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AIBU

Spell my name right!

(140 Posts)
watermeadow Sun 16-Feb-20 13:37:27

In my generation you were probably named either Susan or Ann (or Anne) Bad enough to be one of five in the same class with the same name but every time I give my name I have to spell it.
I blame my mother and just put up with it but I get irritable when, after knowing or communicating with someone for some time, they keep using the other spelling.
It seems rude to point it out but they are rude to not use the right spelling of my very common name. I want to say No, there’s no E, it is not spelled any old way at random. Each of us is either Ann or Anne, roughly half and half so it’s not odd to have the E or to not have the E.

Teacheranne Mon 17-Feb-20 11:04:58

I am not bothered how people spell my name - Anne, although I often know when I get a cold call from a foreign call centre as some pronounce the "e" so I get called Annie!

I have always had to spell my surname, Truswell without a "t" and nor with two "s" and Parfitt with an "f for Freddy" and double t" . Some of the names I get called or see on letters are Parsnip, Parsipp, Parsitt, Parrot! I just find it funny.

Moggycuddler Mon 17-Feb-20 11:05:20

I have to admit that one of my neighbours who has lived in the street for many years is named Ann or Anne and every time I write out a Christmas card to her I can never remember if her name is with or without an E! Always have to wait for her to give us one first to check it. Bad, I know, and I MUST make a note next time. Yet I know how annoying it is when people get, or spell, your name wrong. My name is Alma and many times, specially when I was young and such names were more common, people would call me Thelma instead. But all my life I have had my name wrongly spelt Elma, Elmer, Olma, Almar and on one occasion Alamo, believe it or not.

Mimibunz Mon 17-Feb-20 11:06:00

My name can be spelled 5 different ways, until you get to France and add the way they spell it. Then there’s the nicknames.

Dottynan Mon 17-Feb-20 11:07:08

My friend's daughter is named Louise and since she first met her mother in law she has always written it as Lousie. No one has the courage to tell her

Traceyac Mon 17-Feb-20 11:08:03

Yep I'm Tracey not tracy or tracie always have to spell it

Mirren Mon 17-Feb-20 11:13:10

The one person who always got my name wrong was my MIL . This always made me cross because I'm Anne and so was her daughter.
She got that bit right, of course , but Anne is actually my middle name .
I'm Elizabeth Anne on my birth certificate.
MIL would send me letter addressed to A.E. all my life . No matter how often I told her !
She didn't like me and i think this was deliberate . One way she knew she could make me a bit cross ?

ecci53 Mon 17-Feb-20 11:30:25

As a retired teacher, I've come across so many name variations and it's often impossible to get it right. One year, I had 5 Kierons in my class, all spelled differently and I never managed to match the correct spelling to the correct child.

grandtanteJE65 Mon 17-Feb-20 11:34:25

No, I don't think you are being unreasonable.

To me it is very rude to spell someone's name wrongly.

It is tantamount to saying: "you mean so little to me that I cannot be bothered to remember your name properly."

Annaram1 Mon 17-Feb-20 11:35:09

My late husband was Indian and of course virtually nobody could spell our surname. At work once I made a note of all the correspondence that came in addressed to me. In one month there were 53 variations.

NotSpaghetti Mon 17-Feb-20 11:35:44

I don’t actually mind how individuals spell my name but do find it really annoying that companies often spell it incorrectly. These usually say something to imply that they are grateful for my contact with them, appreciate my interest in them or advise me to rest assured they are focused on me!

Mmmn.

Tanjamaltija Mon 17-Feb-20 11:50:51

My name can be spelled three ways - I, y, or my way, j. So people say "it's the same thing" when they spell it badly, and I say it's not, because had it been, I would not be mentioning it. Also, it is some kind of measure of intimacy, people think, to use only first syllables of names. I point out that this must be okayed by the person, the first time it is done... otherwise, the full name is to be used. And then, of course there are those who make up what they think are pet names by adding suffixes to names... - ette, ella, ina, ona…

nanamac77 Mon 17-Feb-20 11:56:00

Until I got married I had a surname which, when told to anyone, would quite legitimately be taken as a quite common surname. However, where one would expect there to be an 'a' it had an 'i'. Have googled it quite a lot, but haven't ever found anyone else with the same surname apart from people in my family.
So when asked for my surname I just got used to saying it and then automatically spelling it with an emphasis on the 'i'. Even then some people would misspell it, but it didn't bother me. There are far more important misunderstandings to worry about.
Ironically my married ( now divorced!) name begins with Mac so I still have to spell it out as there's a 50;50 chance that people will spell it as Mc.
If that was all I had to worry about I would thank my lucky stars!

Saggi Mon 17-Feb-20 11:57:25

Three Ann/Anne’s in our family .... me ...my daughter ...my sis-in-law .... I’m Ann...my daughter is Ann( better known as Annie.... and my sis-in-law is Anne. ...oh and my best friend is Anne!! Confusing on my contacts list ...many times I’ve sent wrong text to wrong person! Now know to be VERY careful before I press ‘send’

3nanny6 Mon 17-Feb-20 12:04:04

One of my daughters has an easy enough name to spell but the ending of her name is a little different. She is now a grown woman and still people pronounce her name with the other spelling at the end. I cannot understand why they do this, even several of my older aunts would call her by the other spelling of the name.

Oh well I gave her the name and still call her by it and I am about one in a million that does.

RustyBear Mon 17-Feb-20 12:17:55

The mum of one of my daughter's friends had a first name that could be spelt with or without an 'e' - and married a man whose surname sounded the same as her first name, but spelt a third way! Personally I think I would have kept my maiden name in that situation!

EMMF1948 Mon 17-Feb-20 12:26:49

The only time it irks me is when people I have known for years, spell it the usual way.

We once had a good friend to whom we gave birthday, Christmas cards, all with his first name. It was only when he moved away and we had to post them that we realised that neither of us was certain of the spelling of his surname, x or ck?

Foxyferret Mon 17-Feb-20 12:29:09

My surname is a common name but spelt with two ss not the usual s. When I start to spell it for people, they roll their eyes and say “I know how to spell that” then invariably go on to spell it wrong. Grrr

Bluebird64 Mon 17-Feb-20 12:35:56

My name is Fiona which was very unusual outside Scotland when I was born (I'm from a Scottish family). It's not commonplace today but much more familiar, and I'm gobsmacked at how often I've been asked to spell it! And my surname too, which is quite easy. Maybe this just reflectsna general downturn in spelling ability, and should not be taken personally!

sarahellenwhitney Mon 17-Feb-20 12:37:48

My mother named me after her favourite flower and being a flower grown world wide , not at all difficult to spell or pronounce, there's always someone who has to say ' 'how unusual /never heard of that/ how do you spell it.?

Quizzer Mon 17-Feb-20 12:43:36

I have a very unusual name and always have to spell it. Even worse, when people read my name, more than half mispronounce it. I blame my parents! What really annoys me is when someone repeatedly mispronounces it - that is just rude.

Tillybelle Mon 17-Feb-20 13:23:31

I completely agree that people should make the effort to spell names correctly. Like many others, my name has two alternatives. I have even been told that mine is the wrong spelling "for a girl". My surname also is well-known but the famous version is spelled differently to mine. I find the spelling of my names quickly tells me what kind of person I am dealing with, whether they be courteous and considerate or rude and arrogant.

Rosina Mon 17-Feb-20 13:29:55

I have a five letter surname, not particularly common but neither is it unusual, and very definitely English in origin. I have to spell it out every single time it seems, otherwise some hilarious varients can result!

GrannyBlossom Mon 17-Feb-20 13:30:38

My name can be spelt in 3 ways. I accept any variation. It is not reasonable to expect people who don’t write your name often to remember. I can’t see why this would be important to anyone.

Silverlady333 Mon 17-Feb-20 13:35:11

Mirren I am from the NE too and my late sister was a Lynn.
As for my own name it is rarely pronounced or written correctly sometimes it is even written as two names! People insist on putting a G int he middle of my surname! I am soon to be remarried and there are different ways of spelling my soon to be surname. They sound the same but they are very different so that is going to be fun too!

grandMattie Mon 17-Feb-20 13:38:41

I’ve got a French first name which is invariably misspelled and mispronounced and unusual British surname ditto. If asked I correct people, but always check that they a correctly written on forms etc. Very tiresome