to be annoyed by people at work consistently misspelling my name?

[Flemingshat]

I have a non-English name that has two common spellings depending on what part of the world it is used in (it is spelled differently in Portugal for example vs South America). I am getting seriously fed up of people I encounter through work misspelling it. Let's say for argument's sake that it's Ana - I consistently get back Anna. I write "Dear X, bla bla bla, Kind regards Ana" and I get back "Dear Anna". I don't mind so much if it is people I haven't had contact with before (though I still think how difficult is it to check the name of the person who has just emailed you) but when it is colleagues I have worked with for 4+ years I just think it is so rude! I point it out and it still happens.

I know it's really petty. AIBU?

It's not xenophobic, it's that a hell of a lot of people CAN'T SPELL

Well that's interesting given that my name is apparently the only part of their emails to me that they can't spell.

I wish people would use standard spellings eg Ann, Sarah, Clare, Nicky, John etc. The varieties are endless and impossible to remember ! Email addresses not always to hand.

@PrimeraVez

This annoys me SO much. I have a slightly less common spelling of a very common name (along the lines of Lucy/Lucie) and people ALWAYS get it wrong even when the correct spelling is right in front of them!

The only silver lining is that it makes me pay so much attention to other people's names and how they spell them. I'm in the Middle East and there are SO many variations of Mohamed, Mohammed, Muhammad, Aysha, Ayesha, Aisha etc and I always manage to get them right, so it pisses me off when others don't make the same effort!

Ha! Same. I know 7 Mohammeds, each spelt differently so I always make sure I copy how they spelt it.

It's not hard. Really. Takes seconds.

It’s only rude because you choose to see it as such. When I’m working, I want people to respond to me quickly, not dither about checking how I spell my name.

Oh I get this.

Let’s just say my name is Clár. It’s an Irish name.

In England people will change it to Claire. Fair enough. I’ll point out, “actually, it’s Clár”. They can’t say my name the Irish way so it’s fine, I accept that they’ll say it like “Claire”.
But then they spell it wrongly.

What really gets my goat is when I’ve been in a play or doing a gig, several times I’ve been asked to check the spelling of my name in the programme or on the poster/publicity before they go to print and see if I’m happy with it and “if not, cross it out and write the correct spelling”. Some complete idiot always comes back to me after it’s gone to print and says “oh by the way, I saw they’d put your name down wrong and it said Clár or something bizarre instead of Clare/Claire and I know how much you hate people getting your name wrong so
I just crossed it out and wrote Clare/Claire instead.” When I point out my name IS Clár they always act as if it’s me that did something wrong or blame my parents for choosing a “silly” spelling. How dare my Mam and Daddy have chosen a name that reflects our country’s language and culture, eh? Silly, difficult people!

The worst was when I started a new job and was automatically given a work email address [email protected]

I emailed the IT desk, “Hi, my name is Clár not Claire, is there anyway you could change it please?”

So then I was Clá[email protected]

Happy times.

Emailed new boss “Hi Rebekah, just to let you know that this is my email address if you need to get in touch. Best, Clár.”

Got an email back, all good.

The next day, I’ve NO emails in my inbox. I should have had a lot.

Memo on desk,

“Hi Clare, just to let you know you’ll have to delete your old email account and sign in with the new username and create a new password. I’ve notified IT they got your name wrong for your email account (I noticed they missed off the e! Could have been worse, it could have been Claire lol). They’ve set up the correct email now - [email protected] so try logging in with that and let me know if there are any issues. Rebekah x”

I wish people would use standard spellings eg Ann, Sarah, Clare, Nicky, John etc. The varieties are endless and impossible to remember ! Email addresses not always to hand.

My name IS a standard spelling.

And I am talking about people misspelling my name when I have emailed them and it is right there in front of them.

I'm on the fence with this one.
have one of those names as well. I have given up... as long as it's clear who they mean

Having said all this about emails...I've worked with more than person, in different places, who had their names spelt wrong by IT when setting up accounts and who didn't get them corrected.

James, who was actually a Jim, and never went by James but had to at work.

Charlotte, who became Charlie at work because there was already a Charlotte on the system.

Too many Smith's and Browns in another company so the spelling was changed for new starters!!!

DH has the less common spelling of a relatively common (regionally) surname. He always gets the wrong one. But best of all is when people helpfully 'correct' it for him - both in writing and pronouncing it! As if people went round not knowing how their own surnames are spelled /pronounced .

I found it quite amusing as it didn't affect me (my own foreign surname gets spelled correctly most of the time, which makes DH quite jealous ). Then DC was born. OMG, now I spend my life double checking /correcting the spelling. They even have some fancy certificates with the wrong spelling 'helpfully' corrected which upsets them.

Fight for your names!

We should start something like national "correct how they spell your name" day😂

It happens to me with a common English name that is spelt in 2 different ways. I really don’t mind. We spell most words automatically, so if you know someone with the other version then it is easy to misspell a name.

I have a very straightforward first name that people regularly mis spell.

My surname can be spelt in several different ways, one more common than others, not my spelling but people usually go for that one.

The most frustrating thing is I can be standing in front of them telling them how it is spelt and they still write the common spelling. So I will be saying 'L' and they will be writing down 'U'.

I also have the idiots telling me how to pronounce my surname.

I am intending to change my surname by deed poll to get rid of associations with exhusband but I don't think it will get any better.

My experience is people spell your name correctly if they are motivated enough to find out the spelling. Lots of people don't really care. Not a lot you can do about it unless you permanently wear a name badge.

Nobody ever gets my name right. I’ve got a very common English name and surname. My surname can also be a male first name. So for example, Rebecca Owens, I go by Beckie and use that in signing off any emails, on FB etc.

I will get:
Dear Rebecca (which is fine)
Dear Becky (annoying because I don’t spell it that way)
Dear Becks (have I ever indicated that I go by this version)
Dear Owen

People can’t be arsed to read a name and respond appropriately. Most of the time it’s just laziness.

DH also has a common English name with the less common spelling (but not a unique spelling). Probably 30% of our wedding cards had the correct spelling of both our names.

I have a very common Scottish first name but I hardly ever get it spelled correctly, too many vowels in it already, people feel the need to fix that for me. But I find it rude in emails when they have my email address and often my auto signature to refer to and they still get it wrong. For repeat offenders, I misspell their name back to them, I email Dan, "Hi Don!" Always works.

Somewhere I've got my name tag from my final exhibition at college, bearing in mind I'd been a student there 2 years and it wasn't a huge course with loads of students, they managed to spell my name wrong. It's funny, but also kind of sad, seeing it stuck up next to my hard work made me feel like they just didn't care.

I know that in the scheme of things, it's not a big deal, but it can feel very disrespectful when they definitely have access to the correct spelling but just haven't made the (minimal) effort to get it right.

I have a very common English name and it's constantly spelt wrong and drives me bananas! If it's someone below or equal to me I passively aggressively spell their name wrong as well 😂 but that's just me.

I made a mistake in someone’s name once and they emailed back to correct me. Since then I have tried very hard not to make a mistake in anyone’s name and look at their signature to see what they call themselves so I can address them as such (so Rebecca in the email address but Becky in the signature, so I put Dear Becky)

My first name gets misspelled all the time. My surname is similar to a common one bar one letter and it gets misspelled all the time ( think Smith and it should be Smithe). It caused no end of hassle at the opticians when they couldn’t find my records and I had to suggest they search under the incorrect name and it was there)!

Mine misspelled doesn’t annoy me too much as I’ve gotten used to it now. However I strive to not to it to anyone else.

I have a Welsh name and get this a lot - e.g. Elerie, Ellerie, Ellery and Elery instead of Eleri.

It's taught me to check names carefully before I email people! My work place is very diverse so we have a lot of people with names like OP's which are spelled slightly differently to the English version, like Luisa. It's not difficult to learn and not difficult to double check if it's Alys S or Alice K from team Y who has emailed you before you respond, for example.

It mainly bothers me when people get it wrong in my email address - if you send an email to Ellerie.Surname instead of Eleri.Surname I won't receive it.

I've had a few snarky 'why haven't you done X work' comments over the years and it's always fun to point out 'you misspelled my email so I didn't receive the request.' People usually make the effort after that!

Annoyingly my maiden name was one that was frequently misspelled too (again, normal spelling but just slightly less common than the other variant). Took on DH's name when we married, and thought it was a nice simple name that no-one could possibly get wrong... hah. So my chance of my entire name actually being right is apparently minimal.

@romdowa

I've a common name and the last letter always gets left out ,even though the shorter version is pronounced differently. it used to bother me but I kind of learned to just let it go. Its beyond my control how people spell my name and to be honest they could call me a lot worse things 😂😂

Sarah/Sara? That would be annoying if it's repeatedly happening

I point it out in a polite email. My name is in the damn email, how can it be mistaken?!

If they continue, I deliberately spell their name wrong. Petty, but I enjoy coming up with ridiculous spellings of their name just to prove my point

I understand. My name ends with an "i", although it can also be spelled with a "y" It particularly annoys me on FB, where every interaction is done with my name RIGHT IN FRONT OF THEM. It feels as if they think I've misspelled my own name.

My name ends in 'anne'. Despite the spelling being right there in the email lots of people put one 'n' and then double the middle letter instead e.g Jooane instead of Joanne. I don't use a nickname or shortening at work so it's pretty easy to copy the spelling.
I make an effort with people's names. At work there are at least two people who use shortened versions of a longer name but spelled differently. I always make sure I check to use the right one. It's not hard.

I have a similar issue. My surname is a female first name, think Kelly for example. So my name (for example) being Sarah Kelly. I get a lot of people who email saying Hi Kelly.. even though emails are signed Sarah and my email address is [email protected]. VERY ANNOYING

No real excuse when the name is written in front of you to check.

I have a few friends called Linsey/Lindsay/Lindsey (80s!!) And always check on their Insta/WhatsApp to make sure I write the correct version on birthday cards etc.