Names and some crazy spellings

[21C]

I'm a teacher so I get to see my share of different ways of seeing names spelled. There's Ashly, Ashley, Ashlee, Ashleigh and Ashlea just to name a few. I'm quite happy for parents to add a bit of variety to names to make them stand out so long as they make sense.

The new school year just started here and I'm going through my class lists, calling out names and apologizing if I don't pronounce Daskalovski right on the first go. I come to a girl with the name Ciara and, since I have a daughter with a similar spelling in Kiara, I pronounce it 'Kee-ara' like my daughter. She corrects me and tells me it's pronounced 'Kirra'. Now I've seen variations on Kirra with Keira and Kyra and they sort of make sense but I'm scratching my head with this one.

The same goes with a girl who has the name Danelle. I go ahead and call her 'Dan-ell' and she says it is pronounced 'Dan-yell'. Again I'm thinking WTF! There are girls with the spelling Danielle who pronounce it 'Dan-yell' or 'Danny-ell' but why draw a long bow by spelling it as Danelle?

Now in both cases, I'm pretty sure the parents were too dumb, based on the intelligence of the kids, to realize their mistakes but surely someone in their families would have ( should have? ) told them.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Still haven't heard/seen one any better than the twins that author Dan Jenkins dreamed up for one of his books: Orangelo & Limonjelo

(prounounced Ah-RAN-geh-low and Leh-MON-geh-low. )

[SackAttack]

The new school year just started here and I'm going through my class lists, calling out names and apologizing if I don't pronounce Daskalovski right on the first go. I come to a girl with the name Ciara and, since I have a daughter with a similar spelling in Kiara, I pronounce it 'Kee-ara' like my daughter. She corrects me and tells me it's pronounced 'Kirra'. Now I've seen variations on Kirra with Keira and Kyra and they sort of make sense but I'm scratching my head with this one.

Karma. :)

[Vinatieri for Prez]

I'm just surprised that you didn't say "sierra" because I don't know how you get a hard c with that spelling.

[cthomer5000]

time to rewrite english with ironclad pronunciation laws.

[stevew]

Man, my wife and I would always play "pronounce the name" every year when she got her new students. A Kenyon pronounced Key-on, a Pichilla pronounced Pi-shell, a Shartabus pronounced shawn-te-a-boose, and the list goes on. And of course, the inevitiable attitude when you don't pronounce the fucked up english name correctly. Ironclad grammar pronounciation rules would be a godsend.

[gottimd]

How do you think D'Brickashaw felt all throughout school?

[Lorena]

The new school year just started here and I'm going through my class lists, calling out names and apologizing if I don't pronounce Daskalovski right on the first go. I come to a girl with the name Ciara and, since I have a daughter with a similar spelling in Kiara, I pronounce it 'Kee-ara' like my daughter. She corrects me and tells me it's pronounced 'Kirra'. Now I've seen variations on Kirra with Keira and Kyra and they sort of make sense but I'm scratching my head with this one.

The singer spells it the same way and it's pronounced See-ara.

Recently I heard Chavez pronounced shah-vÉz but us Mexicans have always pronounced it chah-vez.

http://www.intercot.com/discussion/images/smilies/shrug.gif

[KevinNU7]

Here is my son's name...

Coulter

Good luck :)

[gottimd]

Here is my son's name...

Coulter

Good luck :)

Is it pronounced Brian?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Here is my son's name...
Coulter
Good luck :)

Call-der ?

[KevinNU7]

Is it pronounced Brian?
:D

[KevinNU7]

Call-der ?
That may be the most unusual one I have heard so far.

[Logan]

It's gotta be "cool-yay."

[KevinNU7]

I thought this would get a big response from this board.

Anyways it is Cole-ter, or another way to pronounce it that essentially sounds the same is Colt-er. Most people either call him Cole or Colt.

[Pumpy Tudors]

My wife is sick and tired of people calling her Kevin.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I thought this would get a big response from this board. Anyways it is Cole-ter, or another way to pronounce it that essentially sounds the same is Colt-er. Most people either call him Cole or Colt.

Well crap, that's just the obvious pronunciation, made famous by the iconic conservative. I was trying to come up with something off the wall, hence my oddball guess.

[KevinNU7]

Well crap, that's just the obvious pronunciation, made famous by the iconic conservative. I was trying to come up with something off the wall, hence my oddball guess.
iconic conservative? It's my wife's maden name. **scrambles over to google**

[KevinNU7]

Ann Coutler. I'm an idiot

[Telle]

I had a coworker named Megnon, pronounced "Meag-en".

[Passacaglia]

It's gotta be "cool-yay."

Logan wins the thread.

[Icy]

I can beat you all, try to pronounce my second surname:
Yturriagagoitia

I had big troubles in school as it's so hard to pronounce even for Spanish speakers, and still have them as my full name plus two surnames don't fit in my credit card or most of the forms to fill like taxes etc.

Note: in Spain everybody has a Name and two surnames, father's and mother's, as women don't take the husband's surname when they get married.

Example: if the husband name is Name SurnameA SurnameB and the wife is Name SurnameC SurnameD, the son's full name will be Name SurnameA Surname C.

[lordscarlet]

There's a chapter in Freakonomics that talks all about names. I'm at work, so I don't have it with me to look any of the info up.

[21C]

I'm just surprised that you didn't say "sierra" because I don't know how you get a hard c with that spelling.
I was mainly going off the alternative spelling I'd seen for Kiara which is the Italian version spelled Chiara.
The singer spells it the same way and it's pronounced See-ara.
I'm vaguely away of the singer's existence so she wasn't exactly the first thing I thought of.

On a side note. Before Kiara's birth, we were having a hard time coming up with a name so we asked our older daughter, who was 2 1/2, for a suggestion for a girl's name, not expecting anything great. She said "Kiara" and both of us looked at each other and thought that was a pretty good name. We followed up with a suggestion for a boy's name and my daughter said "Shooky-mooky". We're glad we had a girl . . .

[NoMyths]

Ann Coutler. I'm an idiot

Worse...she has the same name as your son, and you just misspelled it. ;)

[Pumpy Tudors]

"Shooky-mooky" was my nickname in college.

[MJ4H]

I get the occassional weird spelling/pronounciation name issues as well, also being a teacher. One of my clarinet players is named "Melanie." Looks easy, right? Try this: it is pronounced "muh LANE ee" (as in rhyming with 'the brainy'). I still haven't figured that one out.

When I was in school I knew a kid named Jerome. It was pronounced "Jeremy." I still laugh at that one from time to time.

[Passacaglia]

My name is Aaron, and I'm a guy. But when I go to restaurants, I they write my name as "Erin" at least 30% of the time. Drives me bonkers.

[Pumpy Tudors]

OK, I'm actually serious about this one:

For those who don't remember my "Face the Board" answers, my name is Cyril. Today at work, I called one of our vendors and left a message on their voicemail with my name and telephone number. When the lady from the other company called me back, she spoke with me for a few minutes and then said, "What did you say your name was again? Thor?"

[Passacaglia]

Did you at least tell her that was your nickname in college?

[lordscarlet]

OK, I'm actually serious about this one:

For those who don't remember my "Face the Board" answers, my name is Cyril. Today at work, I called one of our vendors and left a message on their voicemail with my name and telephone number. When the lady from the other company called me back, she spoke with me for a few minutes and then said, "What did you say your name was again? Thor?"

Sweet.

I suppose it's "see-ril"? Not sure if that's a proper phonetic method of spelling it, but rhyming with... umm.. nothing? :)

[Pumpy Tudors]

Did you at least tell her that was your nickname in college?
Would you believe that that didn't even occur to me? I'm slipping.

Sweet.

I suppose it's "see-ril"? Not sure if that's a proper phonetic method of spelling it, but rhyming with... umm.. nothing? :)
That's about as close as you can get if you're trying to type it. It's either that or you can take the name "Sybil" and substitute the "b" with an "r" to get it.

Ain't nobody ever called me Thor before today, but I have been called Zorro a couple of times.

[JonInMiddleGA]

That's about as close as you can get if you're trying to type it. It's either that or you can take the name "Sybil" and substitute the "b" with an "r" to get it.

I'm disappointed in you PT.

I would have expected you to go with "Cyril, as in virile"

[Pumpy Tudors]

I'm disappointed in you PT.

I would have expected you to go with "Cyril, as in virile"
Yikes. I am slipping.

[KevinNU7]

Worse...she has the same name as your son, and you just misspelled it. ;)
I actually copied it from my first google search :D Still an idiot though

[lordscarlet]

I'm disappointed in you PT.

I would have expected you to go with "Cyril, as in virile"

I would imagine some people pronounce it "veer-ile".

[Toddzilla]

My all-time favorite is Shawon :)

[Groundhog]

My name is Angus. Last week I phoned up and ordered some Thai take away, and when I picked it up it had my name written on the docket. Minus the g.

At least, I hope that's what it was, rather than an ingredient list.

[21C]

I think it was their pet name for you.

[kcchief19]

The same goes with a girl who has the name Danelle. I go ahead and call her 'Dan-ell' and she says it is pronounced 'Dan-yell'. Again I'm thinking WTF! There are girls with the spelling Danielle who pronounce it 'Dan-yell' or 'Danny-ell' but why draw a long bow by spelling it as Danelle?

I've known two people with the name Danelle pronounced 'Dan-yell,' so that doesn't surprise me.

Not really germane to the conversation, but this is my opportunity to whip out my favorite real name of all time I have ever come across. Back when I worked retail in college, a woman was making a purchase by check and of course it had both her name and her husband's name. His name -- and I'm not making this up -- Richard Wacker.

I bent down behind the counter pretending to get her a shopping bag so she wouldn't see me laughing.

[21C]

The local government representative here has the name Richard Face - and Richard is his middle name. For all the jokes and chuckles that it gets, it sure did get him elected.

[Raiders Army]

The thing about weird spellings of names is that those people will never be able to walk into a store and buy a pencil that says their name on it.

[korme]

The singer spells it the same way and it's pronounced See-ara.

Recently I heard Chavez pronounced shah-vÉz but us Mexicans have always pronounced it chah-vez.

http://www.intercot.com/discussion/images/smilies/shrug.gif

Jon Miller always pronounces Eric Chavez as sha-vez.. always thought it was pronounced as it looked.

[cuervo72]

The thing about weird spellings of names is that those people will never be able to walk into a store and buy a pencil that says their name on it.

My son's name is Cole - pretty straightforward - and we still have this problem (even though we will see other names in stock that seem to be less popular).

[Pyser]

My name is Aaron, and I'm a guy. But when I go to restaurants, I they write my name as "Erin" at least 30% of the time. Drives me bonkers.

thats my name too.

i also get Harry, Alan, and Eric along with Erin.

[korme]

I get the occassional weird spelling/pronounciation name issues as well, also being a teacher. One of my clarinet players is named "Melanie." Looks easy, right? Try this: it is pronounced "muh LANE ee" (as in rhyming with 'the brainy'). I still haven't figured that one out.

When I was in school I knew a kid named Jerome. It was pronounced "Jeremy." I still laugh at that one from time to time.

MLB pitcher Jerome Williams is the same way.

[terpkristin]

I'm Kristin.
The number of times I've gotten Kirstin or Kristine amazes me.
I like the people who I've told them it's wrong when they write it who assure me I'm wrong:
"It's K-R-I-S-T-I-N." "Are you sure? The only Kristen I know spells it K-R-I-S-T-E-N."


"It's Kristin, not Kristine, there's no e at the end." "Oh. Well it should have an e at the end."

We won't get started on my last name. I'm really hoping I can find a nice Smith to marry. ;)

/tk

[korme]

My all-time favorite is Shawon :)

Dunston!

[21C]

I'm Kristin.
The number of times I've gotten Kirstin or Kristine amazes me.
I like the people who I've told them it's wrong when they write it who assure me I'm wrong:
"It's K-R-I-S-T-I-N." "Are you sure? The only Kristen I know spells it K-R-I-S-T-E-N."
This is like my sister-in-law Carolyn. She has had boyfriends and even long-time friends who persist in calling her 'Caro-line' rather than 'Caro-lin'.

[st.cronin]

I remember when I first heard the Duke men's basketball coach's name said out loud, and I wondered what had happened to Kryziewski - did he retire or something?

[Raiders Army]

My son's name is Cole - pretty straightforward - and we still have this problem (even though we will see other names in stock that seem to be less popular).

My brother's name is Devin. We used to get a pencil that said "Kevin" and scratched it out to make the K into a D. I'm not sure what name would work for Cole.

[MJ4H]

MLB pitcher Jerome Williams is the same way.

Oh. huh. I don't watch MLB so I would've never known.

[devynd]

I remember when I first heard the Duke men's basketball coach's name said out loud, and I wondered what had happened to Kryziewski - did he retire or something?

"Are you going to the Final Four?" :)

The only advantage I know of to having a misspelled name is that you usually get to use it, or close to it, as a username. Otherwise it's a major pain -- especially if it's also a unisex name that is close to another common name. Then people who read it pronounce it wrong and people who hear it spell it wrong. It's just a major hassle, and parents who do that to their kids should be creatively and uniquely punished.

[Logan]

Just out of curiousity, is your name Devyn?

[Pumpy Tudors]

Just out of curiousity, is your name Devyn?
Yeah, and how is it pronounced? "Divine"?

[Oilers9911]

How do you think D'Brickashaw felt all throughout school?

Or Craphonso

[Oilers9911]

I have friends that had a son and names him Aaron but it is spelled Ehren. Dipshits.

[Julio Riddols]

I can tolerate people doing this, using unique spellings and messing with peoples heads.. But as soon as someone names their kid Baub or Bahb, I'm gonna drop a nuke in the heartland.

I will not tolerate the bastardization of Bob.

And is it just me, or is every girl below the age of 4 named Bailey, Madison or Mckenzie?

[gottimd]

Or Craphonso

Just call me Crap for short.

When I have a kid, I will name my child a normal name but put 12 consonants that are all silent in front of it.

fdtklpnswqzxbob

[MrBigglesworth]

My friend teaches in NYC. She has a student this year whose name is pronounced, 'shi-TAY-ed'.

Swear to God, the name tag on his desk reads: Shithead.

[cthomer5000]

My friend teaches in NYC. She has a student this year whose name is pronounced, 'shi-TAY-ed'.

Swear to God, the name tag on his desk reads: Shithead.

Can you repeat that? My bullshit meter exploded and I didn't hear what you said.