What's in a name?

DublinBass

DublinBass

Supporting Member
Nobody seems to want to spell my name (Herak) correct initially -

They tend to spell it:
Herrick
Herick
Herek
Herrek
Harek (oddly enough)

But once I explain to them it is Croatian origin they seem to believe me when I say I am spelling it correctly.

PJH
 
Bryan_sop

Bryan_sop

Active Member
People always spell my name with an i, even when you tell them it's bryan, with a y. One person in the bank the other day did axactly that.........BRIYAN. Birthday cards when I was younger had many variations. Brian, Brain, Byron, Byran. Seemed to get called Ben a lot too for some reason. :roll:

Lots of people mistake Herman for Hammond or Harman as well.
 
ScrapingtheBottom

ScrapingtheBottom

Active Member
I get:

Slattery
Battersby
Baddeley
Fattersby
Sataly
Satterlee

to name a few usually people drop the second 'e' but I've just got used to it now.
 
bigmamabadger

bigmamabadger

Active Member
The thing that really pisses me off is stupid people tend to call me Rachel or Ruth. Nothing against those names, it's just that my name is Rebecca...

My maiden name was Hallihan (cf. Jessop-Smythe) which always had to be spelled out. I once appeared in the local paper as Rebbeca Alitchon :evil: .
Hallion
Halloran
Houlihan
Callaghan :shock:
At school all 4 of us were "that Hooligan kid" Ha. Ha. Ha.

Then I got married to a nice easy surname. Not.
WINN
Win
Wynn
Wyn
Wynne
Winn is an English variant, not Welsh, although confusingly my husband spells his christian name the Welsh way, Martyn. This sends spellers into a total tailspin.
Gosh I've ranted a bit there, haven't I. Can you tell this is something I feel stongly about?
BMB :oops:
 
Big Twigge

Big Twigge

Active Member
ooo yes, I'm a fellow sufferer. My first name only causes a few problems, middle name (lowri) causes many. Twigge is almost always spelt Twigg or Twig (even after spelling it aloud with the double G, E accented!)

......don't even get me started on the terrible spelling of my address, grrrrrrr!
 
2nd man down

2nd man down

Moderator
Staff member
Good Grief I get allsorts of stuff, Crawshaw, Clifford (Thanks Nicky!), Cameron...sure someone even called me Crayfish once too!!! :evil:

The one I get most tho is when they ask my name and I say Crawford I get "Yeah, but what's your first name?"
My god if I had a penny everytime someone has said that to me...Well, I'd have a lot of pennies! :roll:

For God's sake, if it was my last name I'd have said Mr. Crawford wouldn't I???
I tend not to leave it to chance now...my usual phone patter is Crawford, like the biscuits, and Howe...like sir Geoffrey. That usually works.

(Incidentally, Crawford was my Grannies maiden name and to give me it as a Christian name was the best way they could think of to keep the name in the family...it's been the bane of my life ever since!!) :evil:
 
mad_female

mad_female

Member
At last a topic I can really relate to

Having got RHIAN on my birth certificate and christening certificate etc I am amazed how many people are unable to resist adding or taking away letters :? ...... e.g. Rhianne, Rhiannon, Rhianna, Rhiane, Rhyan, Ryan, Ria etc
They can hardly pronounce it either.

Add on the extra hassle of BEVAN ( NOT Beevan, Beven, Bevin, or Beaver) and you can understand why I might get quite irate from time to time especially when some pleb on the phone asks for Ryan Beaver :evil:

Please spare a thought when naming your kids for the poor souls saddled with the following delights I have encountered during my midwifery career

Tiler, Tear-Divine, Colon and Chlamydia :wink: :shock:

Rhian
 
N

Naomi McFadyen

New Member
People always ask how to spell my name... and I've always heard various different pronounciations and spellings with Naomi....

Naome, Nowmi, Namie, Naoemie, Neome... etc

If I get asked, I just say it's "I Moan" backwards and they never forget ever again! ;-)

:lol:
 
dazzyboy

dazzyboy

Member
My name.........Darren.....simple enough ....but I've had the usual 'mispelt' cases of my name over the years

Darrun
Daren
Darron
Derren (some mind control freak)

but i also had a name that reoccured more than once and that was 'Darken'. Cool name actually...I dont mind in the slightest being called 'Darken Jones', it makes me sound like Darth Vaders long lost cousin. However i actually found the reason for this reoccuring. I actually came to do a spell check on a letter i was typing and the first 'correct spelling' option for my name is in fact Darken. Facsinating :?

oh and one more classic...i had to give my name and address over the phone a couple of weeks ago and the poor girl at the other end must have been either hard of hearing or grew up in the Rhinelands because when i recieved the package...it read at the top of the address Baron Jones. :lol: :?: :!:
 
D

dyl

Active Member
Have people ever had a problem with your surname then Crawford? Please tell me something similar to this has happened to you:

Voice on other end of 'phone: "Surname?"
Crawford: "Howe"
Voice: "I dunno, perhaps using your voice."





I'll get my coat.....................
 
Aardvark

Aardvark

Member
I hated my name when I was younger as no-one at school could say it let alone spell it !

I love it now but must admit I go through days when I will answer to anything sounding like it starts with 'L' and ends with 'th' (I bet I'll regret saying that :roll: ).

Still at least I don't usually have to say both my names, as there aren't too many people called Elspeth (good thing too you may say :wink: ).

I just thank my lucky stars my Dad overruled the continued use of the family name......... 'Mayfred' :shock:

Elspeth
 
dazzyboy

dazzyboy

Member
mad_female said:
At last a topic I can really relate to

Having got RHIAN on my birth certificate and christening certificate etc I am amazed how many people are unable to resist adding or taking away letters :? ...... e.g. Rhianne, Rhiannon, Rhianna, Rhiane, Rhyan, Ryan, Ria etc
They can hardly pronounce it either.

Rhian
Click to expand...

Sry im here again but i just read ur post....my sis is called Rhian...and she has the same sort of problems but surely nothing tops getting a christmas card off the classroom dyslexic and being called Rhino
 
mad_female

mad_female

Member
Dazzyboy said

Sry im here again but i just read ur post....my sis is called Rhian...and she has the same sort of problems but surely nothing tops getting a christmas card off the classroom dyslexic and being called Rhino
Click to expand...

Yep Rhino is yet another variation I have also suffered


Rhian
 
Lothianh

Lothianh

Member
It probably wouldn't be as much of a problem in the UK (especially in Scotland, obviously), but growing up in Pennsylvania with the name Lothian was always interesting. Even if they didn't get it confused with the Germanic "Lothar", almost nobody was really sure how to pronounce it, or how to spell it if it was told to them. The next question was invariably "Do you prefer your middle name?" - "No" - followed by "Do you have a nickname you go by?" - "No" again.

It got a little easier when I moved to Chicago, as there's a suburb called Midlothian (apparently named by some homesick Scots), so if people have heard of it I can always say "It's like Midlothian, only without the 'Mid-'." :)

-Lothian
 
Brian Bowen

Brian Bowen

Active Member
I heard the ISB in Washington a few years ago when their executive officer's name was Ian Barr (Captain). The American officer who introduced him to the public was obviously unfamiliar with that Christian name as he pronounced it Captain Iron Barr! True story.
 
T

TIMBONE

Active Member
My surname is PATON. I would say that about 90% of people pronounce it PATTON. On several occasions, it has been spelt PAYTON. I have also been called PAIGNTON, (which is a Devonshire resort!).

To sum up then, shouldn't the stick a conductor uses be spelt BATTON? :lol:
 
Vickitorious

Vickitorious

Active Member
I spell Vicki with an I lol! obviously....

and I have so many ppl rite it like...

Vicky
Vickie
Vickey

And all those different variations...I had them all when I was younger but now it's just mostly Vicky

And even one of my best mates couldn't spell Reynolds, she had 3 attempts...

Renolds
Renaulds
Renyolds

I always get asked how to spell it if someone is writing down my name lol


:roll:
 
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