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?

I had a colleague email my team leader (and every man and his dog copied in) to advise of a small typo she thought I had made (I had put accept the offer, she thought it should be except ) and she then misspelled my surname, transposing two letters.

I replied “all” with maybe send this to (wrong name) as I am (right name) and left it at that.

I don't think it's an issue solely with 'foreign' names as I have worked with people who have had the 'Ann/Anne, Diana/Diane, Sara/Sarah, Claire/Clair/Clare issue.

However, I do encounter a certain number of people who refuse to learn particular names and those names are often of foreign origin. I've had quite a few people say to me that my name is 'too difficult' so they 'will call me Elery instead'. A cousin whose Welsh name has an English variant, think Alys or Nansi gets a lot of 'oh I'll never learn that so I will spell it Alice instead' or even 'I'll use Nancy as this is England and that's how your parents should have spelled it'.

I've had colleagues with Indian, Irish, Polish names etc. report similar. I have worked with a French Emelie who was upset by people insisting on spelling it as Emily.

Yes, this drives me mad too. The name is actually ON THE EMAIL YOU ARE REPLYING TO!!!

I have it with both my surname and first name (diminutive version).

My surname is a slight variation on a more common name, something like Cunnington instead of Cunningham. People at work get it wrong all the time even after it has repeatedly been pointed out. Most recently when I was in a work E-zine congratulating me for winning a new client. I have worked there for nearly 13 years and am a partner! To add insult to injury the lady in marketing who drafted the text has a very long Indonesian name and she goes ballistic at anyone who spells it wrong. When I politely pointed out her error she just shrugged.

I use a common diminutive. Say my name is Eleanor and I go by Ellie. But people reply to my emails (which are signed off "Kind Regards, Ellie") with "Dear Elly" or even worse "Dear Elle". Shortening it further is even worse and just seems so rude and presumptive. I have another colleague who gets called "Ed" which he hates. One time he pointed it out he got told "Oh, Edward is too formal between colleagues". WTF?

Finally, (rant nearly over) my husband has a common Scottish surname, similar to Laird. It is pronounced exactly as it looks, yet it is so often pronounced totally wrong (Lard, Laid, Lain etc) as well as spelt wrong. We had a good laugh one year when we went to Portugal and a taxi driver collected us from the airport with a correctly spelled sign and then greeted husband by name, also correctly pronounced. But English folk can't seem to manage it.

Yeah it’s irritating. I have a perfectly usual name with a few alternative spellings and frequently get replies back to my emails using the wrong one. Just shows a lack of care.

This happens me a lot (along the lines of Joanne vs Joanna) and it does annoy me. Especially when it's on something like Slack and my name is right there in every reply.

I often get caught out by autocorrect on my phone, when it decides that you couldn't mean Ana in that context. Though sometimes it autocorrects my name to the wrong value if I forget the initial capital as well so that's fun.

I have a name with two spellings, what I think of as the classic one and a more modern variant. I’m a classic but frequently got emailed as the variant by people I worked with every day.

I feel you op ..I have a name where you can change the last letter for an A and it makes a different name(slightly more popular)..I'm constantly called the other name
Same thing...I will write/say my name...they will change the last letter. Its infuriating

I have extra "a"'s and e's changed to a's continually... really winds me up. Its not like i have a complicated name. So yadnbu

I don’t really have a right to be annoyed, but it’s a pet peeve of mine when people miss the ‘a’ off the end of people’s names and turn them into a similar but different name. So Joanna becomes Joanne, Diana becomes Diane etc. I once watched a tv programme where someone referred to ‘Princess Diane’ repeatedly. How could they not know her name was Diana?

Not petty at all. My name has 2 spellings, people think my way is the 'posh' way, it's not, it's the correct way. Really pisses me off when people spell my name the wrong way even though I've told them before.

@elenacampana

People spell my name incorrectly all the time. I really, really don’t care.

Me too! I literally couldn't care less. I am more annoyed by the emails I get apologising for the misspelling that I generally hadn't even registered.

YANBU.

It’s like, I know several Clare/Claire and have on occasion typed the wrong name. I have always emailed back and apologised, because I think it’s rude to get someone's name wrong when you’re sending them an email that has their name in it, or worse, responding to an email that has their name in the email AND the signature.

We all make mistakes, being able to admit it and apologise is a sign of maturity. Or so I tell myself

I have an English name that I have had to shorten
Think Anne instead of Anne Marie

It grates sometimes

My name is very ordinary, it still gets misspelt, with an extra letter. I have never known anyone with my name in real life spell it that way. I have the commonest spelling of my surname too, with that there is one letter that is often left out. No one is immune!

My father had a first name which was almost a surname and a surname which was almost a first name - think Richard Williams. He was forever being called William Richards, drove him mad!

I hate this kind of thing - it's so rude and dismissive not to bother to learn to write (or sometimes pronounce) a colleague's name. Obviously everyone makes mistakes sometimes, but unless the person has dyslexia or memory problems there's no excuse for doing it repeatedly.

YANBU! I have a very common Scottish surname, which starts Mac. A lot of people decide to leave out the "a", which is one way of spelling the name but not mine. Occasionally people make up a different spelling entirely.

My boss has a surname which could also be a woman's first name and sometimes gets emails addressed "Dear Surname". He always replies with eg "Dear Smith" to make the point. I admire his level of pettiness.

Same for my first name which is Scottish. It doesn’t bother me but I do use getting my name wrong as a barometer for people’s general attention to detail, which is actually very useful!

Totally get you. I have an uncommon surname. I understand that people get it wrong when hearing it, but when I see it written incorrectly in an email reply, it does make me cross! It is literally written in front of you!!

YANBU. This happens to me all the time. Its always older men who get my name wrong. it always seems like I'm just a faceless woman to them and they can't be bothered to pay me enough attention to say my name properly. I always note it and out them on my "make the bear minimum effort with this guy going forward" list. It something like my name is Karen and they call me Carol. Or Jeanette and Janet.

I would always point it out. There will be times when autocorrect sabotages things, and is missed, but mostly, people don't try. We have one manager who is really crap with other people's names, yet is very insistent that he's Samuel, not Sam or Sammy, and I don't understand why he can be so definite about that but not do others the same courtesy. Also, we work in an international company, so it's entirely normal to come across names from all sorts of linguistic backgrounds every single day, and if you can't cope with that, you're probably with the wrong employer.

YANBU I have a similar issue - makes me very angry. It’s a basic respect thing.

Oh I remembered that I used to get this with my maiden name too. A perfectly reasonable surname, which regularly got 'corrected' to a different spelling. As if I didn't know my own surname. Even when I spelled it out, people would try to insert extra letters where they thought they should be.

I kept my married name on divorce 😂

YANBU. It's really rude.

I keep getting clients addressing me with the 'e' ending of my name, not the 'a', despite signing communication off with my correct name. It's happened so often recently that I'm beginning to wonder if I've changed my name!