People keep pronouncing DDs name wrong

[Bakersman]

How should I correct them without embarassing myself or them? I keep speaking to her by name and referring to her by name to DS but people continually pronounce it wrong. She is 2 now so it has been going on too long to say 'oh by the way you pronounce it....'
I'm now kicking myself for choosing an unusual name
Thanks for any advice!

Is this really an attention seeking thread where you want as many people as possible to ask you what amazing unusual name you gave your daughter is?

we can't really post without knowing what the name is!!

I think you have two choices really:

1. every time someone pronounces it wrong, don't say "actually, you should pronounce it " but just repeat her name pronounced correctly.

or 2) Ignore it and let them say it how they like.

I had an unusual name as a child and nobody ever pronounced it right, I got used to all sorts of variations and that is one of the reasons that I chose to be known by my other christian name when I got older.

If you have given her an unusual name, that was because you loved the name and people should respect your choice and have the decency to call her by her correct name.

I have a commonly mispronounced name (one of those weird Gaelic ones ) and have spent my entire life correcting people, or just putting up with whatever variation they use.

I think how you deal with it depends on the context - with someone who your DD will be seeing more of, then correct with an apologetic "I know it's really hard to get right" shrug - if it's a random stranger then just tolerate whatever they say. Your DD will get used to it - I did.

people still pronounce my name wrong, despite me telling them, and TBH, I have now got weary of telling people.............I did learn however to go for very 'normal' names for my children for this very reason.

what is the name anyway??

Also - some unusual names get different pronounciations anyway - perfect example is Naomi. My best friend when little was Naomi, pronounced in a particular way (vowels as a diphthong, never separately) which I had to learn quite carefully; but now when I come across a Naomi it is never pronounced quite the way my friend's family did, so although I don't do the diphthong pronounciation, I still seem to always get it a bit wrong.

when i was little lots of people called me by a name that sounds similar to my name, but which is not it.

didn't bother me, as my friends and people who i saw a lot knew my proper name. anyone who didn't was more likely an acquaintance.

though a mum at school calls me by a name that bears no resemblance to mine apart from the fact that they begin with the same letter...and i don't have th heart to correct her

My dd2 is called Elana-Rose and dp's family all call her Lana It annoyed me to begin with but now i just ignore it but pointedly pronounce the E when they are around

But come on Bakersman, what is your dd's name then?

I bet you feel like mrs Bucket from 'keeping up appearances'.

Is it when they read it ?

Squonk I just read your post and wondered how on earth anyone could pronounce your name wrong. Had no idea you have another name!!!

In answer to the OP, I think if you choose an unusual name then really you have to expect people to not necessarily be able to pronounce it. However if you repeatedly tell someone how it is said, and they still get it wrong, they are being a bit lazy IMO.

4andnotout - what a pretty name

just out of interest......is it that you have chosen a name that by most other people is pronounced one way, and YOU have chosen an unusual way of pronouncing it???

is it Welsh?

tell me and I will tell you if you are pronouncing it properly

Just say "we pronounce it Slartlebuckfeatures" with a smile.

(substituting Slartlebuckfeatures with whatever you do say, of course, or else you're setting yourself up for bigger problems...)

One of my university tutors never got the hang of pronouncing my first name (a name with two or three possible pronunciations, although I think that mine is the most common) over the course of three years. It was odd as everyone else, including all his colleagues, pronounced it correctly; I used to think "surely" he must notice?" but no.

I have to say I had to ask someone how to pronounce the name Siobhán. One of my university friends is named Ciara, and the mispronounciation by lecturers drives her mad!

If you used an unusual name then she will have lifetime of explaining how to pronounce it. I don't instantly know how to pronounce every name-if I take a register at school I often have to ask. There is no way around it, so no point in getting upset.

I have a name that people pronounce all different ways. Even if I tell someone how to pronounce it, they usually forget and pronounce it however they want to anyway. At this stage of my life, I answer to anything and don't bother correcting it.

My DD had an unusual name although we shorten it to a name that is easily pronouncable. I correct people if they call her by her whole name and say it wrong.

Sorry - my DD HAS (not had) an unusual name.

Both my dcs have unusual names. They just go with the flow and let people make up their own pronunciation.