My name is often mispronounced and spelt as Corina. Its a name that I like but its not my name 😄 I get it as they do sound very similar and most people seem to be more familiar with Corina.
I do correct people as I would hate to be mispronouncing someone else's name and would like to be corrected if I was.
My surname is simple.....Hamdy.....but it is more likey to be spelt or prononced as Handy, Hardy or even Hamady 😅
I think I've always presumed your last name is French in origin, Pilar, is that right? In which case I'd pronouce it COH-LEH-NYAW with that nasal French "ny-aw" at the end - that's the nearest I can write it to how it sounds when I say it... I never realised French was so hard to write phonetically!
Originally yes, it’s French and that would be the correct pronunciation. My ancestors moved to Germany to were the pronunciation changed (don’t ask me how they said it lol) and then they emigrated to Mexico were the spelling was hard (as it is in the US) and the pronunciation changed again. In Spanish we have the Ñ so we say CO-LEE-ÑON. In the US a lot of people say it phonetically with the GN. But it has been COLLINS, COLINA, COLIN, COLLINON, COLIÑON, etc etc…. And now I passed the burden to my kids because I didn’t changed my name and they have a compounded last name 🙈 Orozco-Collignon but no middle name so I am not that horrible 🤣
Kareema I'm the same about mispronouncing someone's name... I needed an urgent hair appointment a while back so when my mum cancelled her haircut I asked if I could take it instead. My mum told me the stylist's name was Julie. I asked for Julie when I went in, I called her Julie in the appointment. A short time later I rang to book another appointment for mum and I was told they don't have a Julie but they DID have a Judy? - turns out we'd both been calling her the wrong name the whole time. I was mortified...!! I apologised profusely when I next went in and said that mum had told me she was Julie 😂 (she was too nice to correct me the first time)!
I've always been called Michelle, even when there were five different Michelles in elementary school (we were known by our first name and the first initial of our last name). One friend tried to give me the nickname Shelly in high school, but it didn't stick- mainly because it's my cousin's name and I never answered to it. Although... I rarely answer to my name in public to this day because I think you're talking to someone else. 😂
I didn't like my name growing up (see above), but now I really love it and I really don't like any of the nicknames.
I totally get it Catherine. My name is Carolyn. Despite being spelt and pronounced (ok, slightly) differently, I am still addressed as Caroline on a daily basis. If I correct people, they quite often respond with, “It’s almost the same”. So I’ve taken to calling people by a name that’s similar to theirs (e.g. Tony instead of Toby). It’s fun to watch them hesitate before replying, even though I’m not sure if they realise I’ve done it 🤣!
Oh god - "it's almost the same"?! That would infuriate me!! If I've ever found out I've been saying someone's name a bit wrong I'm mortified and apologise profusely...!
I'd do the same to those people and purposely change their names to something else, I'd have to admit!
Something to ask you as a Carolyn (and this is for Carolines as well): do people ever call you Catherine? I've always found that if someone has not quite remembered my name correctly then they ALWAYS say Caroline instead - it's happened more times than I can remember! Maybe you just get Caroline because they're doing an assumption thing without properly checking what your name really is... I can imagine it's far more irritating for you :(
It infuriates me too! Same, I think those who are frequently called the wrong name are more aware, and therefore more apologetic, when we inadvertently do it to someone else.
Ha ha!
No, I’ve never been called Catherine. That’s odd - I don’t think Catherine and Caroline are enough alike to be confusing. Email addresses are our friend: you get to spell out the name whilst subtly pointing out the correct pronunciation too, “because if it’s spelt Caroline it won’t reach me”.
On the face of it, it’s not the biggest problem ever: I know that, but it would be nice if people took 2 seconds to spot the difference, wouldn’t it.
Ohhhh how relatable this all is!! Lizzie is actually a contraction of my middle name, Elizabeth, which I switched to a few years ago in preference to my first name, Rozanne. Only my parents now call me Rozanne but, all my life people pronounced my name wrong, spelled it wrong, told me I was being silly for insisting my name is Ruh-zanne, not Rose-anne, "because they're the same name, surely!" Aaaaagh!! Roxanne, Roxy, Suzanne... I've been called them all 🤣 So in exasperation I shortened it to Roz when I went to uni. Which I always hated. I am so much happier as Lizzie, my middle name always felt more 'me'. But......... there are a few people who now call me Liz.... I give up 😉🤣 Great to see you back on here, Catherine x
Ahhhh you're a middle name person Lizzie - that always fascinates me! My very first boyfriend and his twin brother were both known by their middle names (meaning they'd NEVER been called their first names, by anyone), and I find it happens more and more, especially if someone doesn't like or get on with their first name for various reasons. Funny how you can feel more like yourself with a different name, like you said.
I had a similar sort of thing with my maiden name - people pronounced it wrong all the time, but it was also mispronounced in a horrible way so it sounded like a "ewwww" sort of name. I therefore kept my first married name rather than reverting to my maiden name when first husband and I split up, but I decided that sticking with a name that people wouldn't mispronounce was better than my maiden name getting butchered.
Weirdly - Summers isn't even my husband's birth surname, he legally changed his surname when he moved down to Devon with me. If he hadn't I would have had yet another ewwwww surname, lol!!
I went the other way - born Theresa Julietti, I've shortened my first name,spelt it differently and retained my ex husband's surname. When I was still using my given names,I was sick to death of having to explain - no,I'm not Catholic,no I'm not Italian,actually the surname is Corsican. Fortunately for me,nobody has a ready made comment about Corsica!
Good for you for sticking with whichever name (first name OR surname) you prefer, Tresi! And that's very interesting about your birth name being Corsican, I often wonder where my maiden name is from as it's very unusual (I don't ever mention it online so I can't be "tracked down" as it were... we had wondered if it's German. I really should look into it!)
I mentioned to Lizzie, above, that I kept my married name when I split from my first husband - people pronounced my maiden name wrong all the time and I cringed at the way they always said it. I thought sticking with the first husband's name that wouldn't be mispronounced was better than my maiden name getting butchered. Thankfully I was only too pleased I could easily change it to something brand new when my current husband and I got married...!
I used to correct people every time. My name is Pilar, my mom’s name is Pilar and we are Mexican. So everyone called me Pilarcita growing up. My mom’s friends still do!!! So I corrected people my age or strangers to PILAR.
The shorter version is Pili. After 20 something yrs of living, I gave up and gave people the liberty of choice. I present myself as Pilar. My friends call me Pili, Shu, Pi, Pills, Mufasa, Pilishu… their kids call me by the nickname their parents call me. My family calls me Pilarcita, Pili, Pilita. My late brother called me Kiri. My husband has a new nickname for me every couple of years. But my favorite name is Mami, how my kids call me.
I do call people by their chosen name, except some high school friends that ara stuck with their nickname 🙈
But I can see how it would get frustrating having to constantly correct people, no wonder you kinda gave up in the end! I also love that your favourite name is what your kids call you... that's lovely <3
People call me Ann - forgoing the last a of my name. My dad still call me AG (the intial of my maiden name) and my husband call me smoosh! I have to be firm and tell people to call me AN-NA, not Anne, Ann, not AG or Smoosh (those that nickname is kinda cute), and anything else people want to call me.
This whole Kate business been so grabby lately. I been staying away from it but please how diffecult can it be to call someone by their name.
So glad you're firm about correcting people, Anna - I worked with a Kate once and she always said that when people called her Katie she just didn't respond, as to her it sounded like someone else... I'm sure that's the same for Kate and Katies like it is with me being called Cathy, that's like a whole other person - not me!
And thank you, trying to find my writing groove once again and get back to it regularly x
Hi Catherine, lovely to see you posting in here.
My name is often mispronounced and spelt as Corina. Its a name that I like but its not my name 😄 I get it as they do sound very similar and most people seem to be more familiar with Corina.
I do correct people as I would hate to be mispronouncing someone else's name and would like to be corrected if I was.
My surname is simple.....Hamdy.....but it is more likey to be spelt or prononced as Handy, Hardy or even Hamady 😅
Xx
Ugh don’t start me with last names. NO ONE EVER spells mine correctly, let alone pronounce it 🤣
I think I've always presumed your last name is French in origin, Pilar, is that right? In which case I'd pronouce it COH-LEH-NYAW with that nasal French "ny-aw" at the end - that's the nearest I can write it to how it sounds when I say it... I never realised French was so hard to write phonetically!
Originally yes, it’s French and that would be the correct pronunciation. My ancestors moved to Germany to were the pronunciation changed (don’t ask me how they said it lol) and then they emigrated to Mexico were the spelling was hard (as it is in the US) and the pronunciation changed again. In Spanish we have the Ñ so we say CO-LEE-ÑON. In the US a lot of people say it phonetically with the GN. But it has been COLLINS, COLINA, COLIN, COLLINON, COLIÑON, etc etc…. And now I passed the burden to my kids because I didn’t changed my name and they have a compounded last name 🙈 Orozco-Collignon but no middle name so I am not that horrible 🤣
Kareema I'm the same about mispronouncing someone's name... I needed an urgent hair appointment a while back so when my mum cancelled her haircut I asked if I could take it instead. My mum told me the stylist's name was Julie. I asked for Julie when I went in, I called her Julie in the appointment. A short time later I rang to book another appointment for mum and I was told they don't have a Julie but they DID have a Judy? - turns out we'd both been calling her the wrong name the whole time. I was mortified...!! I apologised profusely when I next went in and said that mum had told me she was Julie 😂 (she was too nice to correct me the first time)!
I've always been called Michelle, even when there were five different Michelles in elementary school (we were known by our first name and the first initial of our last name). One friend tried to give me the nickname Shelly in high school, but it didn't stick- mainly because it's my cousin's name and I never answered to it. Although... I rarely answer to my name in public to this day because I think you're talking to someone else. 😂
I didn't like my name growing up (see above), but now I really love it and I really don't like any of the nicknames.
Your situation sounds exactly like mine Michelle! And yes, I find having your name shortened is like a whole different person.
Actually - even when I see "Katherine" instead of "Catherine" I don't think it has anything to do with me...!! ;)
I totally get it Catherine. My name is Carolyn. Despite being spelt and pronounced (ok, slightly) differently, I am still addressed as Caroline on a daily basis. If I correct people, they quite often respond with, “It’s almost the same”. So I’ve taken to calling people by a name that’s similar to theirs (e.g. Tony instead of Toby). It’s fun to watch them hesitate before replying, even though I’m not sure if they realise I’ve done it 🤣!
Oh god - "it's almost the same"?! That would infuriate me!! If I've ever found out I've been saying someone's name a bit wrong I'm mortified and apologise profusely...!
I'd do the same to those people and purposely change their names to something else, I'd have to admit!
Something to ask you as a Carolyn (and this is for Carolines as well): do people ever call you Catherine? I've always found that if someone has not quite remembered my name correctly then they ALWAYS say Caroline instead - it's happened more times than I can remember! Maybe you just get Caroline because they're doing an assumption thing without properly checking what your name really is... I can imagine it's far more irritating for you :(
It infuriates me too! Same, I think those who are frequently called the wrong name are more aware, and therefore more apologetic, when we inadvertently do it to someone else.
Ha ha!
No, I’ve never been called Catherine. That’s odd - I don’t think Catherine and Caroline are enough alike to be confusing. Email addresses are our friend: you get to spell out the name whilst subtly pointing out the correct pronunciation too, “because if it’s spelt Caroline it won’t reach me”.
On the face of it, it’s not the biggest problem ever: I know that, but it would be nice if people took 2 seconds to spot the difference, wouldn’t it.
Ohhhh how relatable this all is!! Lizzie is actually a contraction of my middle name, Elizabeth, which I switched to a few years ago in preference to my first name, Rozanne. Only my parents now call me Rozanne but, all my life people pronounced my name wrong, spelled it wrong, told me I was being silly for insisting my name is Ruh-zanne, not Rose-anne, "because they're the same name, surely!" Aaaaagh!! Roxanne, Roxy, Suzanne... I've been called them all 🤣 So in exasperation I shortened it to Roz when I went to uni. Which I always hated. I am so much happier as Lizzie, my middle name always felt more 'me'. But......... there are a few people who now call me Liz.... I give up 😉🤣 Great to see you back on here, Catherine x
Ahhhh you're a middle name person Lizzie - that always fascinates me! My very first boyfriend and his twin brother were both known by their middle names (meaning they'd NEVER been called their first names, by anyone), and I find it happens more and more, especially if someone doesn't like or get on with their first name for various reasons. Funny how you can feel more like yourself with a different name, like you said.
I had a similar sort of thing with my maiden name - people pronounced it wrong all the time, but it was also mispronounced in a horrible way so it sounded like a "ewwww" sort of name. I therefore kept my first married name rather than reverting to my maiden name when first husband and I split up, but I decided that sticking with a name that people wouldn't mispronounce was better than my maiden name getting butchered.
Weirdly - Summers isn't even my husband's birth surname, he legally changed his surname when he moved down to Devon with me. If he hadn't I would have had yet another ewwwww surname, lol!!
I went the other way - born Theresa Julietti, I've shortened my first name,spelt it differently and retained my ex husband's surname. When I was still using my given names,I was sick to death of having to explain - no,I'm not Catholic,no I'm not Italian,actually the surname is Corsican. Fortunately for me,nobody has a ready made comment about Corsica!
Good for you for sticking with whichever name (first name OR surname) you prefer, Tresi! And that's very interesting about your birth name being Corsican, I often wonder where my maiden name is from as it's very unusual (I don't ever mention it online so I can't be "tracked down" as it were... we had wondered if it's German. I really should look into it!)
I mentioned to Lizzie, above, that I kept my married name when I split from my first husband - people pronounced my maiden name wrong all the time and I cringed at the way they always said it. I thought sticking with the first husband's name that wouldn't be mispronounced was better than my maiden name getting butchered. Thankfully I was only too pleased I could easily change it to something brand new when my current husband and I got married...!
I used to correct people every time. My name is Pilar, my mom’s name is Pilar and we are Mexican. So everyone called me Pilarcita growing up. My mom’s friends still do!!! So I corrected people my age or strangers to PILAR.
The shorter version is Pili. After 20 something yrs of living, I gave up and gave people the liberty of choice. I present myself as Pilar. My friends call me Pili, Shu, Pi, Pills, Mufasa, Pilishu… their kids call me by the nickname their parents call me. My family calls me Pilarcita, Pili, Pilita. My late brother called me Kiri. My husband has a new nickname for me every couple of years. But my favorite name is Mami, how my kids call me.
I do call people by their chosen name, except some high school friends that ara stuck with their nickname 🙈
Oh wow Pilar so many names!!! Hehe!
But I can see how it would get frustrating having to constantly correct people, no wonder you kinda gave up in the end! I also love that your favourite name is what your kids call you... that's lovely <3
People call me Ann - forgoing the last a of my name. My dad still call me AG (the intial of my maiden name) and my husband call me smoosh! I have to be firm and tell people to call me AN-NA, not Anne, Ann, not AG or Smoosh (those that nickname is kinda cute), and anything else people want to call me.
This whole Kate business been so grabby lately. I been staying away from it but please how diffecult can it be to call someone by their name.
PS: it good to see you on here. xx
So glad you're firm about correcting people, Anna - I worked with a Kate once and she always said that when people called her Katie she just didn't respond, as to her it sounded like someone else... I'm sure that's the same for Kate and Katies like it is with me being called Cathy, that's like a whole other person - not me!
And thank you, trying to find my writing groove once again and get back to it regularly x