Nordic

Gender:

Do you have a name that is hard to pronounce for people in the country where you live? Are you pronouncing your name in a "local way" so that locals would understand what your name is? I know that many Chinese often get a local name in the West... I know a girl who is Xien Hua, but calls herself Katie in the West.

My first name is a pretty international, Christian name, but Finnish too as it is in the Finnish name calendar, and when I came to Canada, I began to pronounce it in an English/American way. But recently I got sick of "whoring" my name by pronouncing it in a local way. I grew up with people knowing how my name should be pronounced, and I want to pronounce it in a Finnish way, just like Finns always pronounce it. I don't care any more if people say "excuse me"? and I have to repeat it once or twice more. Same thing if I give my full name. Actually even worse

My last name is very Finnish, and it begins with a double vowel, and I ALWAYS have to explain to people that it is correct - two same vowels in the beginning of my name!!

Gosh I miss the time when I was in Finland and it was enough that I said my name just once, and people got it right away...

Do you have similar stories?

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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin

Honey-bunnyyyy...

Nomad

Gender:

LOL Hell yeah I do!

Now, my maiden name wasn't such a bad deal. I thought it was, but it really wasn't. Not a Drill Sergeant or a professor in the world could pronounce it, but all in all, it wasn't horrible.

My married name, while I love it because of the man it came with, is a mess. It's also a Finnish name, but almost looks Spanish, and easily lends itself to a Spanish pronunciation if someone's looking at it that way. It also gets mistaken for Hawaiian a lot, and people will pronounce it a Hawaiian way if that's what they think it is. None are correct, though. It's a Finnish name, and well... even my mother can't say it correctly even though it's been my last name for about 3 1/2 years now.

Now, combine that last name with my first name, Anna, and what you have is WAY too many vowels. There are a total of 6 vowels in my first and last names combined. When I transferred to a different university, the dean of my department complimented me on my English, and asked where I was from. Imagine his surprise when I said Florida. Yeah, he really thought I had to be foreign with this name. That was pretty funny.

What's worse is when I have to order something, and they need my name. Like when I ordered Erin's birthday cake at the commissary. They said, "and what's your name?" I said it kind of quickly, I guess, and it came out like "Annamyala" which they understood to be "Annabella" (do I look Italian to you?!! LOL NOOOO!!) Then they asked me what my last name was. I told them, and they were like "then what's your first name?" We went around like this for a good 5 minutes before they finally separated my first name from my last, and got it right.



You know, when I was a kid, I always said I would marry someone with the last name Murphy, or Ryan, or O'Connor, or something else really easy. But NOOOOO I can't have a simple name!! I have to marry the ONE man I've ever dated with a more impossible name than the one I was born with, and I would have to love him enough to take that name for my own. Go me.

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Sweet

Gender:

Many countries I've been to cannot pronounce my first name, so I was given a few substitutes. Talk about split personality,,not knowing what to answer to, depending on what day of the week or month it was.

The most surprising thing was living in Wisconsin, and having a very common U.S. last name, but being asked "how do you spell it", by Nords, Fins, Swedes, Germans, who have about five different ways of spelling it. I've never been asked that question anywhere else.

xqzmi

Gender:

yes, every part of my name is english/spanish in background. i don't just mean language. the middle name that i use for people i meet off the internet seems to always get to people who are not native english speakers because there is an "e" at end of it--they seem to like to think it is like "ie" or "y". and it does not matter how many times i explain it to some of them...they still refuse to accept it. it is silent. it is not my fault is that type of spelling. it is the same middle name as one of my other cousins and my grandmother or her sister, right now i can't remember---but, i first name is my grandmother's sister's first name, too. even with that name, it is way too difficult for some--like chinese native speakers with an accent or vietnamese (that is what is mostly around here).

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molamann

Gender:

Well my last name is Jung and it's actually pronounced the way it's spelled, just Jung. However I've been called Hung, Hyung, Heeyung, Hyoong, Jong, and the most common, Young since the military only refer to each other by their last name.

China Doll

Gender:

My last name is close to impossible to figure out in the States, since 3 of the 5 letters of my last name are vowels. Most people just know me by my first name. My last is too much to explain to someone who I don't plan on knowing very well. It took like 6 months for my employees to even be able to say it properly. It's not that it's hard to pronounce, but it doesn't look like it sounds.

I wanted to have a last name like Smith or Williams growing up, but now I don't mind it very much. I just always introduce myself by my first name only, kinda like Madonna.

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georgiegrrl

Gender:

My first name is Georgette and though probably not as complex as some folks' names, I get a lot of Georgia and Georgina because Georgette isn't as common. I also get Bridgette a lot.

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"Love is like a friendship on fire" - Bruce Lee

krizta

Gender:

My first name is a common name with an unusual spelling. It's so unusual that I've only found one person in the world with my name! When ever I have a class for the first time or an interview most people don't even attempt to say my name.

Tired_N _Lazy

Gender:

From my first name and last name equals 20 letters. First name been butcher mispronounce since kindergarten thru college. sorry it won't be revealed..

Stopthehate

Gender:

My last name is Spanish and ends in "illo", it gets on my nerves when people pronounce the l's... I know a lot of people just don't know the correct way to pronounce it but... agh, very irritating.