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Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Living with a unique name that is mispronounced.

181 replies

AliPG · 11/06/2025 10:25

I've spent my whole life recorrecting people who mispronounce my name. Its 3 letters long but the 1st letter is often said wrong. The spelling makes it appear a certain way which i get why it would be pronounced wrong. At school it wasn't too bad apart from one teacher who got my name wrong every art lesson. This really annoyed me after a while and even annoyed the rest of the class. Called the register every week but stumbled every time. No other teacher did that. Same teacher pronounced my polish friends surname wrong everytime. I would rather however have a forename that can be pronounced easier.

I dread starting a new employer or hearing my name read out in public settings. When people actually get my name right without asking I'm almost surprised.

At my last job my name was pronounced correctly at interview and throughout my role, bar a couple of people I had to correct. I have now started a new job a month ago and from the get go my name has been pronounced wrong. I corrected interviewer who is my line manager 3 times at interview . She gets it right now thankfully. What I don't get is why on meetings when people hear my name they then still say it wrong. Are they not listening? I'm guessing they read it as it says which I totally get but it is still annoying. Should i just pipe up and say to everyone my name is pronounced like this?

For those who experience this please let me know how you feel and how you deal with this particularly at work. Sometimes it doesn't bother me other times it just grates me when I have told people what it is. I just had to message someone privately who introduced me at a large meeting but said my name wrong. Thing was he has sat on team meetings over the last month and heard my name being said a few times now. He did apologise and ask how to pronounce it which is fair enough. But he had no need to introduce me as all new starters had already been introduced in the 1st month which just annoyed me more and neither is he a manager. My manager said we have already introduced new starters.

Some people don't correct people but I don't see why I should be called the wrong name my whole life. When people ask me how to pronounce it it makes me feel valued and they acknowledge they could get it wrong. When people just keep ignoring it annoys me. It's 3 letters . When people ask if they can call me something totally different I find it ignorant and offensive. I know someone called Joanna and often people call her Joanne. It annoys her and her name is much more known.

I don't know if changing the spelling of my name will help or not for eg work. I'm halfway through life now.

Sorry just having a rant. Will probably feel better tomorrow but for some reason I feel upset today as it is embarrassing for both me and the person saying it wrong. Cant even concentrate on the meeting. It's tiring!!

OP posts:
SlipShodSue · 11/06/2025 23:43

I love having a name people can’t easily pronounce. It’s a pretty name that has too many vowels in. People often comment on my name and ask how to say it and how to spell it. It’s an easy conversation starter and I like telling people its origin. I don’t understand why people care if someone says there name wrong. It doesn’t matter. Unless someone is being mean to me what difference does it make if they don’t know how to say my name. There are plenty of things in the world to get angry about but mispronouncing my name is not one of them.

marshmallowpuff · 11/06/2025 23:46

I have one of those very well known and ubiquitous names of the 70s/80s (think Jane, Helen, Sarah, Claire, Lisa etc.), and some people still mispronounce it (or spell it wrong, or both). Obviously it’s less often than yours. @AliPG OP; but I genuinely think some people have a kind of brain disconnect/glitch between sound and spelling, and just aren’t going to say it correctly whatever you do!

AliPG · 12/06/2025 09:25

Suflan · 11/06/2025 23:16

Every Sara that I know, pronounce their name the same as Sarah.

Someone I used to work with was called Sara and was pronounced Zara. Now at new place Sara is pronounced Sarah!

OP posts:
banivani · 12/06/2025 17:32

SlipShodSue · 11/06/2025 23:43

I love having a name people can’t easily pronounce. It’s a pretty name that has too many vowels in. People often comment on my name and ask how to say it and how to spell it. It’s an easy conversation starter and I like telling people its origin. I don’t understand why people care if someone says there name wrong. It doesn’t matter. Unless someone is being mean to me what difference does it make if they don’t know how to say my name. There are plenty of things in the world to get angry about but mispronouncing my name is not one of them.

I completely agree with this. It's been fun to have an obvious conversation starter, and even if people don't remember my name, they remember me and feel comfortable saying "sorry, I don't remember your name". It also, frankly, gives me a great excuse when I mispronounce or forget names. ;)

oviraptor21 · 15/06/2025 00:17

TempestTost · 11/06/2025 23:41

Me too, it would not occur to me to think they might be differernt. I'm not in the UK, so maybe that is why.

Sara, in my part of the UK at least, 'usually' rhymes with Cara, Lara, Tara, Zara.
Trying to remember the two new Saras I know are pronounced Sarah is a nightmare when all the previous ones have been Sara.

Itiswhysofew · 15/06/2025 14:53

oviraptor21 · 15/06/2025 00:17

Sara, in my part of the UK at least, 'usually' rhymes with Cara, Lara, Tara, Zara.
Trying to remember the two new Saras I know are pronounced Sarah is a nightmare when all the previous ones have been Sara.

Me too. Growing up Sara was always pronounced as in Zara, etc. That's what this spelling indicated. And Sarah was always pronounced as in fairer.

Times change, I suppose.

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