or other important document. Completely unprofessional.

OP, there is absolutely no chance that Latvian woman would have a name that has ''ii'' in it. It is either ''i'' or ''ī''.
She is telling you fibs

Oh this gets on my wick - I have a simple name that by changing the spelling gets you a completely different name (Think Anna to Hanna). I frequently get emails to Hanna or Anne, but worst of all I will have colleagues who I've known for years who on conference calls where there is me (Anna), an Anne and a Hannah will ask ME a question by the wrong name and then wonder why I don't answer!

It's the same people who also don't bother learning how to pronounce the names of foreign colleagues either - because we should all be called Karen or Paul apparently. It's rude.

Autocorrect comes to mind bryophyte (that’s what my phone thinks is the correct spelling for your name if I fail to capitalise which is an easy mistake). Bryon is what I get with a capital. Can’t win.

My married name looks German but DH's family anglicised the pronunciation when they moved here in the early 1900s. Didn't stop the snotty lady at the BA check in desk in Vienna telling me "It's pronounced XXX actually." Needless to say no one has ever corrected DH on the pronunciation in his far more well traveled career....

I always have to think carefully about Phoebe and Michael. I don't know why, my brain just scrambles them every single time and then I'm not sure at all.

I work in a large organisation which is very multicultural and from all over the world! I have to copy and paste names daily but you just don't guess as that is so rude, seeing that it is in the email right in front of you!!

Say you were writing an important email to someone in Africa called Abiodun Etukkudoh, would you just guess and wright Dear Abi - Don't think so but it seems to be totally acceptable to not check weather it is Carol/Carole, Joanne/Joanna, Sean/Sian, Neill/Niall

Annoying

I have a "shortened" name. (Ie Cath NOT catherine) its on my birth cert/driving licence/passport as cath. I have lost count the amount of people that either spell it wrong (kath/ caf) or insist that my name is the full version (catherine). I have been called ignorant for not answering people who shout cathrine (why would i answer its not my f'ing name!). At school i had one teacher, who even after my mum complaining, still insisted my name was catherine and TRIED to give ne detentions for being ignorant when i didnt respond to this name!
It is rude and ignorant. Learn how people names are spelt and spell them correctly!

My name is Cheyenne. Oddly enough as I'm male. And no, it's not pronounced shy-anne - it's shey-enne! I usually go by Chey.

Is that Chey/Chat/Shey/Shay/Shae/Chase/Shy()

Grrrr

Give it another 30 years Gremlins, you'll stop caring. Or change your name by deed poll to John.

Perfectly John? Jon? Jhon? Jonn?

I've never seen Jhon or Jonn. I will think of a boy's name that's impossible to misspell. Give me time! 😂

Tom!