How child's name is pronounced

[OnlyAThought]

Hey all

Just a quick opinion, my LO started school yesterday. When I asked how his day went, the first thing he told was, they are saying my name wrong.

I advised him to correct them, but he feels he can not.

Again, today, at pick up (only part time for the first couple of days as he is in reception), the same sort of conversation and he tells me his name is pronounced incorrectly and stamped his feet said it's not my name.

Should, I ask/tell his teacher, I don't know?

Let me know your thoughts

Oh, there was a Gooey in Dundee at one time!

Unless there is a barrier to verbal communication I would suggest OP simply speak to the teacher

Same here. I don't understand where people even get the "nigh" sound from - the only "i" is at the end 🙄

Define "sensible" because a lot of the kids in my LO's class have names I can't pronounce as I haven't ever heard them before. I've now seen them written down and am still not entirely sure. I don't know if they are "sensible" as they are not names from my culture. But I'm not going to assume they aren't sensible just because I don't know how to pronounce them. Instead I'll educate myself and get it right.

Either that or blinded by ignorance….

That will work with the class teacher, but if there's a note on record then it saves having to have the same discussion with peripatetic teachers and cover teachers. (I guess that it depends on the school set-up - not all primary schools have one teacher teaching all subjects: at least in my area, it's common to have peripatetic teachers of art, drama, music and P.E.)

Yes, the class teacher might remember to inform other staff, but there's nothing wrong with sending a brief, pleasant email to the school office.

Of course you should

Same here. Naomi is fine but Nigh-O-mi is awful.

Fair point

Not if the person pronounces it Nigh-O-Mi it isn't.

They can pronounce it how they like but I don't have to like it.

Don't be ridiculous. There are plenty of ordinary names with more than one pronunciation.

Is it Farley Drexel Hatcher?

I mean plenty of names have pronunciation that doesn’t follow their phonetic spelling.

I’ve met several Naomi’s over the years and they have all pronounced it nigh - oh - me.

I think this is the key.

If it is an accent thing, then you need to explain that to your son and jolly him along.
If it is the "2 ways to pronounce a name and the teacher is using the other one" then I can't understand why you didn't mention it when you dropped him off the 2nd morning.
There are lots of names that can be pronounced in different ways - best to get it the right way before it gets imbedded.

That said, I knew 2 little girls of similar age at one point, both called Maya. One family called their dd 'My-ah' the other called theirs 'May-ah'. I just got a mental block with them in the end, knowing that they were different but not being able to remember which was which.

I had this when my child started nursery age 2.5. The staff just could not get the pronunciation of his name right at all, partly due to their own first languages and unfamiliarity with the name (though it's not an unusual name). I mentioned it at every drop off and pick up for a while, maybe a couple of weeks, and eventually they were all staying it correctly. All you need is a couple of them saying it right and the other teaching staff will hear and pick it up.

I just said 'just to let you know you pronounce it rather than +++' and noone seemed offended. It's important for your child that they say it correctly, and at this young age you need to advocate for them! But I don't think you need to make it a major deal, just regular reminders.

I lived next door to JamesHillierHyphenBrooke. All one word. Never known as James, or anything else.

Including Kirsten!

Indeed.
Equally Cursed and Blessed - Wikipedia

Yes tell the teacher. But be nice about it.
Teachers are leaving in droves. Just do it kindly and respectfully. I'm sure they aren't trying to say it wrong 😕

I'm Scottish. I only have ever heard the pronunciation 'nigh-o-me'
What does everyone else say - nay-o-me?

Surely must have been the same! (We're Scotland) Surely there can't be more than one in the country ?🤣

Surely the Gooey / Guy story is an urban myth though? Unless the OP's daughter is called L-a.

I've been hearing that story for years, from various sources. Pretty certain that it never happened.

My DH and DC have a surname that in the local accent sounds very different to how we say it DH is not from round here and my DPs also came from elsewhere so I didn't pick up that one sound. It is so different to how we say it that on more than one occasion I failed to realise one of our DC was being called in the doctor's! I don't feel like it is his name but people literally can't reproduce the sound. Imagine someone called Kathy being called Kaffy at school. It may sound wrong to Kathy but if Kaffy is the local accent there is IME nothing to be done.