The name game
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I don’t think I have a particularly complicated name, but the good people at Starbuck’s have a world of trouble trying to nut it out.
My name is Phoebe, and while it isn’t exactly the easiest thing in the world to spell it certainly isn’t as complicated as Apichatpong Weerasethakul, which is the name of a real person by the way – look it up.
But for some reason, no matter how clearly and slowly I say it I always end up getting a coffee with some bizarre word written on it that is supposed to be my name.
After ordering my grande skinny latte last Tuesday I joined the queue of other, half asleep commuters waiting for their morning caffeine fix. I was certain that this time I had said it clearly enough and would receive my Phoebe coffee. As soon as I saw the barista pick up the cup and squint at it quizzically I knew that no matter what came out of his mouth, that drink was mine. But even I was stunned when I heard him say ‘Filet’. Yes… Filet.
Sharing the same name as the quirky dopey character from Friends is one thing, sharing the same name as a cut of meat…. is another. And all of a sudden the image on this post makes a lot more sense.
Honestly, I have heard it all. In fact at my last job I had a section of the notice board dedicated to these name mishaps. I would cut them out of letters or printed emails and put them up for the world (my colleagues) to see. Highlights include: Choebe, Fee Bee, Foibee and Debbie.
The name Debbie is so often mistaken for my name that Matt and I would joke that he had a second girlfriend. For months his friends and family would routinely call me Debbie, even people we would run into on the street: “Carl, this is my girlfriend Phoebe” …“Nice to meet you Debbie” …“No it’s Phoe… Eh… nice to meet you too Charles”.
I tend to think it is the combination of a silent P and a Ph instead of F that throws people off, maybe that and the large number of vowels.
At first my solution to this problem was to start giving another name, but my friend Katie has told me that no matter how complex or simple your name is, people will still get it wrong.
Katie found herself standing at Starbuck’s while someone screamed out ‘Stacey’ over and over until she realised they were referring to her, and more recently one of her good friends spelt her name wrong on a wedding invitation.
I’m fairly certain that even if I change my name to ‘Spoon’ the situation would not be any better, mainly because I would have to address the confusion about why I am named after a stirring implement and well-loved snuggling position.
The upshot of it is that my friends have a great time adopting these new Starbucks versions of my name and I find myself now being called ‘Phibby’ at work. Unfortunately though it seems that this is just one of those things that Katie, Apichatpong and I will all have to live with.
I know I’m not alone here… what names have you been mistakenly called by? What bizarre way have you seen your name spelt? Let’s unite and make reading a book of names part of Starbucks basic induction training!
littlegreybox.
544 Comments on “The name game”
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What is littlegreybox?
littlegreybox is a meeting point of humorous perspective, food and travel experiences and my life journey. It's my outlet, a source of inspiration and a way to share and connect with people around the world.
And choosing what name we go by is actually creating/re-creating an identity for ourselves – more about that at my column at http://www.athensnews.gr/issue/13408/23249
meet your sexual partner,,
My name is Becca and people (especially out in noisy bars for example) think my name is Megan. Funny post!
People always mess up my name they say it sounds too European lol
Same issue, the other way round
Oh boy!! You literally had me laugh out loud with this one! I feel your pain. My name is Anisa (A-knee-sa) and what makes matters worse is that my family tradition is to go by our middle names … So, my first name is Celia (which is no better), but I go by Anisa (my given name). I feel like a giant identity crisis sometimes!
Starbucks NEVER gets my name right, and neither do 99.9% of the rest of the people in the world. Lisa, Denisa, Anniissa, Anita, on and on and on. The government makes me sign everything Celia even though I only ever sign things Anisa. Most people like to pronounce the ‘is’ in my name like the ‘is’ in ‘hiss’. I just nod and agree now. I’m tired of correcting people. Hahaha
*Shakes head, and slowly loses a little more faith in mankind* Lol.
Fun post! What was it again? Fibbles?
Anisa :D :P
hahaha Fibbles! you are a funny one!
Sounds like you have 99 problems, and your name is every single one of them :)
Thanks for reading Aneeeta :P
Lol!! You got that right :D Haha. And I couldn’t help myself :)
Good write! Looking forward to reading more.
A
lol
Oh my… I have always had Anisa at the top of the list to name a daughter… after reading about your trouble, I am giving that second thoughts! But again, any and every name gets butchered. My name is actually spelled wrong on my high school diploma. Go figure that one out.
I knew a girl called Anissa which is pronounced like a ‘hiss’. Not sure how she got on with mis spelling or pronunciation though.
Hahaha!! Your reply was just as funny as the post – I am one of your mistaken names…Lisa! My grandad still hasn’t figured it out after 30 years he still calls me Leeza. : )
Anything is better than ‘spoon’!
At least you’re not a Mary. I’m Leila, so I have had my share of messed up Starbucks cups :)
You’re Princess Leila? *swoons*
hahahaha blog romance!
I’m actually a Leia (spelled Leah), and I usually say, “like Star Wars,” and people say, “Yeah, and I’m Hans Solo.” It works in a loud bar anyway.
My hubby Brett was Bread at the Starbucks in Lisbon! haha Thanks for the like! :)
hahahaha seriously!? that’s fantastic!
Yes- and now I see you are Freshly Pressed today! I saw the blog title on the WP homepage and thought…hey that looks familiar! Congratulations!
Thank you so much! I didn’t know what Freshly Pressed meant at first… it’s amazing :)
Haha!!
Why don’t you just say that your name is No One? Then the staff will call in “Frapuccino for No One”. Hahahaha My friends always do that :)))
Haha :)
My name is Shannon but the baristas always write “Sharon” and even worse “Jenny.” I know I have an accent, but how do they get “Jenny” from “Shannon?” My mother’s name is Sherry and it is also interesting to see all the variations… Cheri, Shari, Cherry, etc.
I am so glad that I’m not alone. My name, Elyse, is pronounced A-Lease, like you’d get on an apartment or a car. At Starbucks they call me Eli (what, do I LOOK like a football player?)
I’ve been called Elsie (Else-E) all my life, which immediately puts the offender on my SH*T list, because Elsie was a very famous spokes-cow when I was a kid.
Elyse … thanks for the clarification! :)
My name is Elyse too! I get called Elsie too, and one time a professor somehow got Alice from my name.
That coupled with the multiple spellings of Elyse (Elise, Elyce), is really frustrating. My last name is even worse.
Hi Elyse! (Sounds like I’m talking to myself) — since I am assuming you are wildly talented, I will scoot over to your blog to verify!
I was 16-ish before I met another Elyse (not counting my great aunt for whom I was named). Now it has become very popular. Go figure! I hated it as a kid (no one could pronounce it or spell it, and substitute teachers were a nightmare). I wanted to be named Mary. Now I love it. How many people have their own Beethoven song?
One of my best friends in high school was and Elyse too (but spelled elise). We used to go by Yin and Yang to make it easier on our friends.
I’m Elise too! I also get Elsie and Alice ALL the time (and Leslie sometimes (?))- but last time I was at Starbucks, it was Alyieece. I guess he couldn’t decide how to make the “ee” sound!
We Elyse/Elise- es seem to be coming out of the wall!
buahah, so many Elyse’s commenting on this! My name is Alyse as well, although the ‘A’ encourages being called Alice. =/ I usually get Alice or Alyssa, but generally if I’m at a place where they’re going to call my name out, I just tell them Aly.
You shattered my one name-pronunciation fantasy. That only if I changed the E to an A, well then, life would be different.
I lived in Europe for 5 years and in all that time nobody mispronounced my name. Except once — an American!
haha! Well to be fair, mine’s more of an UH-lease, than A-lease, so no worries, they’re still a tad different! ;) I’ve heard of a lot of British Elise’s/Annaliese’s, and similar ones, but I guess Americans just seem to go for Alice or Alyssa. I actually worked at university cafeteria and out of 60 employees there were a: Liz, Leeza, Lisa, Lisa, Alicia, Alyssa, Alyse, Aly, Ali, and Allison. My poor boss was always so confused that half the time he called me Lisa, which wasn’t a far stretch since one of them was my roommate! Most people got confused since the sounds are just reversed in Alyse and Lisa.
Actually that’s how mine sounds too. In fact, in lighter moments I say I’m a backwards Lisa. Of course no one but me gets it!
My name is Ellyse also!
…But I have two L’s because my parents are weird like that. Most commonly Starbucks call me:
Lisa, Eliza, Liz, Elizabeth, Alice, Alex and when I’m lucky they’ll write ‘elise’
Maybe it was a typo — I’m always typing Elkyse by accident (never two Ls though!)
Great post! I don’t believe I have a very hard name, Samantha.. yet I’ve been called Amanda, Samtha & Stephanie. What’s worse is my last name is Swedish & goes against the english language so sometimes if I say it really fast it sounds like “sh*t” and people openly stare and then have the nerve to say you’re last name is “sh*t?! That’s hilarious!” No.. it’s not. Oh ya, some people have even called me Salmantha.. do I look like a fish? Yet again, no. Congrats on being freshly pressed & thanks for the good laugh :)
Haha, I’ve gotten all of those too, along with people just completely calling me the wrong name…I don’t understand. :) It’s really not that hard!
I’m a Samantha too, but I mostly go by Sam. When I introduce myself as Sam, I get the strangest responses, especially from older men. “SAM?!?!” Like it’s the craziest thing they’ve ever heard. “Is it short for Samantha?” Um, yeah. Then there’s inevitably one of two remarks: 1) “Like Bewitched!” 2) “Sam-I-Am, green eggs and ham!” I cannot tell you how many times I’ve heard this. Not really the same as a mispronunciation, but still evidence of how funny people are about names.
Just saw your comment after leaving one further down — you and I are cosmic “incorrect name twins” (or something like that) because I am Amanda often confused for Samantha. cheers! ;)
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Of course, as a “Mikalee,” I don’t even try my real name anymore — past iterations have resulted in “Mike Lee” and my favorite, “Miguel.”
So I typically go with a substitute — usually my middle name (Ann). But I once used that very normal name…and walked away with a cup sporting the name “Ed.”
Seriously?
Ed??? Really??? Where the hell did they get that from? And how the heck did they get that from “Ann”? It just doesn’t make any sense…And why are baristas so bad with names anyway, hmmm?
Haha, from Ann to Ed?! Baristas have clearly been listening to coffee shop tunes for too long…it’s clogging up their ears!
My name is complicated. I purposely have an alternate ‘Starbuck’s Name’ and I just say Lea. It is a game that I play to see how badly the screw it up. I went through a phase of trying ‘Lola’ that was a whole different fiasco. Thanks for the laugh, Filet. LOVE IT!
What’s your opinion on this is Olichel a hard name to pronounce?
lol, my name is Jawaira and people often mistake me for a mister :)
actually, the name is difficult to pronounce, even those who saw it in written form are not able to say it properly. To avoid the hassles of correcting people when they say my name, i directly use my friend’s name when passing orders for food delivery. lol
A beautiful name, I must say!
thank you :-)
I dont think spelling is the issue, its “listening” – They’ve even messed up MJ (tried to spell it “Emjay”) and they mess up Janet unless I say “Yknow, like janet jackson”. Very funny post !
Yes! Listening definitely is the problem. And just generally being impersonal. I actually have a different name, but really not that hard if people just look at the letters.
Radha (pronounced Rod-ha –like laughter at the end) is always Rhonda. I hate that name! Sorry to the rhondas out there. The worst was once when this guy I had known for years and years newly named me “Rhonda Kramer” on a theatre program. My last name is very Scottish beginning with “Mc–”… Seriously!
Although thank you all for sharing your stories. I have come to accept it with a name from a different culture, but most of you have very “normal” names that are still being butchered (that one is for you Filet). It kind of makes me feel better in a sick sort of way.
It’s the last name for me.
“And your party?”
“BOW (like bow and arrow) – MAN (You can’t mess that up can you?)”
Time comes to be seated, “BowMAN…” I bow and head for the table.
I guess I put on a good show.
;)
~ Regards, Dan
Sounds like that musician a Bow Wow or something lol
Love this! Our name is Bowman, too. :) We get not only the one you do, but also Bowl-man and Bowen. Seems so simple, but there’s always a way to mess it up!
My mechanic will forever think that I am Helen. To someone else, I am “Edna.” I get “Debbie” a lot, too. My name is Heather.
LOL…not even close!
This is hilarious. I never give the barista at Starbucks my real name…I make a new one up each time I go in. But my last name is Schmidt (pronounced Shmitt)….and the most horrific mispronunciation of that name occurred when a telemarketer called me and asked for Mr. Scummit….like scum – it. You would think that, since English is a Germanic language, people wouldn’t struggle so much with the S-c-h combo. But they do.
hahahaha this had me in stitches hahahaha
I have a problem with my name too. I am Susie Lindau and when I am introduced, they often say, “Nice to meet you Linda.” Can you imagine being Linda Lindau???? My maiden name was McCartan and still people will say. “McCartney?” Almost every stinkin’ time! So funny! I will have to blog about it sometime.
Nice to meet you Debbie! I’m Linda! Kidding!
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
People always think I have some kind of accent, they always ask me where I’m from lol
They are idiots! Didn’t they ever watch Friends???? Hahaha!
So I am curious. How DO you pronounce Olichel? Oh-la-shell? And where is the accent?
Hilarious! My name is Rebecca but I have been called Roberta (understandable) and Barbara (huh?). But sometimes when the person I’m dealing with does get my name correctly, they’ll ask if I spell that with one ‘b’ or two. . . I have never seen my name spelled with 2 b’s, have you? Anyone??
My name is Emily. I lived overseas in a host family for a YEAR and by the end of it they still sometimes called me Amelia. One of my lecturers at university the other day tried to convince me that my name was Margaret… Also, my flatmate currently is called Isabella, but another flatmate of ours still thinks her name is Elizabeth, after 3 months of living together and numerous corrections…
hahahahhahhahahahahahahaha this had me stitches!
I’m Emily too – I frequently get Millie (which is understandable) or my Latin teacher went with Mildred – not sure why, he had an attendance roster… My last name now gets it too. I think the Baristas just play a game. “How can I mess with *this* name? Hum… I know! I’ll write Fred!”
I had a friend who called me Steve for about 4 years… although this was on purpose haha so might not count.
I’m yet another Emily, and I frequently get Amy, Abbey, etc. Sometimes, I’m asked if I have a preference regarding the shortening of my name. I am fine with “Em”, but will face-punch anyone who calls me “Emmie”.
Hahaha I get “Em” a lot too, but as far as nicknames go, I’ve had them all. Em, Ems, Imp, Whem, Milly, Emechais, and perhaps my personal favourite, “Lemony” haha
Haha, OMG, if this isn’t my own sentiment at Starbucks. Name is Shadz, and no barista has spelled it right since I could afford coffee shops. My friend told me a story once: Her friends gave names such as ‘Ever’, ‘Life’, and ‘Malin’. I’ll try one of those tomorrow. :D
great idea!! let me know how you go.
Haha, that was hilarious
Very interesting post – I really enjoyed it
Katie
http://katieraspberry.wordpress.com/
Oh my gosh, I know exactly what you mean! People mispronounce my last name (Ovalle) all the time. To be fair, if I saw Ovalle, I wouldn’t know how to pronounce it either. It’s supposed to be pronounced Oh-vah-yeh, but I’ve gotten Oh-valley, Oh-val-uh, and (my personal fav) Oval-ee.
Something that my friend does when she orders something from a coffee shop or fast food place is give the name of a random item. I went to McDonald’s with her and she gave the name, “Lawnmower.” The girl who called out the name looked at it funny and giggled as she said it. So maybe calling yourself “Spoon” would be a good choice…if anything, it gives you and the person who calls out your name a good laugh :)
ha!! i’ve been giving fake names for years, but i have yet to move on to just nouns in general…i’m thinking my first try will be “beach ball.”
Haha, that sounds fantastic! I might try season themed nouns. Since summer is coming, my first attempt might be “sea gull” hehe :-P
Well ‘Sonja’ has always given some people trouble–it gets spelled with an ‘i’ or a ‘y’ and I still get people who actually think you pronounce the ‘j’ like in English. I had an American penpal who thought you pronounced it with the ‘j’ for three years…
And then my last name, Rosas? For some reason, no matter how clearly I enunciate it or how legibly I write those ‘s’es, people still say, “Row-hass?” They only get it after I tell them you say it like, ‘roses’. XD
Great post!
I’ve been chronicling my Starbucks “wrong names” with photos as well, much to the amusement of my friends. I could see mishearing Sam as “Dan” … but “Ted” and especially “Dennis” have been particularly egregious WTH? moments.
Dennis!!! seriously?? haha wow.
is that a same name or different? :)
I’ve been called plenty of names that should not be printed on these pages. With a complicated Italian last name, it’s been butchered many ways. Fun post!
Well you’re going to have to tell us what your last name is now…. :)
My name is common, but has a lot of ways to spell it. And on top of that, it rhymes with other names. But I have to say that growing up with a bunch of cousins it was annoying to be called by THEIR names rather than my own.
Congrats on getting Freshly Pressed, Filet. ;)
Nice…you should see the looks I get when I give them my name!
I share your pain. My name is very common and easy, but they always spell it wrong. I’m Jbot. Do I look like a Kbot or a Gbot to you?
Reblogged this on Spill the Beans and commented:
We’ve all had this happen to us…especially with Starbucks lol do share your funny stories on “mistaken identity” as well
When I was a child, I’d always have people ask how to spell “Emily” because apparently they’d assume that such a standard name would have non-standard spelling (like “Emile” or … I don’t know what else).
Recently a guy I met was writing down my name and to help him out I said “Emily … just standard ‘Emily’” but then he thought my name was Emily Standard.
Oh, and it gets confused with “Amy” a LOT. Even in print.
As in, “Signed, Emily” and the response says, “Thank you, Amy!” …the hell?
My name is Amy and often times my name gets confused with Emily.
Hi, I’m a Starbucks employee. We do this on purpose to entertain ourselves.
(not really a starbucks employee)
When I was a foreigner in the US I made it a habit to always spell my name right after I said it, like it was part of the name: “Hi, I’m Malin, M-A-L-I-N.” It wouldn’t always suffice, though; one time after I’d introduced myself this way the girl looked at me and went: “You’re WHAT?” (Her name was Kim, by the way, but we just called her “Hooks”.)
Interesting short name lol :)
It was referring to her, ehrm, special skills on the soccer field. Much more fitting than Kim anyways!
Haha my name is Malin too, it’s a typicall swedish name but everytime I’m in the US nearly no one can pronounce, haha!
Yeah, what do you get? Molly, Mali, Marlin?
Yep, Molly and Marliyn are the most common ones :)
Ha, I loved your story. My name is Carlie and I have never left Starbucks with my name on my cup. It’s actually become a game to me to see what crazy name they come up with for me next.
My brothers name is Vandes.. and he is asked to repeat his name every single time he intorduces himself. I can’t help but laugh because he tries so hard to pronounce it clearly.
Brilliant post! You sure know how to make people laugh. I can identify with the name issue having ‘Tubridy’ as a surname. Living in Ireland, it should hardly come as any surprise that ‘Pubridy’ is what springs from many people’s mouths. My father reached a point that he used to say when asked his name, ‘Ah put down ‘Frank Brown’, that’ll save us all a lot of time!’
You’ve got first world problems.
hahahahahahahahahahha #meatballproblems.
I’d have thought my name couldn’t get screwed up, but I’ve been called Dan, Ben, Gavin and Aaron amongst other weird and wonderful variations!
lol Thats too funny
No matter what people spell my name with an S instead of a C. Okay, I get that–Ch seems like it should sound like chair not “sh”. What is really frightening is that they almost always spell it Sherly. Wouldn’t that be Shirley and not Cheryl?
I commiserate.
LOL.nice to see.had some fun
Mine isn’t really hard to remember but for some reason the spelling is difficult for some. My name is Amy and the spelling varies. Most of the time people spell it right but there are times I will get a card or something with the spelling(s): Ammi, Amie, Ammee, and Ame. I didn’t realize how hard Amy was to spell.
Hello World. My name is Naomi (nay Oh mee). This is not a deviation. It is the original pronunciation and Latin alphabet spelling. It is not Niomi, Nouomi or the worst one Natalie. Somebody please tell me why everyone I’ve ever met over the age of 55 insists on calling me Natalie. Naomi is a very famous name: Naomi Campbell, Naomi Judd, Naomi Watts and a famous bible character in Jesus’ family tree. Although I know my name as having Hebrew origins, I have been told it is also a popular Japanese name and may have been used by Native Americans. It is even a popular joke…*eye roll* So please show that you are even slightly cultured and say Naomi correctly. And don’t get me started on my last name, which admittedly is harder to read. But it is Rohrbaugh, Roar Bach. Two syllables that is all, just two. And it is NOT Warbucks. Really, I can not stress enough that it is not Warbucks. LOL.
haha, i like the way you spelled that out
My boyfirend, Michael, recently got tea in Starbucks to the name of Oliver!
Hilarious but very relate-able!!! My name is Stacey but I get everything from Daisy, Stephanie, Sarah, Lisa – you name it, EXCEPT at Starbucks… the ones here must listen very well, they even spell it right (which knocks my socks off, how could they know how to spell my name – there are at least 5 different ways to spell it, it’s a very tricksy name!). And then there is my bf who goes in and gives his last name just to screw with them I swear, it’s not hard spell but it’s not a normal first name so they go what?! Like in the Sherlock Holmes books? Ahh… Starbucks ;) and the rest of the world for that matter. They will be in for it with the new slew of baby names that are now growing up and will soon be needing their lattes!
Thanks for the laugh! My name is Elaine but I’m constantly called Eileen except by a close friend’s mom who has always called me Lorraine. She has Alzheimer’s though so at least she has a good excuse! :)
Funny post! And I can relate. My name is Susan. You would think that would be easy, but no. I get the worst spellings of my name on those cups. Suzin, Susen, Suzanne. Luanne. Joanne. I have never had it spelled correctly. And here I thought I had a common name. :)
Since this wonderful post strikes such a chord with me I’m going to come out about my first name: Virginia. I get around any problems with Starbucks because I tell the barista to just use VA, the state abbreviation. They can handle that. Where I run into problems is with the spelling in correspondence, address labels, name tags, etc. Often, the last “i” is omitted so it’s spelled virgina. Yes. Virgina. And whenever I see that, I feel a lot like an orifice.
Hahaha. That is so funny. My husband tells our little daughter to make sure she washes her “virginia” since he can’t bare to say “vagina” to our 5 year old. Don’t worry, I shoot him a look of disdain since there is nothing wrong with saying “vagina” and he shouldn’t avoid saying it. It’s her body after all and she should know and not feel shameful. Thanks Virginia! :)
You do realize when Your Wee One is 30 and still thinks of it as her “virginia” and feeling very ick-factor about it because her co-worker is named “Virginia” Dad may have scarred her for life … Just projecting as I drink my morning tea at The Grind. Cool to hear back from you Winn!
Yes, and even at 5, I find that there should be no shame or ickiness at naming and saying our body parts. So it is corrected and I’m sure he’s tired of my glare!
My wife laughs at me all the time because when someone asks my name (like at Starbucks) I always say “Greg. Gee Arr Eeee Gee”. She once asked why I ALWAYS spell my name after saying it, until one day I didn’t and I ended up as Graham. I also get Craig and Grey a lot. Morton (my last name) becomes written as Morgan and Morlon and yes…even Moron. Though I may sometimes earn that last one.
I have since begun telling Starbucks my name is AL. What do I care they don’t know my real name? If I’m trying to be funny or to embarrass my wife, I tell the Host/Hostess at a restaurant that my name is Homer. They immediately think of the Simpson’s, but I prefer to think of myself as a philosopher…
Loved this. My name constantly gets spelled incorrectly. It’s not as bad as “Filet” (like what???) but I’ve had a lot of people spell it in weird ways. I’ll never forget in the 8th grade I got a valentine from a classmate addressed to Airicka instead of Erica. Kind of ridiculous.
Some one called me Olag before lol
I’m Andi… I get Annie, Angie, Mandi, Brandi, Candy, and an assortment of other things that have an “ee” sound at the end. Once they hear the name correctly and it registers I immediately hear the words “Isn’t that a boys name?” or “Like Andy Griffith?” without fail. Don’t think I’ve ever met a person who didn’t use one of the above phrases. Don’t get me started on my maiden name and my current last name… those go from understandable misunderstandings to full fledged ridiculous fiascos.
I have a simple, one-syllable name. Went to a Starbucks a couple of years ago in the college town where my wife grew up.. Key points here: My wife hasn’t lived there in 25 years. She stayed in the car, while I went in. NO ONE inside the store saw here. I gave my name with my order, and when my drink was ready, what was written on the cup? Huntley — the name of my wife’s high school boyfriend.
If it’s any consolation, my name is Maria, and you would be seriously surprised (or maybe not) at the number of people who manage to spell that wrong…it’s my personal intelligence test…if I’m asked to spell it that’s definitely not a good sign!
Love your post, and all the responses…am sitting here chucking, and my six year old keeps saying ‘what’s so funny!?’:))
You probably already know this, but Phoebe is a derivative of Phoebus (Phoibos) -a common epithet for Apollo. Perhaps, next time you should introduce yourself as Apollo and then say “Just kidding, I’m Phoebe.” It might make Phoebe more distinct…
Try having the Hebrew name Moshe (pronounced Moi-sheh) -very fun to use in places where they call your name.
just like phebe from friends?
Wonderful! The name-game is sometimes messy, I think! :D
Me & my siblings have this problem all the time. We all have pretty random names, im Zephyr, and i usually shorten it to Zeph/Zephie so i most often end up with Steph/Stephie which makes sense (even if i say everytime, Zeph with a Z!) My sister Zolie has had Ollie & Sully before now and my brother Zion gets Ian. I think my brother Zavier just says Sam in attempts to make it easier but has still ended up with Dan. Other sibs are Zada & Zali so they dont have it any easier :)
Plus,my maiden name is Domino which i tend to use more since my married name is Dubrovskiy which just makes things even worse.
There really should be some kinda book to help people out or maybe just let us write our own names?
Jennifer, but I go by Jenn. Forgiving all those who leave off the second ‘n’, including my father, I’m amazed at how often I’m asked to spell my full first name and the quizzical looks I sometimes get when I say “the normal way”. However, my mumbly undertone gets me in trouble when using the short version. I get Jean, Jane, and the occasional Jenny. Yeah, because I totally had two syllables when I told it to you. Most obscure was a lease agreement a few years back where my first name was listed as Christine. Even more surprising is the butchery of my last name. It’s a verb, in English. Settle. Doesn’t seem hard, but yet I get Sittle, Seetle, and not infrequently Seattle. Still, I can’t complain around my boyfriend, though. Duquette (Doo-ket) is butchered way more, and we thoroughly enjoy telling the telemarketers that Mr. Duh-kwee-tee isn’t home, and no, he’s not from Louisiana. They always ask that.
I get this all the time! Even my university gets its wrong! All the time! I’m so used to people spelling my name wrong now that when I have to say my name to someone (a delivery man etc) I now always say the spelling with my surname in one big phrase! “Clark-without-an-E” And then they take the E from my first name! (Charlotte) So I decided to go with a nickname :P changing to Lotti without an E to make it easier. No E’s anywhere people!
University is the first one to get names wrong
Going through life named Micah I guess I can see where Phoebe is spelled wrong. I too find it strange that can’t seem to pronounce my name after being introduced. It is telling to me about people. Are they really listening or just waiting for their chance to talk? It’s best to just have a good sense of humor about it as it is unlikely to end.
I have experienced the same sort of thing my entire life. Even though my real name is relatively simple , people get it wrong all the time. During my first day in College not one professor got my name right . The funny(or frustrating) thing is that even now my college ID card is stuck with the wrong name .
Great post :)
Where to begin. When I tell the baristas “Mimi” they frown at me and make me repeat it two or three times. It’s two syllables! And they’re the same!! Also, iPhone Siri pronounces it with a soft i, kind of like the word mystery. My-mi. OK, it’s a little unusual. My mother’s name is Shelly and a friend she has had for at least 7 years will to this day call her Sheila. My brother’s name is Nick and he had multiple professors convinced his name was Nathan and then would try to convince HIM he was definitely named Nathan. Also, people have randomly asked me if I have a brother named Nathan. Would like to meet his doppleganger someday…
In the movie Date Night Tina Fey and Steve Carrell pose as the couple on a waitlist, the Tripplehorns. One time I faked the last name for a reservation and the hostess was pissed but repeated it just like they do in the movie. :)
Being named William, I cannot compete with your experiences. But I sometimes face frustration as people assume I want to be called by something other than my given name (Bill, Billy, Will). You write very well, and it was a lot of fun to read. Take care.
My name–Lindsey–is also pretty standard, but I have gotten “Lizzie” many a time. The thing that always makes me smile is the spelling. So many “Linzey”s, which I find odd, since I think I spell it the most common way for sure!
I have a friend called Alison and once in starbucks they wrote Aladin on her cup, we teased her for ages. This post made me smile remembering this.
Hilarious!! Although, it could always be worse. My mom taught school and once had a kid in her class named Harry. His last name? Pitts. A co-worker also told me a story recently about a child she knew with the name Ladasha, only it was spelled, legally now, spelled La–sha. INSANE!!!
I’m Rebekah. I’ve just learned to accept the fact that I will never walk into one of those souvenir shops and find my name spelled with a K on any of the keychains, tag plates, coffee mugs, etc. It’s just not going to happen. It’s always Rebecca. And you wouldn’t believe how many people screw up the spelling–for some reason they just can’t understand that my name is spelled without a C. Blows my mind!! It’s not that difficult. LOL!
Thanks for the laugh.
I *just* posted a photo of my mangled Starbucks cup last week, displaying the traditional misspelling of my name: JORDON. Which, to my knowledge has never been a name. It’s like the episode of the Simpsons where they run out of BORT license plates…Like, is this a thing to everyone but me?
Interesting…I really enjoying it..
Great post.
Great post! My name is Whitney, but for some reason most people always miss out the h and write “Witney,” or at my cousin’s wedding, turned out half of my dad’s side of the family thought I was “Whitley!”
how hard is it for someone to know I have the same name as Whitney Houston?!
My name is Maggie and I get “Margaret – Margarita or Margie”, these days I introduce myself as Magz lol.
Thats easy :)
Legend has it Billy Corgan wrote a song about a girl he had met in a bar. Later the band played that song, and Billy went to chat up his song’s namesake. “So, Starla, what did you think of that song i wrote for you?” She said, “No, my name is Darla. But thanks…”
My name is Trisha and I often get Teresa or Tasha. Other notables are when people insist my name is actually Patricia, despite me explaining that no, in fact it really is not and then start calling me Pat or Patty for short.
My name is Amanda, but I’ve gotten to the point where I’ll answer to anything, because no one can get it right. Some of the highlights are Anna, Amy, Emma, Amber, and Elizabeth.
Oh man! The most common mistakes on my name would be calling me Melanie or Michelle instead. The best spellings I’ve seen were; Malisa, Mellisa, Melyssa. I’ve seen VERY FEW people who really spell it Mellisa, so why do people keep spelling it that way? lol
When I spell my name out to the register person at Starbucks (It’s 7 letters long), by the 4th or 5 letter in, their eyebrows start to furrow and the space in between them starts to crinkle. Then I get my drink and it has a letter or two added to it.
thats interesting
Often, my initials are confused with other letters. Being mistaken for a CJ, DJ or PJ is one thing, but if the baristas are WAY OFF or they need me to SPELL it, I can’t help but wonder if they use the same alphabet as I do. :)
My name is Taryn. “Pronounced like Karen but with a T like Tom”, that’s what I always tell people. People ALWAYS call me Karen and it drives me bananas. But I hate that awkwardness when you meet someone and you say “Hello, my name is Taryn” and they reply “Hello Karen” and when you correct them, there’s this awkwardness in the air. I usually just let them call me Karen, if it’s someone I’ll never meet again I don’t mind. Otherwise, the person will hear someone else say my name correctly and they end up feeling like an idiot so it all works out.
It doesn’t help that my last name is Cuellar. It’s cuban, pronounced ‘Kway-ar’. But I’ve gotten everything from killer, cellular, quell-er, cool-ar, celler, etc. It’s ridiculous. If I have a child I’m naming them BOB, to save them the struggle.
Ha! this post was so funny, and I can completely relate. My name is Robert Pereira-Tomé and I get a lot of mistakes when people call my name as well. The funniest one was a teacher I had in college. He called me Robe Pietratoom. I laughed so hard. I can understand that some people have trouble pronouncing my name if their not Portuguese like I am, but the worst was when a Portuguese person couldn’t say my name right! (Roberto Pertoma). Thanks for sharing this post with the rest of the Blogosphere!
My name actually is Debbie, lol. I don’t go to Starbucks much but maybe they’ll write “Phoebe” on my cup next time I go. :) Thanks for the hiLARious post!
The sad thing is, for those not initiated, Phoebe is a lovely name…
Kyleigh, pronounced like Kylie but spelt like Kayleigh. I spell my name for the barista’s every time and damn if they don’t mess it up. I can live with the wrong pronunciation but when I spell it for you… *shakes head* Glad someone shares my pain. x
I understand where you’re coming from!
I dated someone one time who used Lothar in restaurants and coffee shops. It was better than his perfectly nice but very common real name, which would cause about six guys to go up to the counter to claim his drink.
At my high school graduation ceremony the teacher calling us up on stage called me “Conrad”, my last name is/was Cannard. You’d think after 6 years in the same school they would have learned how to say it correctly. And what about my various cousins and little brother? They got it right by the time they graduated :)
Ah and do you know how many people can’t spell Benjamin?? You’d think it was a simple name to deal with!
I’m from Mexico and very often the people changes my last name from Puente to Fuentes. Usually when someone ask for my name I make the emphasis on the correct pronunciation of the “P”, and I found that very annoying.
My name is Bronte, and I have the exact same problem at Starbucks. Usually they stare blankly at me for a while, then say “Yeah… that’s too complicated. Is there another name you want to go by whilst you wait for your drink?”
And then they get angry when I don’t respond to being called out by another name.
Very funny, my name is Marianne which of course is not a problem for grown ups. But kids can’t pronounce my name so they always call me, Ayian. Which actually is rather cute, :)
Enjoyed your post! My name is Sian, and people are forever getting it wrong….I get Shaun, Cyan (like the printer cartridge colour), and even Stan!! I had a teacher who pronounced my name ‘Shy-an’ all the way through high school; I gave up correcting her in the end!
You’re right, “Phoebe” is rather interesting to say and read. I’ve always had difficulty with that one. My name is Constance. Do you know what is was like being 7-17 years old and being named Constance. Connie for short, yuck. Now that I’m much older, I don’t mind Constance anymore. Constance means, “Always faithful”. I have to live up to that name. Thanks for sharing. Connie
http://7thandvine.wordpress.com/
I love that name
I’m Jen. What has happened AT LEAST 3 TIMES in Starbucks is that I say “Jen…J…E…N” and then I get my coffee and written on it is GIN, but with a crossed out J?? Why do they change their mind about starting my name with a J? I’ve also had Jane, Gen and Jan. I do actually spell it every time!!
Just call me sugar free vanilla soy latte.
hahahahah it really doesn’t matter how simple your name is at all huh!
I have a friend who goes by Jenn, to stand out from all the other Jennifers. That extra N really screws with people.
I have an easy, though sometimes misspelled first name (Chris), but my last name is much worse. I spent almost 7 years in the Army, wearing a patch that said “Valiquette” (Val-i-ket) on my chest. That was fun. Even in middle school, I had an English teacher who, 24 hours after explaining that “QUE” always equals “K”, not only left the i out of my name, but pronounced it “Valkwet.” I don’t know if it’s because it’s French and maybe she thinks the rules are different in other languages (usually that rule is universal), or just because she was a moron.
Every year I dreaded the first day of school. Not only did the whole class giggle upon hearing my full legal name was Amelia (‘Amelia Bedelia!’) but also the teacher inevitably got stumped by my last name. My last name is Knopf (Kuh-nop-fff). I don’t even bother to say it anymore. I just spell it. “K, N like Nancy, O, P like Peter, F like Frank.” And then I listen the person mangle it. And then I spell it again. And then I end up with something of this nature: KNOFF, NOFF, KNOPP, KOPP, KOPF. But I’m not changing it!
My name is Dena. Only one E. When I lived in Italy, the Italians couldn’t get my name right (their common spelling for my name is with one I – Dina). I often get Deena, Deana, DeAnna, Diana, Donna, Tina, Gina, Mina, Lena, Christina, and (my personal favorite) GINGER.
P.S. I simply adore the Ph in any name and it’s been discussed that any future daughter of mine will be named Ophelia.
Oh really? I wanted to name my daughter that name but then it turned out to be a boy so now his name is Daniel :)
*sigh*
Sandra? Sondra? Shanda? Sarah? Cassandra? Charmaine? Charlotte? Chantal? Chantelle? Sharla? Chandler? Chandelier? Cinderella? Sean? Shawn? Chan? Shane? Shanna? Shayna? Sheena? Shona? Shaunda? Sharona? Sheronda? Lashonda? Schieaunderraulx?
NO, IT’S CHANDRA, FFS.
I haven’t laughed so hard in ages…I’m crying laughing! Thank you so much for that! Mine isn’t too bad although I hear Cindy and Wendy a lot. It was the last name from my first husband – Poletz (poh-LETS) that was the funny thing. Poltez, Pollock, Poltiz, Potletz, Plotez. My maiden name wasn’t much better…double vowels are rather tricky in English. I’m thankful that I have a much easier last name now :)
Thanks Cindy! oh er… I mean.. Wendy.. no, no… Mindy!! :P
Hahaha.. your post is really hilarious. My name is Miki, and they never fail to spell it Mickey, Micky, Nicky, Niki, and some other bizarre ones.
Sounds bizzare to me :)
I feel your pain, Phoebe. I go by a nickname, but I often have to use my real name for legal documents and other stuff. My nickname is “Rami”, my real name “Ephraim”. They are pronounced “raw-me” and “Eh-fry-am”.
Somehow though, people always botch it up. I’ve heard everything, including Ethan and Ethran for my real name, and Raimie and Romey for my nickname. I used to get all bento out of shape over it, but now I just accept it.
This happens to me all the time. My name is Tianna (pronounced TEA-ANNA) and before people called me Tatiana, Tanya, Tina, Tania, Tie-anna, etc. Now ever since Princess & the Frog, it’s Tiana. lol. damnit.
filet!! that is out of control. my name sounds simple, but is spelled in a unique way–arinn, pronounced the same way as ‘erin’. but i get all sorts of crazy pronunciations (AHrinn, AYrinn, aRINN, etc) and even when i spell my name out some people have a hard time getting it right.
just a blessing from a unique parent, i guess! my mom loved the name ‘erin’ but hated the way her handwriting ‘e’s look, so changed it to ‘a’ and added an extra n. i like my unique name (puts me near the top of google searches, and makes me memorable) but sometimes it can be a pain in the ass.
As someone from Asia living here, I don’t have a name.
English name: I don’t identify with.
Original name: need to be romanized and then it’s weird+no one can pronounce it right.
giving initials: people still get strange look on their face when I said: just call me YJ
YJ sounds interesting
No professor except my advisor can remember my name. Nor my yoga teacher never praise me although I do yoga quite well–can’t remember my name. Lol.
Sorry but I had to laugh at Filet! Incredible how people can get things so wrong. I am lucky in having a relatively easy first name that people don’t tend to get wrong – Sam. But my surname causes great hilarity – Pope becomes Poke, Dope, etc. A friend of mine once said his name was Julio Iglesias (old Spanish crooner) for a joke at a pub but it fell spectacularly flat when the person couldn’t say it properly and no one knew what the heck they were saying!
superb posting. thanks for sharing it.
That was a fun read; enjoyed it. I often get called Josh. It used to puzzle me how Jason and Josh could get mixed up, but after doing a name study I found out that Josh (short for Joshua) is a Hebrew name that in Greek would have been losely translated as Jason. So, I guess it was my name after all. :)
Cute! My name is common: Sarah, but I frequently get Farrah or Tara written on my Starbucks…I always think to myself “If I had a lisp that would be one thing…but I don’t. How do they mess up Sarah?!”
My name is Tessa…but people often spell it “Tesa” or “Teffa”. I also get called Stefanie a lot when I first meet people and they take a guess at my name…and they often think I play soccer (which I definitely do not :P). People say don’t look like a Tessa, but I’m not really sure what a Tessa should look like!
I go by Rhys which, A is not my legal name so there’s some fun there…but i get variations including
Reese
Reece
rys
Reys
Rheys
Ryse
….it’s like everyone remembers there’s an H or a Y in there, but can’t quite grasp the no-vowels idea.
and my last name? Oi…it’s Tagalog, but everyone thinks it’s Italian. I won’t share it here for securiyt purposes, but will say that my last name got my the fun nickname one summer of Pistachio…
Do people pronounce it correctly?
I get everything from Reese to Rize to Rice…which is also sorta fun. :)
It seems you are not alone. You write about this so well. Thanks.
Thank you so much! Appreciate you reading it!
I get “Kathy”, “Caroline”, “Addie”, “Laurie”, and “Laura” depending on what syllables people catch. And you’d think a name like “Claudia” doesn’t have too many variations on spelling (or wouldn’t be too difficult to spell), but I’ve seen “Klaudia” “Cladia”, and “Claudya” written on my receipts.
Funny post! :)
My name is Rhea. I think it should be easy. Rhea Pearlman comes to mind and then Caroline Rhea came along and screwed all chances of pronouncing it correctly. Most people pronounce it Rae or Rae-uh. Or spell it R-I-A or R-E-H-A if they hear me correctly. I’ve been mistaken as Maria, Rita, Anita, Brita, Brea, “I’m sorry, what did you say?” or “Oh, is that short for Rhianna or Andrea?” No. Dammit. Just call me Rhe. And spell it Ree if you’re so inclined.
I think it’s just Starbuck Barista’s in general that can’t hear, I don’t think it has anything to do with what your actual name is. Maybe it’s all that foaming/steaming, has damaged their ears. My name is Sunshine. I went there once and they put ShinShin on my cup. I guess I just looked particularly Asian that day. :|
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My name is Magdalena. I get called Madeleine a lot, which I guess makes sense, but I also get called Maxine sometimes, which I don’t understand. More often, people can say it right but spell it wrong. I can’t really complain about that, I’ve misspelled my own name on numerous occasions.
Oh boy, can I relate. My name is Tayla (pronounced exactly as it’s spelled) and I get Taylor, Tyla, Talya, Kayla, and Cayla. When I go to Starbucks, I usually say my name is Tiara (it’s been my go-to fake name since I was like 12), and even that gets butchered. I think I’ll just start going by the letter T and see what happens.
Interesting name
I have the most common spelling of the name Melissa, but people always want to “jazz” it up, I blame the syndii’s and jaynee’s, and brytnee’s of the world, lol, but I’ve seen Meelisa, Melisa, Mylisa, Mellissa, Melissah, Malyssa, ect. I usually just go by Mel :)
Get my name remembered and spelt wrong. And my husband’s is as bad. Not difficult names, but too many alternatives and everyone thinks they know best. My children have v-e-r-y easy names.
At Starbucks though, I used to order a decaf skinny latte. They didn’t bother with a name, they always labelled them “harmless”.
I guess if Shakespeare would have been to Starbucks he would not have penned that famous line. Well he may have used his first name to order probably.
Hardik is a real name; can you imagine to what extent that is butchered?
http://www.babynamespedia.com/meaning/Hardick
My name is Jocelyn. Not terribly complicated, but at my job as an administrative assistant where I had to leave my name on numerous voice mails, people got it wrong more than you would believe, even though I always said my name twice. My very favorite was Dockwin. Dockwin! That’s not even a name!!
I am Katy, with a Y. Not Kathy, not Kate (which a former boss called me all the time – he though Katy was a little girl’s name). My given name is Kathleen, which I love, but I’ve just always been Katy. Or k8edid.
My name is BRIGEDA. like a brigade and a duh. My life can get pretty difficult.
I was dying laughing at this! Love it
Thanks for reading :)
My name is Brian Canever. Pretty simply stuff, right? Well, I’ve gotten Brain, Bryan, Byron, Abraham, Ryan, and Mr. Canrurr, Caneever, and Coniver, among others. Quite shocking.
I’m Abby. I get Amy on a near-daily basis, often from people who know me well. A couple of weeks ago, a woman I’ve worked with for almost two years called me Amy twice in a span of five minutes. I guess Amy is just easier to remember for some reason.
ummm how about a played a name game with Starbucks a while back! They’re awful sometimes! They only really ever get it right if you go to the same Starbucks all the time. Check it out: http://thesuaz.wordpress.com/category/today-my-name-is/
Aw, I do sympathise, but I also work at Starbucks. At my store we’ve only just started asking names and it’s really bloody hard! There’s usually a blender going in your ear and you’re thinking about the panini you need to take out before it burns and we have a lot of pissed off people wondering why we’re asking their names in the first place, so we’re too afraid to ask them to repeat or spell it… I’m just saying… it’s a job… and we don’t always get it right… but we do try… honest!
I bet its not easy
No worries when you get it wrong. We don’t really mind (don’t really know about all the other people, though, but I’d say there are worse things to be angry at… for me it’s just something funny that makes me grin). :) Thank you all for trying. And thanks for the nice chai latte.
Aw, that’s sweet! I do understand it’s funny and I think if anyone’s got rubbish service on top of a misspelt name, then they should rant away. But if you’ve had a nice barista who has tried hard and made you a good drink then it probably is just an honest mistake.
Thanks for reading and commenting! Let me just say that if the lovely folk at Starbucks ever cut me off from coffee, I would very much struggle to function… I need you!! If a misspelled name is the worst thing that happens to me all day, I’ve got it pretty good :)
Businesses insisting on using one’s forename, even if they then get it right? All too much for me.
I’m Margo … I get Margie, Margaret, Marg, Marge, Maggie, Marjorie, and I was even called Marko once. There’s no ‘t’ on the end (i.e, the French spelling, Margot) but I had a teacher once who insisted on adding it, and then he’d call me Mar-got. Sheesh! The last name is Hungarian (my husband’s country of birth) and the pronunciation has been ‘Anglicized’ over the years (as: Ka-roll-ee) but you wouldn’t believe the many different ways we hear people trying to say it (some are downright ridiculous …) Great post!
Margo, people often think my name derives from Margaret. I keep on telling them it is simply MAGGIE. How hard can that be? The guys at Starbucks just write Magz which it is a lot easier for them. To think a woman here in the city (NYC) got offended when a barista wrote “The Bitch” on her cup :). I wouldn’t mind the name if that guarantee I’ll get my drink in less than 5 minutes LOL.
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My name is Shira. In starbucks I just say Sarah. It’s easier.
My name is Nicky. I am a bloke. People in Starbucks have always spelt it correctly but my boss and my college tutor always spell it NIKKI! That’s a girl’s name and it pees me off! Yay to Starbucks Baristas! Great post too :)
My name is Olichel its funny how people always tell me that they never heard of it before
There isn’t enough space in the comment box to go into everything I’ve been called. My first name is Cheri (pronounced “cherry”, yeah like the fruit…or pie) which is what I usually end up explaining to people. My last name is Thacker (pronounced every way except phonetically, as it should be.) But it’s funny I saw your post today because I just told in my blog how a computer (which scanned my driver’s license) gave me a name tag that read “Reri Hacker!” Great post!
Oh, this is fun. My name is Taryn (pronounced like Karen) and my husband’s is Vera. You can imagine; drunk people hate making our acquaintance. I’ve been everything from Karen, Terry (I have an aunt Karen, married to a man named Terry. I refuse to go to their house). Tara, Tayrin, Tyren, Tyrone. I guess it’s better than the blank stares my husband gets.
My name is Eileen and I get my name spelled and pronounced wrong on a daily basis. In school, the teachers would look at my name and call out “Elaine,” or “Ellen.” The spelling is even worse. I had many people spell my name Eillen – the most common mistake. I would say “Ellie” when I order Starbucks. My husband’s name is Dawen and he simply just says “David.”
Though my first name is Gina, at home and at school I go by Antonietta, which teachers were always mispronouncing. I had a French teacher who would always call me ‘Antoniette’ and spell it that way too, even on papers I handed in to him that I had written my name on.
Anyway, I have a “coffee name” that I always use now – Jessica.
when i began reading your post, i said your name like “pho-bee”. i had to think a minute to recall the quirky friend’s character. great post!
what ever happened to Jane and John. Now no one would mess those names up. HAHAHA. I feel your pain…not that I ever had anyone say mine wrong. I am on the other end of the stick. I am the teacher on the first day of school looking at my rooster of 120+ names and trying to guess how they should be pronounced…getting 3/4 wrong….then writing a series of letters and notes to help me remember how to pronounce them again on Day 2. This was an excellent post. Laughed so hard. Thanks for sharing
that’s an interesting post! My name is Jean-Ne. When I say “Jean-Ne” in Starbucks, I get Jenny, Genie, Ginny, Inny, Ni (??)…..I thought it would be better if I say my name is “Jean”, but I get Gen, Jin, Gin, Jian…..and my gender always change in writing (I am always mistaken as Mr. Jean).
Tend to be in the same boat too – Brianna but I get Bree, Binna, Brin, Brian-a, Brinna, I think people just like to spell it wrong mainly! However, I’ve implemented a new scheme – to give a different, and random, name everytime I order – it mixes it up a bit! x
My name is KellyAnn and, no matter what, no one at Starbucks can spell it right. I think the worst misspelling was “Keli-ane”. I mean, really.
And another time, my friend Shayne got her name spelled as “Shade”. That one was pretty funny.
I cannot tell you how happy this post makes me. My name is Allison and I cannot tell you how many people have the most difficult time with it. I have gotten the following: Allissoon, Alision, Aliysson, Ashley and Alicia….
My name is not as difficult as it is made to be, but neither is yours, Fee Bee. :)
Why on earth we give our babies with these names: Apichatpong and Weerasethakul? I don’t think I could ever pronounce it properly. Btw, I like the name Phoebe.
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I think those are Thai names. It’s not weird for them and they can easily pronounce it. Whereas for us foreigners who aren’t used to the way they enunciate, we’re helpless.
My name is Lakia, but I just cut it short and have people call me Kia. It’s easier lol
My mates often call me Jojo. They sometimes spell it as Jhojo or Jojho. My first name is Johnny. They misspell it as Jhony. My second name is Josef. I’m cool if they make the common mistake of spelling it as Joseph but Jhosef? C’mon. I mean what the fuck is up with the “H”?
Hehe, thank you for that, it brightened up my day.
My name is Kerstin, not much of a problem in Germany. Visiting english speaking countries I’ve been through Kirsten (I can live with that), Kristen, Katie and this one here: http://welikethemoon.wordpress.com/2011/09/04/uber-den-wolken/#wpcom-carousel-1717.
Right now I’m living in Bolivia which makes things even harder. NO ONE ever gets it right, the closest so far has been Kristina. Oh well. Don’t ask about them copying and/or reading out my name when they see it written (Kersting, Krestin). Luckily I have german speaking friends here, too.
My maiden name is McMenamin. I win. (lol-)
Funny post. You had me laughing.
Starbucks rarely gets it right with the names. Mine is more common than yours, but it’s never once been spelled correctly, and no one has ever cared to ask.
By the way, Phoebe is a cute name.
I have probably the single most common name (with the single most common spelling) of the past 100+ years. OK, make that 11th most popular, but you get the drift. It is almost never spelled correctly, but the most COMMON misspelling isn’t even the other “right way” to spell the name. Instead, more people think it is spelled Sahara than any other spelling. I’m wondering how many people will actually read “Sarah” when they see that.
I SO love this topic! I remember posting on MySpace (way) back in the day about how my name was spelled with a 7. That’s right: a numeral 7. Now, I get birthday cards from friends “in the know” sent to “Eli7abeth”. LOL!
My name is Linda. Should be easy, right? Wrong. For the first 27 years of my life I was CONSTANTLY called Lisa. It stopped as soon as I got married. Now no one calls me Lisa. I truly can’t figure it out.
By the way, I have noticed that nothing gets a conversation going, and keeps it going, like a discussion about names. Try it at a party sometime. Or blog about it, right? You have a LOT of comments on this post!
Congratulations on being freshly pressed.
Good post and congrats on getting freshly pressed!
My name is Montana. Yes, that’s my real name. I have been called Marcianna, and Bertha…. -_-
What I get most often is people calling me other States ” Wyoming, Dakota, Utah. I usually give the fake chuckle, all the while thinking to myself you SO original …
The people at Starbucks just call me Ivy, because I have ivy painted on my car.
I love this post. My friends and I would often have a discussion about Starbucks and our names. Iphigene is my second name, not easy so I don’t use this for starbucks, but I do use ‘Mary.” It’s fairly easy and straight forward. The funny thing is they spell it as “Marry” and “Merry.” Ok, I forgive the latter, but the former? Who names anyone in reference to marriage?! On other times they write Meryl, Perry, and Ferry. Oh and yes, for some odd reason somebody also wrote Katie.
Its a rarity to get my name spelled right.
My name is Gloria. Lori, Dorian, Tori and even Coloria are just a few of the names I get my named changed by. I do have to admit that, sometimes, I am relieved when people think my name is other than Gloria so I’m spared from the ¨G-L-O-R-I-A Gloooooria¨ and other spontaneous singing sessions that include my name as a song title.
My name is Phoebe too!!! But when it comes to ordering coffee, food, frozen yoghurt etc my name is Amy…
I’ve seen some crazy spelling’s of our name and even met girls who spell it FeeBee… !! I’m pretty sure our mum’s got it right with the Phoebe spelling :)
Actually I have worked at Starbucks, so sorry about that.
This is so great, and judging by all the comments, this happens much more often than we’d think! I’m Lillian and that’s always a doozy for Starbucks (and people in general). I’ve gotten Vivian, Lily, and Lydia which are understandable. And then there was William. The barista looked extremely confused when a girl walked up to claim the coffee for “William.”
Congrats on the Freshly Pressed!
Damn! this hilarious!
I’m sorry to hear about your predicament, mainly because I cannot stop giggling and I know how frustrating it can get. My name is Martyna, yes, with a “Y”, so I often get confused looks as to how to pronounce it: “Mar…tayna” “Mar…tinya”. And sometimes I just get Tina. Grr… So now I just go with Marty, which seems to be just as confusing as everyone is expecting me to be a bloke! *sigh*
Not Starbucks related but one of my colleagues used to call me Isabelle. My name is Abigael.
…Don’t forget Alyssa Milano’s character on Charmed.
Considering my name is five letters long and relatively simple, I too am surprised at the number of Starbucks baristas that get my name wrong. Usually its Molly, Holy, Collie, Dolly and then after awhile I start having fun and say “Ollie Olive.” loved your post!
…Don’t forget Alyssa Milano’s character on Charmed.
Considering my name is five letters long and relatively simple, I too am surprised at the number of Starbucks baristas that get my name wrong. Usually its Molly, Holy, Collie, Dolly and then after awhile I start having fun and say “Ollie Olive.” I loved your post!
My name is Laura, but am often called “Lauren” or “Laurie” and once I even got renamed “Stephanie”. I don’t think anyone at my last job even knew my real name! To prevent the problem, I’ve tried pronouncing my name more distinctly, in case my diction was getting in the way, but people still can’t get my name right. Maybe we’re all just going deaf.
Thanks so much for sharing your story, Phoebe! :D
In middle school, I visited a nursing home and went around talking to the residents. One lady asked what my name was and she said, “oh, Magots, nice to meet you.” it was a lost cause to try to explain my name.
Then in college, I was at a party and a girl i had sat with at lunch on numerous occasions in the good old dining hall introduced me to some of her friends. Granted, we hadn’t seen much of each other since our one semester hanging out, but she introduced me as “Bree.” I had to awkwardly re-introduce myself.
Awesome post!
lol, mine is not as traumatic as yours, but getting called “christine,” instead of “christinA” has been annoying since…oh let’s see… i was able to speak, lol…good luck! :)
Hi Phoebe. I have name issues as well. Not pronunciation, but the issue I have is that I always have to spell it. Now, at the doctors office or for a plane ticket. I get it, it has to be spelled correctly, but at Starbucks. I know there are several ways to spell my name. I don’t care how you spell. Just get me my coffee. Every time they ask me, how do you spell that, I want to say, L.a.u.r.a or something ridiculous, but again, that would delay me getting my coffee.
Before I was married, my name was Martin Grimes. On the phone one day, I had spelt out my name 3 times before the guy on the other end had a moment of realisation and said “Oh – Grimes – as in dirt?”
Funny comments on this post which remind me of a period in my childhood where I would have to spell out my name for others for them to really “hear” it.
Great post, I love how you made a great point towards the second half of it (regarding how everyone could have your problems too). I love your article also about identity. It’s quite true. The web alone allowed us all to experience different identities (or variations of it) with the option to have different screen-names and personas whenever we like. Many artists change their names as we see in the music industry alone, there are dozens! Writers have been known to use pen names. And actors can’t really possess (or be possess by) a character until they accept it as a new identity… at least that’s for good actors, but that’s a whole other story!
Intrigued to read more of your work. Thanks for sharing =)
This post & comments are quite amusing. I wouldn’t think Phoebe would be such a hard name to get! And for what it’s worth, it’s a very pretty name.
My name is Amanda, which you would think is common enough that I would never have any problems. And I don’t ever have any problems with it – outside of the U.S. After living in Canada for a decade and travelling to several Spanish, French and Portuguese countries (where it is also a common name), I have gotten used to pronouncing all of the As softer than most other Americans. But that became problematic: once I started to call myself “A-mahn-da” instead of Amy-n-deh, most Americans actually hear “Samantha.” I usually don’t bother to correct them unless I have to, lest I sound snobby for pronouncing my name too well. So, in the U.S., at Starbucks and elsewhere, I am Samantha. A name which, apparently, permits softer As in the U.S. than Amanda.
AMAZING post!! This happens to me every time, although I get them misspelling my name as opposed to a completely different word all together. Maybe it’s a morning thing?
my name is Brittany. not too too difficult. Unfortunately I live in Quebec and its not easy to pronounce in french, so i usually need to add “like britney spears” after the third failure to get them anywhere near close
My name is a shortened version of my middle name “lyndell” lynde ( pronounced lyn D) is what I go by and always have. No one can ever spell it right the first time and I always get called Wendy on the phone. Then they go to Lindsey. I just let it slide till they meet me in person and even then it’s not always right. And my new last name present even more of a challenge. It’s pronounced “a bear” French.
haha as I read your last name (as a montrealer) I read Hébert (A bear).
Ah, it’s not just me! :-). I so feel you in this. I have accepted that my name is “anything that starts with a K”. I just answer now…. even when they don’t even start with a K :-)
haha :)
Great Post! I loved it!! I’ve had the name problem at Starbucks too! I’ve been called Crystal, Cris, Chrussy, Christine, Camereon (haven’t a clue where that came from), You, Brown hair, On the Phone, #4, Haz (probably cause I always get a hazelnut latte), Chris, Chrestena, Krystyna, and my favorite: Carl. LOL :-) When I started saving the cups, my kids though I was nuts!
I have the opposite problem. People are usually able to speak my name until I spell it. My name is Katja with a ‘j’ (because I am German). As soon as they see it written they pronounce it somehow like ketchup. I should probably just spell it with an ‘i’ or ‘y’. Oh well…..
That was really funny. My names Krystal with a K, crazy i know. I once had a man tell me he never heard my name before and it was unique. Not really but thanks.
My name is Khan…Carl and Kane are the two i get the most.
I introduce myself as Khan and people always say Carl, then when I correct them they will more often then not have a stab at Kane, which sounds nothing like either Khan or Carl… very frustrating so now I just go by either my initials KP or my last name Porter as people seem to nail that one haha
great post love hearing that I’m not the only one who gets ticked of by this :)
I can understand this very well. I have a similar problem. My name is Jay Dee, but I hear Jamie, Jay Bee, Dee Jay, Joy, Jay Jee, etc.
I get that a lot, Starbucks and everywhere else. But hooray because at least our names give us stories to tell =)
I have a friend called Narinder that has a “Coffee Alias” that she uses especially at Starbucks, Gloria Jean and such coffee places. She obviously has A LOT of difficulties getting her name through. My name, Sylvia, is often spelled incorrectly. When I feel like it, I just make up a completely new name, why ever not? :P
But thanks for writing about it, it made me smile :P
Haha! I can relate to this. I know my name is not that hard to pronounce and I don’t have any speech problem. It’s often that some people call me Audrey, it’s fine. But some have called me Obey, Ofie and others that I can’t remember. I have to spell it and sometimes, write it down.To solve this, I introduce myself with my nickname – Au.
Congratulations for making to the freshly pressed!
So my name is Jody…sounds fairly simple yes? I once worked as a temp where I was called Cody or Toby! I decided I kinda liked Toby, so I never did correct anyone. Funny how you can work with the same people everyday for six months and nobody knows your real name! Haha….great post BTW
lol I hate my name; it’s Jeorgian, pronounced George-Anne.
I always get George-Inn all the time! My favorite is by a substitute teacher in middle school, He-Or-Jen ! OHH terrible lol
Great post! I hate when people spell my nickname a million different ways. Madi (is how you spell it) but I get Matty, Maddy, Maddie, Maddi, Maddie. Grr! Looks like a lot of people can relate to your post!
I work at Starbucks and, as a journalism student, I pride myself on spelling names correctly. Recently I asked a man for his name and he replied “it’s too complicated for you” but I insisted and he was utterly surprised when I spelt Constantine correctly. Other names I’ve had are Jacqueline, Gaye (a lady who was surprised I put the ‘e’ on the end), and Marimoko. Thank you mum for teaching me to read and write before I went to school. These days, I’m embarrassed by the lack of correct spelling, punctuation and grammar. If I marked your cup, your grande skinny latte would say ‘Phoebe’.
Wow! You are shining beacon of spelling hope at Starbuck’s, it’s lovely that someone out there is taking the time to really car about people’s names and make them feel important – keep it up :) and thanks for reading this and taking the time to comment, it’s appreciated!
Awkwardly… I just realised I should not have put that ‘ in Starbucks :S
I get called “Georgia” all the time. My name is Bella so I dont know how that works. My friend is also called Phoebe and she gets the weirdest names thrown at her too, we’ve taken to calling her “Jeff” to annoy her sometimes hehe :P
I used to work answering phones and introducing myself as Jen to which people in their feeble attempts to confirm would reply: J? Joy? Huh? Once I even got Sin! Now I say Jennifer which doesn’t rhyme or remotely sound like anything. Even my boss can’t say my surname though… Thanks for the hilarious post!
Great post! My name is Kavitha, which isn’t the most common name in the US, and yet Starbucks has gotten it correct nearly every time. Go figure!
hey nice read …my names is Azmina …..and my passport says AZAMINA!!!!, i get many variations but never bang on right …even after spelling it to them, they give me all these: ASSMINA, ANJIMA, AAZMIN, …its difficult for people to pronounce “A” and “Z” together ….please include my name in the Starbucks basic induction training!!! :)
I get extremely irritated by people who spell/pronounce my name incorrectly. But after a lot of similar incidents, I have grown used to it. And sometimes, I get so fed up and don’t bother correcting them. So, I know exactly how you feel! :D
I can totally relate! My legal name is Lucre. Correcting pronunciations and spellings has been a way of life for me (since Kindergarten) which is why I sometimes opt to give cess, the shortened version of my nickname princess. Lucre (pronounced as looker) becomes Locker, Louker, Lurker and various other murdered versions of my name. Lol!
My name is Ingra Mayenzet. It’s never been pronounced correctly and it certainly is never spelled correctly, but it served me well in grade school, where the only tease I received for my moniker was “Ingra Bingra”. My best friend’s last name was Packabusch and she sure didn’t fair as well!
My name is Alicia (pronounced A-lee-sha) but somewhow people always mistake it for Felisha (or however one would speel such a terrible name), and other than that its usually Lisa. funny trying to correct them though.
I was called Larry instead of Harry a few times :/
My name is Manon, and even though I’m pretty sure it’s a real easy name to spell, some people still manage to spell it the wrong way. And I’ve stopped keeping track of how many times people thought my name was Marion.
Nice post! My name is Fiedes (pronounced Fee-des) and have been called so many names especially Edith or Phyillis. Some would be shocked because they thought I just said “fetus.” I would usually spell it out but even then they can still get it wrong. There was this guy I dated who was stressing out because he couldn’t pronounce my name properly. He wondered if I’d correct him if we were in the middle of something romantic. Ha! (We eventually broke up for a different reason.)
I’m a Sara pronounced Sarah not Sara, but now I pretty much answer to either as sooo many people get it wrong. I have even had people telling me I’m pronouncing my name wrong, my own name! I think I of all people know what I’m called!
Great post, very enjoyable:)
Hi Phoebe – it´s a pretty name! As you can see, all guys who in their comments mentioned that they have often the same problem with their names, like you. So don´t worry about the confusion – your friend, Katie is right. It doesn´t matter what your name really is; some people will still get it wrong. You´re the one who knows, who you really are … :-)
Greetings from Germany,
Sunelly Sims
Funny how some seemingly simple names still get butchered all the time. My name is Nellwyn, and yes I am female. I used to be put into the boys’ list in school because they thought Nellwyn was a boy’s name. I googled it and it’s in fact a girl’s name. Anyhow, my variations have ranged from Nellywyn, Newlyn, Nelwin, Nellyn. My old boss told me he could never remember my name so he (and the whole office) called me Nellie.
I used to go by my nickname and more recently my nickname has turned into Gwenna. I dont even bother correcting people anymore.
Hi! I can very much relate with the article and how you feel when they get it wrong. Name’s Carl and I get to repeat my name 3 or 4 times before they get it right. I’ve been called ART or EARL.
WOW! It’s amazing and humbling to find so many people with (who in my opinion have) common names having to correct other people on how to spell/pronounce it. My name has always been confusing – Mirei. Being Japanese, the ‘r’ is pronounced somewhere in between r and l – but the non-Japanese side of my family have anglecised my name so I’ve always pronounced it like “Mi-lay”. The variations people come up with are very creative: Maree, Millie, Mira, Moira, Muriel, Meryll… I adoped another name at Starbucks at one point: Leah. But the variations on that were just as numerous.
My name’s Claire which once again shouldn’t be too hard. Starbucks employees normally get it right after about 4 attempts but about 2 years ago I got sick of the struggle and simply said my name was Christmas. They get it right every time ;).
My name is Clare. – Pronounced exactly the same as Claire, when I started College, no-one in my entire class of 30 had ever seen my name spelt without the ‘i’ in it – when the read out the register they spent several minutes calling out: “Clarr-eee” It took me a while to realise that they were tying to call out MY name.
People also misspell my name in emails – by adding the ‘i’ to it even when they’ve typed it correctly in my email address – I find if I reply putting a random ‘i’ somewhere in their name they tend to remember the next time!
Great Post! x
Thank you so much for everyone who has read this post and taken the time to comment, it seems where I thought I was one of a very few having name problems… it happens to all of us! Looks like I won’t be changing it to ‘Spoon’ after all. As one man commented, we’ve got first world problems.
Thanks for all the likes and follows, I only started blogging recently to follow my love of writing, having people actually read it means the world to me.
Phoebe
My name is Robin and when I introduce myself, people always take the “n” away as if my name is Robbie/Robby. I usually repeat myself with an overly-emphasized “N” at the end. Reading other comments, I guess mine is not too bad.
Not intending to be rude, but I really found your story hilarious :) The way people screw our names sometimes is overwhelming. Thanks for sharing and made my day :D
Thanks for the laugh! You have my sympathy. My real name gets butchered all the time, especially my last name. It’s pronounced wrong more often than not. I’ll spell it for people, and they almost always transpose the two middle letters. I’ll correct them, and they’ll read it back to me still transposed! *sigh* My first name is Erica, and it winds up being spelled with a k or ck more often than not. There’s been a few times it’s come back with a cc or kk. And that’s when they get it right! I’ve been called Heather and Jennifer more times than I can count. I personally prefer the Starbucks where they announce the drink instead of the name. I’ll answer to “chai frappachino with a shot of espresso” faster than I will to Jessica!
I feel yours and everyone else’s pain :\
I’m a Chinese with no given English name. I’ve been called ‘Sweater’, ‘Sweat Er’, ‘Cheh Er’ and ‘Sue Er’ by some people but since most can’t even pronounce or bother to call me by my given name, they call me by my family name which is ‘Ding’ in pinyin (due to different dialects) but pronounced ‘Chen’. Oh, but they don’t stop there. They make fun of my family name as well. I receive no ends of ‘Ding Dong Bell’s everyday. Though, you know what’s sadder? Even other people of the same race can sometimes mispronounce my name. Shameful. (I’ve been once placed as a ‘male’ on my report book as well when the front page says ‘female’.)
As for Starbucks, after numerous and tiring attempts of trying to get the person to get my name right at every Starbucks branch I go to, I gave up and used whatever celebrities’ name I know ’cause apparently nobody ever gets their name spelled wrong *sighs*
Hahaha, Thanks Filet, i just giggled my way through your post. Great writing :)
What she order? Fish filet!? :P
Thanks craigontoast!
Interesting one like it very much….
Funny post and very true! I miss Starbucks’ frapps! About the name thing, maybe if you just give a name easy to spell like “Mary”, then this funny situation will not happen to you anymore. I have problems when I would give my name as well, because a common mistake is to spell my name as “Francis”. So now I just say “Frances — it’s spelled like the country France, but with an ‘s’ at the end”. Once one barista misheard me, and put “Princess” on the cup — that mistake was just fine with me, lol!
i want starbucks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Filet…hilarious! I’m Fern, not many ways you can spell it, it’s an actual plant, people know it, it grows in most places, but somehow no one ever gets it right?! I get a lot of Fran, Frank, Fem, Fleur, Fur…seriously, Fur?! Now I tend to create an alias name when ordering coffee, meeting people in bars etc. Especially since I’m living in Italy, try getting an Italian to say Fern correctly, you’d think they could role an ‘r’ right?!
Haha, this was great. I am Kylie, and even in the USA I get Kaley, Kailee, and strangely enough Tylie a lot.
Now my husband (Jeremy) and I live in Turkey. I just got an engraved gift with Kayli on it (the phonetic spelling of my name in Turkish) and I usually get called Katie, Kayla, or Kyla. My name is pretty difficult for the Turks, and my husband has just given up and adopted the name Cem (pronounced gem) for ordering purposes. He got confused with Germany quite a few times, and usually we see his name spelled Ceremi.
I don’t always look at the Starbucks cups anymore, because I get that same confused look and know it’s mine. I’ll have to start documenting what I get!!
Thanks for the great post!!
Congrats on being Freshly Pressed! I love this post, it makes me think of the Ting Ting’s song “That’s Not My Name”…My name is Krista. Which to my knowledge, is not a particularly unusual name. That being said, I’ve gotten Krystal, Kristen, Christy, Christi, Chrystal, and even Kirsten. With that in mind, I think opting for Spoon is looking more and more like a viable choice…
Phoebe is on the short list of girl’s names that I LOVE… but perhaps I should reconsider for the sake of ordering coffee?
My boyfriend’s last name is Wishon. Like Wish On. It’s very super simple. But no one ever gets it right. Ever.Not when we order take out. It’s not printed correctly on bills (despite spelling it out 17 times) The name badge in the back of all his work uniforms says “Wilson”. So he started just using his first name, Chad. Last time we went to Starbucks his coffee cup said “Ted”.
Sarah, Sharon, Sherry, Shirley, and many more…none of which are my name! I always enjoy that brief pause in between saying my name and when they actually begin to write it.
I have begun to take pictures of my cups…I want to see how many wrong ones I can collect!
Reblogged this on calmyourbeans.
Lol maybe the people at Starbucks didn’t go to school lol! Can’t believe they can’t spell your name. My second name is Samios and I always have a similar problem. I get all sorts of weird and wacky names lol!
nice one.
http://www.seawindsolution.com
I laughed out loud! Great entry. And yes I have a Dutch name – Ieteke – that is with an ‘i’. I think most people get my name wrong, a handful get it right the first time! I already know if they need to call out my name and there is a pause….it must be me! Positive is that they won’t forget you if you have a difficult, unpronounceable name!
This was fabulous. :) My entire life, I’ve been called the wrong name…and my name is far from unusual! People can’t get it right. I’m always Chrissy, Kristin, Kristine, Crystal…never Christine. My Starbucks barista even knows my name, but always spells it Christeen. Have you ever met a Christeen? I haven’t. I give up.
My name is Kristine and people always get it the other way around! Even my best friend, when writing me a card a year after we’d first met, wrote my name Christine. Maybe we should switch towns! Then people would get it right. :D
That’s hilarious! Nobody EVER writes Christine the first time for me. It’s always with a K! It’s nice to know I’m not alone, though. ;)
hahahaha…I love your post…and it’s true. In my case, Sharlyn becomes Charlene or Shirlyn…and the simple Sha becomes Cha…I’m also baffled by this phenomenon in Starbucks…that’s why I’m so happy when I receive a cup that has the correct spelling on it… ^^
Reblogged this on Pausing to Capture Moments.
I used to work at Starbucks and I may have been the only “partner” that cared about name spelling. BUT more likely than not, it would get called out wrong anyway. My name is Rachel (another famous Friend) and people have actually seen my name and said “Rack-el” (with a “K” sound). I thought Rachel was pretty easy!
Hahaha I laughed out loud reading this one :)
I had a classmate named Inigo. When we first met our teacher, she said hello to everybody there, asking their names each time. So when she came up to him, she asked his name and he said “My name is Inigo.”
Then she said, “Hello, Amigo.”
“No, it’s Inigo.”
“Oh, right, Indigo.”
Then he just gave up.
Hahaha :D
Hey there,
Congratulations on getting Freshly Pressed. This is a great post. There was a time that my name was commonly butchered. Recently though, thanks to the success of a certain British judge on a singing competition show, people have become much more familiar.
Thanks for the laugh, and congrats on being Freshly Pressed! The “name” problem is unfortunately all too familiar for me; My given name’s Larisa, it’s a Russian name by origin (pronounced close to “la-riih-sa”), but both pronunciation and spelling are impossible for the Dutch (Larissa, Larrisah etc), so after high school I decided to go by “Lara”, which is a common nickname for Larisa’s all over the place (just like in Dr. Zhivago!). But still they get it wrong more often than not; I’ve been called Laura, Clara, Dara etc., even in e-mail replies! And if they do get it right, it’s standard “Oh, Lara Croft!”, I even had a supplier at my previous job sending me invoices with “Lara Croft” on them!
Great read!
Feel your pain even though one would think it should be hard to get Laura wrong…
Okay, you get Lora..but I regularly get called Moira, Mara, Lauren (at least it is close!).
Cheers,
Laura
My legal name is Jetty. That said, every day is a struggle.
I’m Rachel and even on legal documents, I find that someone has decided that I’m Rachael, Rachal or Raquel. Then I’ve been call Patrica and Ashley.
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My sister is called Susannah, but for some long-forgotten reason we all call her ‘Spoon’. She calls herself ‘Scooby’, but her boyfriend calls her ‘Sooz’. I don’t know what the good people at Starbucks call her, though. Probably Geoff, or something like that.
Reblogged this on Violet Silhouette of … and commented:
:))))))))))
Really enjoyed this post, its very funny and so too are some of the comments. My name is Zara, which is pretty straight forward (I think so anyway) yet several people call me Sarah, or Sara, I know they aren’t as different as some others that I have seen, and yours too, but its clearly a ‘Z’ at the front :)
Oh wow! You are famous, haha! I’m Alexandra. Not hard, huh? But when I introduce myself as ‘Alex’ I make people go crazaaaay. Why? They keep staring and asking, ‘you’re not a guy, right?’
I mean, what the hell? I just wanna make it easier for them and they ask me if I’m a guy? Of course not!
Great laugh and great post.
I’m an Alexandra too, and they ask me that same question. But this one girl in a Chinese take-out asked for my name and when I read the receipt the name typed-in was “Anetz”.
What theeee..? Weird people, haha.
Hahaha. Same here :) My name is Anne Jeline but they always spell it like this: A-N-G-E-L-I-N-E. Haha.
Love it! My name is Portia, but is spelled Poarche. I am sure you can imagine my pain! Got to love my mama. :-)
Oh God, you don’t even know how many times I have to spell out my first and last name…oh well, I suppose being unique is always a good thing!
Hahahahaha.
Why did Starbucks start doing that anyway? I went the other day, and when they guy asked my name, I was like, “Excuse me?” (Because men in The Bahamas will hit on you at ANY time.) I was SO surprised when they pronounced it right, AND the spelling was A-L-I-C-I-A.
I have introduced myself to people, “I’m Uh-LEE-see-uh,” and gotten the “Hi, Uh-LEESH-uh.” *rolls eyes* People are just too lazy to pay attention, and then repeat properly. Much easier to just say what they feel like.
My mom’s name is Jill, and she gets Jillian all the time.
My name is said El-sa, but spelt Else. Add this to the fact that no one else in the whole of Britain is called that and you have utter confusion. Else (as in ‘or else’), Elsie, Ellie, Elaine, Ailsa, Ulcer, the list is endless and increasingly ridiculous.
I am also a Fibi/Feebee/Phobe/Pheobe/Fifi/What was that? OH! Phoebe, like on Friends! I’ve never gotten Debbie, but if I say my name over the phone, I get a lot of “Stevie?” back. Sometimes, when they need a name and I know I’ll never see them again, I’ll give my middle name – Ann. Nice, safe, easy to pronounce Ann.
I am well aware of that confused Starbucks barista look, it’s the same one I’d get at the start of every school year from teachers. However, one particular barista at my local Starbucks has made it a point to know my name and gets it right every time.
Oh my gosh, yes I forgot about Stevie… I get Stevie all the time! And because I have blonde hair they instantly say ‘Oh yes, like Stevie Nicks’… no… not like Stevie Nicks.
I’m a brunette. I get a lot of “Gee, I thought you’d be blonde, you know, like the Friend’s chick.” sigh. Someday, I will burst into “Smelly Cat”, just to see how they react….
I like having a one-syllable name. Easy to remember. My last name’s another story though… :/
This is too funny. My name is Moira and my maiden name was even worse. A substitute teacher once thought my name was a misprint. I get Myra, Moria, Maria, Maura, Maori, and Mo. At work, I had to remind people not to “correct” the spelling of my name, or emails wouldn’t come through. Of course, this has made me try to be particular about getting other people’s names right. Let’s face it, if they had any interest in impressing you, they’d make an effort, at least. Makes me think Starbucks’ arrogance goes beyond their pricing, though, when a local barista can’t look you in the eye long enough to make sure she got close to the right name! Thanks for the giggle,and congrats on being Freshly Pressed!
I know your pain. My name is Alicia and I honestly thought having a singer (Keys) with the same spelling and pronunciation would have helped but I’ve never met anyone who spells it right the first try. I’ve actually started a game out of photographing receipts/coffee cups with the way people spell my name. The struggle…
Maybe they should run a training day for Starbucks staff and teach them how to spell names & listen properly. Lovely your story though. Well done.
I’m loving this Starbucks name thing. Today I said my name was Red. They looked a bit baffled. I love toying with them! Next time I might say my name’s Madonna.
I’m Danielle and I always get Jenny for some reason…
I like giving biblical names and have them saying it at loud when it is ready. Fun stuff!
Whenever I am in the USA, people routinely think I am called Alan- maybe my name, Callum, is quite rare over there? ALthough Starbucks didn’t have this problem, they just made their own up- Corely, I think it was. Not entirely sure that’s even a name…
I worked with a girl for over a year right beside me and called her Diane.One day someone came up to her and called her DeeDee and I said -no her name is Diane.Seems her name was DeeDee all along.I asked her why she let me call her Diane and she said “It doesn’t matter I knew who you were talking to.”I was embarrassed and elated at the same time that she liked me enough not to crown me.
Filet, huh? I had a co-worker named Dirk who got a letter addressed to him as Dirt. With a name like Linnea, I’ve seen everything, but I never met anyone who actually thought Dirt was a person’s name. Yes, Linnea IS a Swedish name, not Hawaiian (my pet peeve). Studies show people own “hear” their own names in an introduction, so I’ve stopped keeping track of how many times people say, “Nice to meet you, Linda.”
I love this! And yes, sympathy.
My name is Gwen Fyfe. When I was younger, I got “Glen” quite a lot, and “Ken” sometimes, because I looked so much like a guy. That annoyed me. When people realized I was female, I tended to get “Quinn” and “Ren” a lot, although that might have been influenced by living in such a hippy area. No one ever knew what to make of Fyfe either – I got myriad spellings, and people usually either pronounced it “Five” or “Fifi”. We had a piece of mail tacked up on our bulletin board at home on Parkside Drive, addressed to “Dr. Fifi at Darkside Drive”. Classic.
Now I’m in Scotland, and both Gwen and Fyfe are much more common – people even know that the name Fyfe is usually spelled with a Y, in contrast to the place which has an I. But for some reason, my accent just doesn’t translate over the phone, and half our clients seem to think that my name is “Kim Vice”.
Which is a great pseudonym, so I’ve stopped fighting.
Oh my word !!! I was laughing so hard I had teard coming out of my eyes. I had to stop and wipe them away several times.
My name is Lynnette and people get it wrong but mostly when their spelling it. Linet or Lynette or Lynett. Lanat is the one that makes me say, “what’s wrong with your hearing?”
Um…where to begin. My name is Olga. At bars I used to get “wait, seriously?” Then I started to go by my Russian nickname – Olya. Which got lots of attention so my common-named friends, Ashley and Liz, made me introduce myself with less attention getting names. Anyway…at Starbucks I often get “Oda, Oga or Olda”, but luckily it’s short enough for me just to quickly spell out and I don’t have too much of a problem. Until someone couldn’t read their coworker’s handwriting and announced “Diga”.
But the absolute WORST was arriving for a job interview and having the secretary call the interviewer and say, “Ogre is here for her interview”. Clearly the person said “Who?!?!” to which she then answered very loudly, clearly and slowly “O-GRE”.
My sister is Xenia. Pronounced Ks-eh-nya. But I can’t even tell you how many times people would say “Like the warrior princess?”…and think they were hilarious. And then one time someone called her Kaslinka (most likely an attempt to combine her first and maiden lastname into one). I still call her that occassionally.
My brother is Alex. Obviously he never had to deal with any of that.
Man, you guys have some very interesting names!
Love this post! “Filet” definitely has some potential as a rising star on the baby name charts. Big points for uniqueness and it’s got that French flare that’s very on trend right now.
One time back in school my history teacher, God bless her; she’s lovely called me Lizzie (my twin sister’s name.) Embarrassing.
It’s one thing being called a different name of the same gender, but of the opposite sex!?
Excellent post!
Too funny! People often mistake me for world famous harmonica player Charlie McCoy. I know how you feel.
Charlie “I don’t play the harmonica” McCoin
http://www.charliemccoin.wordpress.com
Oh, I so know how you feel. My name (Maureen) is an endless source of confusion for Starbucks baristas (although having been a barista myself, I can sympathize with them as well). I’ve gotten Maria, Maurine, Morine, Marina, etc.
This post is too true, funny too. Can’t even imagine how many people miss spell my name and it is simple as heck.
Great job!
Seriously? As a “Kerri” I’ve been – Carol, Karen, Terry, Kelly, and not too mention the myriad of ways its been misspelled over the years. I think the worst though is when FB friends spell it wrong – for heaven’s sake – its right there in front of you…
Ahh, yes the name game. Been playing it my whole life & don’t see an end in sight.
This post made me laugh out loud! When I named my kids, I tried to give them names they would not have to spell out for people their entire lives…didn’t matter, people find a way to mess them up anyway! Congrats on Freshly Pressed!
Definitely been there! People always hear Cheryl as “Michelle,” so I’ve started telling Jamba Juice my name is Tavia (a nickname, long story). For a while it worked, but the last few times I’ve been there, they’ve started writing it down as Talia. Because L and V sound SO alike…!
Yesterday in a waiting room at a diagnostics clinic. The plebotomist reads from a clipboard:
“It’s not ‘Connie’, is it?”
“No, but that’s close enough.”
It’s Carrie. Even writing one’s name leaves room for confusion.
haha. love this. my last name is finlay. everyone spells it wrong. i remember venting about it to my mom and she told me to tell people “i am a fine lay without the e”. she never explained to me that i was also her pickup line. lol.
that **** IT was her pickup line. not me, that would be weird. haha.
I had this issue as well with my name being Lorne and I would get Warren or Gord, etc. So I decided one day to have fun with it and now when the barista asks the name I make one up of the cuff. I through out an Octavius or Tjorborn or Gimmel and may even add the appropriate accent. This usually pulls them out of their zombiehood, makes them laugh and gets the name right. I also never run the risk of getting the wrong coffee.
Cheers
I’m still not sure how people mistake Phoebe for Debbie. Phoeb and Deb don’t sound alike at all!
And I thought my name being misspelled on Starbucks cups irritated me…
Too true! My name is a little unusual, but at least it’s spelt the way it sounds. That doesn’t save me the effort of having to spell it for people, over and over, though.
I just tell them “Ryan Gosling”.
When they call it out it, it’s like they’re MAD hitting on me. Occasionally you get one that doesn’t play along and will just call out “Ryan” but I don’t let them off the hook; I’ll obnoxiously cup my ear and ask them if there’s a last name on it.
thats great!
My name is Anjeanette, I cannot count the number of misspellings, mispronunciations and just plain “huh?”s I have gotten over the years. I think my very favorite was An-Juan-Etta. My dad still calls me that.
Almost named my son Tucker until my husband invented “the playground test.”
Tucker, Bart and Richard failed.
I always get mistaken for “Diva”. Hmmmmmm…
My name is Karis. It rhymes with Paris. I got a lot of Candace growing up. ka-RIS, kha-ris, kris…. ugh. So when I was 18 I started using my middle name, Elizabeth. 14 years later, I still use it. Starbucks is usually pretty good…. the worst it tends to get is “elisabeth”. Then a few months ago, I recieved a cup that read, “Alesabit”. Holy Bananas!!
My name is Elizabeth and it gets messed up EVERYWHERE, especially in Europe- Elisabeth is what I get in an email response…when my name is in my email and my signature. Or I get Elizabet, Elisabet…not to mention a kid in 6th grade who thought I was named Alyssa, and the many people who forget my name and call me Emily.
And then my given last name, Mitchell- oh hell no. Mitchelle, Mitchel, Michelle, Michel…And once someone introduced me at a singing event in high school as Elizabeth MICHAEL. I…the mind boggles.
I’m Kristel. When Starbucks asks me if its with a “K” or a “C”, I tell them not to bother, because they won’t spell it right anyway!
“Picky” is the best one I recall. Perhaps I AM a little discriminating, but that’s not what my parents named me and anyway, how could they tell that from a phoned-in take out order? Psychic?
I have to admit, some of the comments to this post are sort of … amusing. In among the inevitable anecdotes about the million and one ways people can misspell and mishear “Chris,” “Pat,” and “John,” there will always be a few about how the commenters name is the perfectly simple SaaklopooaghYYY8kltt and it’s spelled just like it looks, and how can that barista possibly be so STUPID, oh the horror. *chuckles*
This post was brilliant! I absolutely love your writing style. :) And my name is Hope, and I have actually had people ask how to spell it! I work in an office answering phones and I have gotten mistake for Heather and Holly. My favorite though is for a while on my University mailing list my name was on their list as “Hoope”. Names are a fun thing. :)
i’ve had a few weird ones…but the weirdest thing to me is the preponderance of people who call me “trisha” when i introduce myself as trish. they hear me, they hear me repeat it many times in other intros, but there is an invisible, inevitable “a” waiting for the word to leave my mouth so it can attach like a missing electron before the sound makes it to the listener.
still, that doesn’t really explain the fact that seemingly 80% of people who respond to me in business and personal emails type “trisha” in the same emails i’ve signed “trish,” email addresses that all also contain the word “trish.”
fun post. starbucks is a funny farm for sharpies.
My name is Nina, and it’s surprising how many people spell or pronounce it wrong- I’ve seen Ninnah, Neena, Neenah and heard tons of people call me Nine-ah (It’s pronounced Nee-nah. Is it really that hard?) I know that my name isn’t exactly terribly common, but it’s not difficult. I swear……………………
I have an African name which is ‘Nonto’ (shortened for Nontobeko) so I’m sure u can imagine. My English teacher called me ‘No-Toe’ all through my high school life and yes I was made fun of(thanks Mrs. Ludick lol) Worse when I try to tell people my full name ‘Nontobeko’ and I get responses like ‘Tobacco?… Your name is Tobacco?’ Me: ‘just call me Nonto’ ‘oh No-toe’ so iv given up and let people call me whatever. But really how hard can it be to say N-O-N-T-O its pronounced as its written. Enjoyed this post, atleast I’m not the only one
From No-Toe a.k.a Tobacco
Reblogged this on seventhvoice and commented:
I read this tonight and it made me laugh…..She should try having a name that’s a number…. ‘What’s that Sven?”….. Read and enjoy. Cheers Seventhvoice…… that’s two V’s…. 3 E’s….. No hyphen.
I see some simply names listed here getting messed up but more often some very unique names. My name is Frank. How simple is that? Simple right? Then how do people hear Greg?
Cute! It does seem like they like to keep the ball rolling by just adding whatever is they may have heard. No time in starbucks to add the full name i guess. First syllabul will win i guess. twitter @sjshavers
http://formaldiningforacure.bellstrike.com
My last name is Dan LaCob & one of the most memorable experiences was @ a high school track meet where they called me : Don LO-CAB! We had many laughs after that.
If I had a nickel for every time someone has called me the wrong name, I’d be a very rich person, indeed.
My name is Neeli (pronounced knee-lee), and yet I have heard everything from Nikki to Saqueely (seriously). By far the biggest error was in my 5th grade yearbook when someone addressed their message to “Needy”.
I don’t feel as bad as my father, whose name was Moyel (he always said it was MOTOROIL without the OTOR).
oh my god. i just laughed out loud at “Needy” ah haha this is hysterical!
my name is monica fay. fay is a 3 letter name. it rarely is spelled correctly. i get faye, fey, fahey, feye, phay? like… what?
this is a cute blog :)
congrats on freshly pressed, i probably never will be because I write about things like how to get big boobs. darn it.
http://monicafay.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/monica-fays-7-steps-to-get-big-boobs/
Hahahaha. I’m Jenifer with one 1 n, though it doesn’t compare to others confusion about your beautiful name, I prefer to make sure ” that’s Jennifer with one n.” when I’m at Starbucks however, it’s just Jen. Sometimes I debate on giving a fake name for fun… That would make a great follow up post for you.
My name is Rebekah and one time while in Spain, someone confused my name for vaca which means cow in Spanish. I feel your pain!
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Be thankful you’re not cursed with an Asian name! I got off easy. My name is Dongha… pretty “easy” to pronounced phonetically. Dong (like ding dong) – Ha (like hahaha).
My friend’s name is pronounced [zoo-wen]. That’s the “American” way of pronouncing it. How do you spell it, you ask?
Duyen.
Phoebe from Friends was quirky but not dopey–endearing, street smart but naive, you should be happy to share such a lovely name with a great character
I live in Spain and my name is Amelie. The few times I’ve been to Starbucks, they NEVER get my name right. I even pronounce it the French way for them (Ah-may-lee instead of Ah-muh-lee which is what my friends in the US call me) and they will still get it wrong. And in the US–forget it hahaha.
I agree with you, at first I get annoyed with these things, and then it happens so often that it’s more practical to just laugh at it.
My name is Athina, and I don’t like it spelled with and “e”. So sometimes when I’m not in a rush I spell out my name for them, but they still get the wrong name. So I tried giving them my nickname, Akda, it’s a common noun here in the Philippines which means author. They still get it wrong even if I spell it out.
Akda became, bakda (which I don’t know what), Kada (which is, I think, short for barkada, which means, group of friends), anda, ladda.
Athina became Athena, Alina, Darlina, Carmina, Karina, and the more I spell it out, the farther away it gets from my name. I don’t get why this happens. Maybe it’s the noisy customers, maybe they really like to spell my name wrong.
This post made me laugh first thing in the morning.
Have a nice day!
Hahahahaha!!! This post really made me laugh so hard! The same thing also happens to me at Starbucks….
Have a nice day to you… And I want a coffee now, so i’m off to Starbucks. :)
My name, Erika, isn’t too hard to mess up but I have been called Eureka. However, the spelling is never right because most Erikas are spelled with a C, not a K. I liked your post!
My name has been hugely misspelled and mispronounced ever since i was a kid. Hell at one point to make it easier for others I was mispronouncing my own name wrong ;)
My name has been butchered left right and center. Funny part is it so simple, NEVIL. How can u butcher a five letter word? I have been called Navil, Noel, Navin, many times it’s just Ne.. People seem to get tongue twisted every time they want to say my name :) it’s Neville without the ‘LE’!
The most common mistake with my name is Maria. My name is Marie. Thanks for sharing……and making me laugh out loud!!
hehe.. Filet ;)
LOLZ xD my name is Lidya and people simply do not pronounce it, they just make sounds like “Li…Lid… erm, who is this” (: fyi, it’s pronounced the same as Lydia.
It is for this reason, I give the name Chandler (yes, from Friends. You’ll understand if you read my blog) instead of my real name.
brilliant and fun!
Growing up, I loved my name- Jennifer- it was pretty and alot of cheerleaders in movies are named Jennifer. So, I never had this problem UNTIL I got married. I have the simplest last name ever- Bell. And everyone knows how to pronounce that right? No- apparently. When people ask my name I either 1. Feel like being amused and say it out loud just to watch their confusing faces or 2. Spell it. Really Jennifer Bell- is mispronounced and misspelled as – Biel, Baw, Ball, Bew, Pale, Bale and Peal. – Maybe if more people would make eye contact with me when they ask my name, instead of looking at their paperwork, they’d see the phonetic pronunciation on my lips- and practice good social etiquette at the same time.
Phoebe,
At least I haven’t been called Phoebe, yet.
Wayne
I have no problems whatsoever with my name at home in Ireland because there are a million Sineads here…I always thought it was a common name until I started travelling abroad more and more as I got older and people started asking me how to properly pronounce it – the first time someone asked, I laughed hysterically until I realised they were serious :-O love your post :-)
My name is Hui (go figure) but my Starbucks alias is Alex. It solves the spelling part but then I find myself fighting for my coffee with other guys.
I go by my nickname Lecky, and heaven knows how many tea places I frequent have misspelled my name as Loki, of all things. At first, I enjoyed taking photos of the misspellings but now, I just shrug them off.
My name is Erin, and though I’ve never met a female “Aaron,” 90% of the time, that’s what my cup reads…the masculine version of my name. I always laugh.
Haha, weird! Didn’t anyone watch the awesome Julia Roberts movie ‘Erin Brockovich’ ?!
When introducing myself to people, I think I tend to talk too fast and slur my words, so my real name, Michelle, gets heard as “Rachelle” all the time. I need to start speaking more slowly :P
I dread to think what my name might come out as. I think I might just say something ridiculous like Jackie O and see what happens.
Unbelieveable. You have a simple name and they still spell it wrong. I have a tricky name and they also spell it wrong, I can understand that.. but Phoebe, come on that’s not that hard!
lol, I am very familiair with this phenomenon. Though I have the simpelest name, being called Marc, people do it wrong all the time. Marcel, Marcus, Mario, Mart, Martin, Matt and the list goes on…. bummer :(
I’m so glad that Starbucks are stopping the stupid name thing, but at the same time I always enjoyed making up bizarre names.
haha. I spell my name for them instead so they’d get it right!
Great post, made me smile all the way through. I think it is something that most of us can relate to. I have never used my real name while ordering, knowing it would take a while to get it sorted, so i just opt for a regular name or depending of my mood, something even stranger than my name. Which is Mahavir.
But i think that making up names is part of the fun of ordering at Starbucks. : )
My name is Helen and I can identify with your post. Although Starbucks hasn’t gotten my name wrong yet, there are people who insist on calling me Alan or even Ellen. Maybe it’s the way I pronounce my name, or they just can’t hear the ‘h’ sound in Helen.
Nice post! I can relate to this….
My real name is Liani but I got tired of spelling it out to people over and over. I am going by Kim now, which is a sound derived from last name Khemlani…..makes mine and other people’s life easier.
I have had that problem with my last name although it is not hard. Very nice post. Blessings. Dr. Sherry
Unfortunately I haven’t been active in my current Knights of Columbus council but when I was active in my last one very many people plum forgot my real name (Larry as in Lawrence). I was incessantly called Tom , Frank, Bobby etc. I don’t like the current trend toward overly distinctive names. Among their many disadvantages is that they’re so much harder to remember
So during the chrismas me and my family visited the states. We are from sweden so we don’t have starbucks so we were thrilled when we walk in to that café! And like you said they ask for your name and for my sister she said ‘Sofie’ or Sophie in the Us but my name was a bit harder: Malin.. M-A-L-I-N and while a was waiting for my coffee I saw a cup named Marliyn as in Marliyn Monroe a.k.a. not my name. Another time I was in a clothing shop and I had found some jeans I wanted to try out and when they asked my name to write on a board outside my fitting room (soo strange) they asked me what my name is and I replied with “My name is Malin” and what happend…. Malin became Molly for some reason..
I don’t know how you can get the name Phoebe wrong I mean hasn’t anyone seen Friends!?
My name is Sarah, so I’m used to people leaving off the H when they write my name down. Heck, my own husband leaves off the H when he spells my name. But the most baffling misspelling of my name has to be the note that I got from my middle school office, where the secretary had spelled “Sarah Snyder” as “Shra Sinder”.
Oh girls, you’re so right. People have the hardest time with names. I am stuck with the name Sarah too, which I think is probably the most common female name in the history of the world. I have gotten Sara, Tara, Kara, Shara, Saran!?!, Sera… I could go on for days. From now on, let’s just go by Wonder Woman at Starbucks.
my last name is Scott, very very generic, and I was once actually asked over the phone, “is that with one O or two?” I have given up on the ten million ways I have seen Jackie spelled.
I never give my name to this establishments…It’s crap! I tell them SUPERMAN instead…it’s a marketing ploy!!! You can’t know a person merely by his name, right? Very insincere!!!
Oh, this had me giggling and then the comments had me in stitches! To me, Phoebe isn’t an odd or difficult name at all. Haven’t these people heard of Friends? Or Charmed? Or Phoebe in Wonderland? And having worked in food service and dealt with take-out orders, I’ve heard far stranger and still managed to not completely butcher them. Maybe that comes from learning languages, though – my ears are used to picking out sounds.
My surname is the what causes the most problems. It’s also a first name which confuses the heck out of people, especially when official lists use Surname, Name. And people are constantly adding “s” or “son” onto the end. My maternal grandmother still does that and her daughter has had this last name for 32 years!
My first name is really common: Ashley. I’ve never really had a problem with it, other than apparently not looking like an “Ashley” so people have a hard time remembering my name. The real issue is that no one can pronounce it in the foreign languages that I’m studying! They have to change it since the sounds don’t exist. In Russian, I become Эшли/Eshli (EH-shlee) and in Japanese, it’s アシュリー/Ashuri (Ah-shoo-ri). My parents should’ve named me Natasha like my mother wanted, but I guess then I’d probably have problems at Starbucks…
My last name is Pyle and everybody keeps saying Powel!
Starbucks gets names wrong so often I’m starting to think it’s a little inside joke of theirs.
P.S. I do have a friend named Spoon
Funny post! I agree with alicekyli’s comment-I think they do it to have a little fun during their work day. My name is often spelt as ‘Tiny’ or ‘Hyni’….
Love this post. My name is pronounced JeanEEnah (or JuhNEEnuh, depending on where you live). I become instant friends with anyone who pronounces it correctly from reading it written. I’ve been Jeanette, Jeannie, Jean, Jennifer, Julie–I think they just see the J and say whatever they want. One time I had an office temp who insisted on calling me Jemima. I thought it was funny because it drove one of my managers crazy every time she heard it. One day the phone rang while she was standing by my desk and I answered “This is Jemima”. I thought she was going to have a stroke. I’ve just learned to have fun with it.
Funny post!
My name is Johna, (John..uh), Nobody can get my name right, I have been called Joanna, Johona, Joana (Joan..uh) & Donna, when they try to say my first and last together (My last name is french) They try to make it sound so exotic, and it sounds so nice. that i thought about changing my name LOL..But my all time favorite, is when I get mail addressed to Mr. John A. LOL
OMG! This had me laughing out loud. My name is Shari sh(a)-ri . There are regional differences in how the “a” in my name is said which I can accept, but other than that.. please say and spell my name correctly! I was born and raised in NY and I pronounce it SHARE-ee It is pronounced the same way Frankie valley and the four seasons sing.. SHERRY BABY… (yes I know confusing different spelling but said how I pronounce my name) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AapxXRlsdwA
BUT most people pronounce it SHAR-ee AUDIO here: http://inogolo.com/pronunciation/Shari which IRKS me,, I have had my name butchered so many times that I actually had to give a “lesson” in a work meeting. My name is Shari . I am not a cooking wine SHERRY, I am not French “Chérie”, I am not a fruit, CHERRY. and its not SHORE -ee . AHH! So in addition to all of those pronunciations/spellings Starbucks has also written my name as Sharon, Shelly, Harrie, Ariel, Ashely, Shy, Shai, and Shae. LOL
My name is Yvonne. AKA Evan, Evon, YOvonn, YAvonn, WHAT? My mother never liked how people pronounced my name so she nicknamed me,,,,Nenette (even spell check doesn’t like it). I’ve often thought of giving an easy name like Jane or Mary or Sue, but my problem is that I would probably forget what name I gave and never get my beverage.
I have a completely ordinary name — Sarah — and have been called (and sometimes given up and answered to) Sharon, Sandra, Susan, Sherry, and any other 2-syllable female name that starts with an S. Spellings get interesting, too. When I say that it’s with an -h-, I’ve gotten Shara, Sahra, and Sarha. So far no Sarhara, but I’m waiting . . .
haha I just wrote the same thing before I saw what you wrote! Although I almost always get the spelling Sara even though I point out “it’s Sarah with an H.” I have had a Sarhara too…but that’s very rare :)
Geeze, my name is Nicholas. I can’t stand when I introduce myself to people and they immediately change it to Nick, Nikki, Nico or something else. I want to tell them, “Did you not just here me say my name is Nicholas?” Why must people use a nickname when I give my full name? Great post!
Haha this was a great post! i really enjoyed it, and totally know what you mean. My name is Sarah…really common name you would think, yet it is constantly spelt wrong Sahra, Shara or more commonly almost always without the ‘h’ even though I specifically add the words “I’m Sarah with an H!!” My boyfriends father knows how much it bothers me, yet every email he’s ever sent me in the past 4years i’ve known him still starts with ‘Hi Sara” Ahhhh…haha I guess it is just something we all have to live with!
I get my name messed up no matter were I am or how I enunciate my name. I’ve even spelled it for someone and received a different name. My name is Joseph and I’ve seen my name become Justin, Joseff, Joeseph, Jofus, and George.
Haha, I love this. I’m lucky my name is relatively easy to pronounce (I go by Jennifer in my day to day life). The worst thing is when people get all creative and start to stick y’s and extra n’s in my name. Is it really that hard to spell the name? Then they decide to be cool and call me shortened versions of my name. No, it will never, ever, ever be okay to call me Jenny. No matter how many times you say it. At least I won’t ever be called a piece of meat :)
I’m not alone!! LOL… I often get Althea or Alethea or Tina. No matter how many times I spell it or tell people it doesn’t matter, they hear something different!! I use to get upset when I was in high school. I was sooo proud of my name that I would mentally believe these people were terrible in their English class. Don’t they know how to sound out words?? I had been in the Army for a few years, and because of it, I would give up and just tell them to call me Rose. I was use to being called by my last name anyway. But having been out of the service for 8 years now, I find myself back to the odd names at work at “Starbucks” or just even via acquaintances. Oh well, I just smile and bear it!
I just want to say KUDOS to everyone out there that does pay attention to how other people’s names are spelled =)
I loved this, it did make me laugh. I completely sympathise though. My name is Hannah, not a difficult one to get right, yet the amount of people that call me Anna drives me insane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ha. An issue close to my heart. Since my name is Sharolyn, you can imagine how often I get weird versions of it. I’ve learned to answer to almost any name if directed at me. I find it much easier to see the humor in it than feel offended. The simple fact is that most people don’t listen carefully. I could be faulted for that offense as well.
Funny post. I really enjoyed it!
Alright, you better brace yourself. My name is Jon, and many people have the gall to call me John…..the nerve. Some people’s kids. I’ve also been called Sean too. I feel your pain.
Ok I have to comment even though I’m so far down the list. My name isn’t difficult, almost always spelled with one less l or possibly a y, but this is the best situation ever…
When I was in high school, we were at a McDonalds, back when they used to write your name on your receipt for dining room orders. The kid asked for my name, which I gave, “Allison”, and happily when on my way. I get my order/receipt and notice he had spelled it “Alice sun” (with a discernible space in between, like it was the sunshine of someone named Alice), which is definitely the strangest spelling I’ve ever seen. But that’s not even the best part……….THE best part about the whole situation is that I was wearing my letterman’s jacket, with my name clearly spelled out not 2 feet from this guy’s face. It was amazing, I’ll never forget that brain blurp. Haha!
I guess having an unique and not-so-often-come-across name give some individuals a hard time in pronouncing. I’m guilty of it sometimes, but I try my best to correct and remember :) So far, Starbuck staff has got my name right haha.
Loved your post! My name is not unique at all – Sara – it’s pronounced the same as Sarah, so it’s simply Sarah without the H. It is hilarious informing people for official type things that it’s Sarah without the H. I often get a pause, a blank stare and then “So how do you spell that?” In a coffee line I don’t even bother.
One time I left a message at a store for them to call me (Karen) back. Next thing I know someone called and asked for “Pam.” I told them they had the wrong number. Then they called back and asked for Miss F_____. To this day, I still don’t understand how they got “Pam” from Karen.
My first name is annie, but its not what i go by (people use my middle name) – but in the school register, it says annie. Every time we have a substitute, i get to hear a wooonderful (not) variation of names- annie-or-is-it-matilda?, annie-matilda, annie *no replie* annie? – and it doesnt seem to matter how many times annie is crossed out, and matilda is underlined… people never get it.
not even to mention the amount of names my friends call me- mattie, tilly, maturtle are some of the kinder nicknames i have unwillingly aquired.
as it is now,i reply to pretty much anything – and on occasion, even when people arent talking to me. well, thats what happens when people constantly get your name wrong.
Congrats on Freshly Pressed!!! Awesome!!! I go by Beth Ann but get all kinds of variations on that—Bethany, Mary Beth, Deb Ann, Becky Ann, the list goes on. I have found that the two name thing is tough for some. And don’t even get me started on my last name ……
Oy my goodness! I laughed through-out your entire post! My last name is Phillips and I’ve have people spell it with an F or ask why it isn’t spelt that way…
I can’t believe people would mistaken a name such as Phoebe for anything else…but there you go… I was mistaken. :)
http://hdotlee.wordpress.com/ check my blog out? I promise you it’ll be the biggest waste of your time ever, but you only live once so you might aswell not spend your time wisely. Peace……..
Oh well, at least if we meet I won’t mistake your name for anything else. Cheers.
My name is Ammon, pronounced “am in”. But I respond to anything remotely close; “am un”, “am own”, “aim on”, “aim own”, “aim in”, “hammond”, etc.
I used to work in a call center when I was still in school and would go by my middle name because it took to long to explain how to say my name and its origins and all.
LOL @ the “Filet”! Sorry about that.
I had the same problem. My name is Mabz. So far, Starbucks peeps have already changed it to Madz, and Abs. Oh well, at least it’s close. lol
Inevitably, and especially on the phone, Fran becomes Sam. Every time. I also seem to be mistaken for a child whenever someone calls (“is your mummy there?” occurs frequently despite me being nearly 25). And don’t even ask how many spellings of Francesca I’ve come across (though pronunciation isn’t so hard, the spelling is nigh on impossible – and I’m often asked if I’m Frances). My favourite was Franchezker.
Dennis. Always. Nevermind I’m female.
http://hdotlee.wordpress.com/ check my blog out? I promise you it’ll be the biggest waste of your time ever, but you only live once so you might aswell not spend your time wisely. Peace……..
Wilvic, lmao, need I say more?
‘Amber’ seems easy enough- I get Heather a lot, or Amanda. Which is my best friend’s name but sounds nothing like Amber.
Thanks for writing! Check me out at theusualbliss.com sometime!
Based on all these comments, I’m beginning to suspect that part of Starbucks training is how to deliberately misinterpret names.
Better not let Starbucks know that you’re in on their scheme… Maybe the Starbucks corporation will hunt you down if they find out that you know their secret.
My name is Elizabeth, Liz for short. It’s amazing how difficult it is for people to get it, even when I overly enunciate it. I get Lis, Lee, Lynn and Luz. It’s three freaking letters! How hard is it to understand?!
I feel your pain, my name is Abra, and that leads to all kinds of craziness. Even when I literally say “Just like Abracadabra” they call me Debra, or Aubrey or whatever else they can think of. The one I get most often is Abba (nope, I’m not the dancing queen…). I’ve thought about using a fake name too, but I can’t bring myself to commit. I’ve tried once or twice but it’s like the barista can tell I’m lying. Barista: “What’s you name?”
Me: “Oh! ermm…Jill…?”
It needs work. ;)
It seems all names are easily mistaken. My name is Tara (it’s an Irish name). I’ve lived in Canada most of my life and the name I get most is Karen, but since moving to Ireland (where my name comes from) people give me the strangest looks and I usually always have to spell it. I’ve been told I am saying my name wrong.
I can certainly feel your pain. My name is Guillermo. I get Gill, Gilbert, Gilberto, Guy. So that is why I now go by Will. Of course at Starbucks the other day, the girl asked me if it was Will with one L or two….. funny post!
bigwillsthoughts.worpress.com
My daughter’s name is Hannah. Her hair did not start really growing until she was 5. She is an all-pink-&-frilly girl & I would often put her in a dress. I can’t tell you how many millions of times people who would be introduced to us would say something to the effect of “…and what is HIS name?” and I would clearly reply, ” She is Hannah” and I can’t tell you how many millions of times people would then say….”Oh, HE’S so cute”. Go figure. :)
My name is Torey and I am a guy. At Starbucks I become Tori which is the feminine version of my name and I don’t want to walk around with a cup with “Tori” written on it. I also easily become Troy, Cory, Toby and Terry. Funny post. You are not alone lol.
My name is Gaila and I am so tired of my name being spelled wrong or pronounced in a different ways so I just accept it now. It’s great to know that I am not the only one :)
Every time somebody asks my name at school, I always answer something different. Nobody knows what my name is.
I have a very common name. But a very uncommon spelling. Caelie. Hard C, long A, lie pronounced lee. I can understand misspellings. People always want to start with a K, and sometimes think I’m being sarcastic when I say C. But the pronunciations are the worst. Carly, Callie, Kelsey, Kelly, Calen, Chelsea… And Cecil. Unfortunately, this don’t just arise from reading my name. I can be speaking as clear as a bell in a completely silent room with one person listening to me, and still I have to respond to some name other than my own. It’s odd that with such a common name, people still can’t get it right. I really don’t understand.
Thanks for the laugh, and congrats on FP!
Your friend Katie is right! My family always misspells my very ordinary name, Jennifer. I’ve received birthday cards addressed to Gennifer, Jenifer, Jeniphur… really, it’s amazing how complicated people make things!
My name is Danielle Jones. Everyone close to me calls me Dani.
Men, of all ages, frequently spell my full first name as Daniel.
Somehow people think I am saying James or Jonas instead of Jones, despite it one of the most common names in the world.
My own bad hearing, general inattentiveness, and the bad hearing of the men in the construction industry who call my office for advice, means there is often confusion as to who is being asked for “Dani”, “Kerri”, or “Jenni” (we all sit within a few feet of each other and regularly manage to all answer at the same time).
You are certainly right about the simplest of names causing problems.
I bypassed all of this a long time ago when I just started giving my name as “Cash”. I took a silent pleasure in the barista yelling out “Grande Mocha for Cash??!!?”
There have only been only two cashiers who have cared.
One New Yorker who said “As in ‘Cash Money’?” to which I replied Oh-Em-Gee, how did you guess my middle name?
One Californian who said “Really? Cash?”
“Yeah,” I said with mock shame. “It’s short for Cashew. I’ve got a sister named Peanut and a brother named Almond, we call him Al of course. My parents were a little nutty.”
She didn’t even blink. “Makes sense,” she said. Love California.
Hahahahahaha this is hilarious!!!
I’m Kristin. I get Kristen, Kirsten, Kiersten, and Christine. My sister in law is Christine, and my father-in-law constantly calls me Christine. I think he calls her Kristin though, so it could be worse! I still have family, though, that can’t spell my name… 30 years later…
I feel the pain of the 100s of people who have commented. My name is Tara. It has four letters, not that complicated but I get Sara, Lara, cara, dara (sort of understandable) but Rachel, Sophie and Leah are just reaching. My pet hate is the American pronunciation of my name ( I’m Australian ), my name does not have an ‘e’ in it. Tah-ra would be preferred to T-erra please :)
Hilarious post! Congrats on FP!!
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I feel my name, Joseph, is far too common, and people often incorrectly spell it at “Joesph.” And I have a hard time getting over that.
So some time ago I started go by “Abe.” Anytime I make a dinner reservation – or order a drink at any Starbucks besides the local one – I go by Abe. It’s easy to spell and quite uncommon these days.
Have you ever thought about using a pseudonym when ordering or aking reservations?
Reblogged this on SpamTieso and commented:
xD
The first definition of my name that I found was “son of my right hand”, digging further, I found out that too many fathers didn’t like that their son had been given a common name for children who’s mothers had died in child birth, it meant “son of my sorrows”. This didn’t sit well for me.
I looked further to find that the name actually came from one of the thirteen tribes of Isreal, and the meaning was, “the wolf pack that strikes at dawn”. I haven’t been searching for a new meaning anymore.
Normally people do not have a huge problem with my name, Heather isn’t too hard usually if they mess it up they call me ‘Heifer’ which is pretty insulting, calling me a cow and all.. but my last name now that is a nightmare.
analyticallyspoken.wordpress.com.
Dear Choibe,
Congratulations on being Freshly Pressed, Filet. Seriously, Fee Bee, this is a great honor. You are now a true member of the humor blogging clique here at wordpress, Foible.
Debbie, as someone whose first humor blog post was Freshly Pressed, I can tell you that it’s also a tremendous responsibility. You’ve already got over 500 subscribers, Pfibby – and they’re going to expect you to deliver. No pressure, Feebomeister. You can do it. We’re here to help. But other FP’d bloggers help those who help themselves, Pheeebes.
Your name is your responsibility. Whether or not you get your coffee a few minutes late because the barista has been calling out, “Heebee Jeebee,” instead of “Peebiddy” like she should be is irrelevant; your focus has to be on branding. And how do you brand a name that no one can spell, Feebalingadingdong? Thus, I suggest that you consider changing the name of your blog to “Phoebe – Spell It Wrong And I’ll Make You Look Like A Douche Bag on My Blog.”
After all, when you win some major blogging award or are fought over by literary agents at several firms, you need to make sure they know your correct name, PeeBee. Take it from someone with experience in this area. As a Cristy who was never a Cristine or Christina, my name is an endless challenge for the majority of the population for whom everything is all about THEM. When I say, my name is Cristy, they think back to their friends, relatives. People they’ve known named Cristy or Christine or Kristen or Krista or Chrissy. For awhile, their immediate response was “With a C or a K?”
“C,” I said.
“With an “ie?”
“Erm, no. With a “y.”
Once they know to start with a C, the h naturally follows. People can’t help it, Foie Gras. There’s an attitude of, “What? You ain’t got an “H” in your name? What the fuck? Where the hell are you from where people don’t put an “H” in your name? Ain’t you a Christian? That’s how Jesus spelled his fucking name. Christ is spelled with an “H.” You got that?
“But I don’t have an “H” in my name. My mom was highly drugged when I was born and she’s kinda dyslexic, so this is my name.”
“Doesn’t matter. You don’t want to live with the name some druggie gave you, do ya? No, I’m gonna spell it the way Jesus meant for you to spell it. Christy. ”
“My mother wasn’t a druggie. She was given drugs…at the hospital. For pain. In was the 1960s, damn it. Anyway, “Christy” should actually be pronounced “Christ- tee – and that’s not my name.”
“Yeah, sorry, Krusty, but we’re not buying this story of yours.”
And suddenly, I am a character in a popular cartoon, albeit a character that is a clown. And I fear clowns. Loathe clowns. But on a deeper level, hearing the name Krusty brings back all the horrible names I was called growing up. They weren’t accidental slips on the side of a coffee cup, but deliberate attempts to hurt me and drive me into a mental facility. Why? Because I was called “Crusty,” My teeth were deformed due to exposure to tetracycline as a baby and this hateful nickname was my N-word.
So when the dude at Starbucks calls out “Krusty,” I cringe, but take my coffee and try to remind myself that no one in the room knows that this name truly bothers me. When it shows up in letters and emails or online, it’s harder because it’s there. In print. Much like the nasty notes I’d received from pre-pubescent girls mocking me in 7th grade. But I smile and ignore it.
Now, at Starbucks I provide a name that will embarrass the barista. Yes, they may ask about it, but by God, I’m going to make them call me by that name. “Yes, my name is Vagina. That’s with a “V” and one “G.” Yes, that’s my real name.”
“Erm, could you give us your last name?”
“Why? Are there lots of Vaginas here right now?”
“No, but, uh, it’s a new policy. Your last name, please.”
“Taint. Like paint but with a T. Got it. Vagina Taint.” I smile as the color drains from the barista’s face, but he’s resigned to say it. Granted, everyone in the room will immediately look at my boobage to determine whether or not I’m a stripper with a name like that, but I don’t care.
Next time a server asks me for my name, I’m totally prepared. Since people have been trying to spell my name like Jesus’ for years, I figure I’ll one up them.
“Okay, one venti vanilla latte with skim and Splenda. Your name?”
“God.”
“Huh?”
“God.”
“Rod?”
“No, God. You know, God Almighty.The OMG God.”
“You think you’re God?”
“No, I think you’re going to write down the name God and then you’re going to call it out when my coffee is ready and everyone in this place is going to stare at the both of us. This way, the next time I come in and say my name is Cristy, you are going to think first before trying to force me to spell it like Jesus would and you won’t even consider calling me Krusty. Got it?”
“Um, okay. But I should tell you, I think you’re going to Hell for doing this.”
“That’s okay, you’ve been making me relive the hell that was middle school every time you call me Krusty. Hell’s gonna be one of those hot rock spas by comparison.”
So Phoebe – may I call you Feebs for short? – nip this name thing in the bud and keep writing funny blogs. I know your pain, but if my name can survive it, yours can as well.
Namaste!
Your Humble Blogger
CCL
http://www.paltrymeanderings.com
well my name is just down right complicated. ESPECIALLY my last name. Huibonhoa. I feel like swooning when people get it right. Which is close to never! haha! Awesome post!!!
my full name is czarina anne. i’d love to use czarina but I end up using anne so people could easily understand and remember. :)
My name is Sarah. I get the whole “With or without an ‘H’?” misspelling but I when I say “with an ‘H’” they panic and shove it anywhere in the name. I am always written down as Shara, Sahara, Sarha and Susan?! My name is not Susan…
I absolutely love this post! I have this issue at starbucks and making up a name loses it’s humour after a while ;) I have resorted to taking the pen and writing my name out myself ;)
I have a pretty common first and middle name but that still didnt stop people from having fun with my surname, so that i have been called Bin Dial (im guessing thats like Bin Laden’s cousin, thrice removed) Band yal…as in ..’Ill see you’s at the band y’all’ ..and so on…so yeahh:P i know what you mean…
Starbucks: “What’s your name, sir?”
Answers..
Starbucks: “That’s inappropriate, sir. Please tell me your name.”
The name I gave wasn’t Ted btw, but it certainly wasn’t inappropriate.
My name is Denise. Not common, but not terribly difficult. I have been called many moronic names… De-Nice. De-Knees (which quickly leads to De-Toes). I also OFTEN get geniuses telling me they’ve met my brother, De-Nephew! But my absolute favorite one, which I’ve been called on more than one occasion, is CINDY! This one I will never understand…
Probably one of the funniest posts yet! I couldn’t stop laughing! The name thing happens to me all the time specially the pronunciation of my name! Congrats on being Freshly Pressed!! :D
Hey, I read your post, really funny how things happen! I live in Holland and well, I don’t have a very common name, people often write it with an i instead of a y I hate that. Also, when forgein people try to pronounce my name they always fail, it’s because of that r, we in the Netherlands have a different r than most other languages. Well, I live with it and maybe when I move somewhere else I’ll tell them to study on their r.
Love your post btw, really funny!
XxX
I have always had problems with my name, despite the simplicity of it.
People constantly mispronounce (and misspell) it when, in reality, it is only pronounced as ‘Eh-lay-na’.
Annoyed by this slight pet peeve, I simplified it to ‘Elle’ a few years back, in hope that people would finally get it right, but, instead, now it is ‘Ellie’, ‘Al’, ‘Eli’, etc.. along with the “Like the magazine?” question when I actually spell ‘Elle’ for the person.
Sigh. One can’t win, right?
Even Starbucks has problems with the pronunciation and spelling! On one occasion, my vente was marked with ‘Elf’.
At least I am not alone!
Really good post!! The best I’ve heard was RT. My friend came up to the barista and said that her name was Arti, A-R-T-I. But no, the guy just understood RT hahaha
My husband is from Australia and his name is Paul…people honestly think he says Pole. Is that even a name? And then every tie he orders a Miller Lite they bring him a Merlot. Sad that he has to excuse his own accent. Really people? Don’t have a fraction of a second to pay some respect to a persons name? Just tell the barista your name is Starbucks, or Oprah….have some fun! That ought to cause some confusion.
I have a whole album on my facebook page devoted to all the different names I get at Starbucks. ‘Desirae’ is a tough one! Then I just started having fun with it and purposely started giving them fake names. It took them 2 months to realize it, so I had to go to another starbucks to continue playing MY version of the name game. :)
It’s always my last name that gets people. When spelling it, everyone wants to eliminate the double “a” and substitute a double “f.” In college, I had a grade mishap because the teacher didn’t spell my name correctly, so when he went to check my homework online (it was a web design class) he typed in my name and couldn’t find anything. He gave me a 0.
When spoken, I have to just tell people it’s pronounced like ten and a half. ten-Half. Boom.
God it’s work trying to explain.
My name is Jenia (zhEH-nya). You can only imagine how much trouble people have with it! My favorite misspelling, though, came from one of the church ladies. Ginja was her version. What the heck?
This made me laugh out loud and I needed that today.
My name is Dave. But on at least a dozen separate occassions, I have had people call me “Ed.”
And no, I do not have a lisp, speech impedement, drawl, or other thick accent (midwesterner).
So funny that some of the simplest names can get butchered so easily. I think it’s just what people are familiar with they will automatically fill in the blanks. My name is Vu pronounced “voo” but more often than not, when I get introduced, people immediately respond, “Nice to meet you Lou”. Ummm ok. I didn’t really think I looked that much like a Lou but then again I have an asian friend named Norman. Can you imagine the look on people’s faces when he gets introduced?
My full name is Katharine Burne (I get called Kate for ease)… and yup Katharine with a stupid ‘a’ in the middle because apparently according to my parents it is the proper way (?!), and the surname is Burne, not Borne, Byrne, Burn, or Burns…..
It is a daily annoyance which I have learnt to live with, and I generally only make corrections on official documents. However, I was slightly confused to sign for a hire car not that long ago (after spelling my name on the phone to the lady), to have become a Mr. Kathryn Burke?! I must be the most manly Katharine around…. ;-)
On another note, our local starbucks seems to have given up asking what your name is, and they simply call your drink, whilst making a name up for you. I was ‘Sam’ the other day… I think it may have back fired though, when some man looked pretty disgruntled when his cup had the name ‘Polly’ on it…. I simply smiled and drank my soya latte….
Thanks for sharing! I have lived my whole life with this issue and not just at Starbucks. My name is LaRae. It’s not only the mispronunciations but the spelling that has plagued me. Yes it is spelled with a capital “R” in the middle of the word. It’s not La(space)Rae and it’s not larae. I’ve gotten mail as “LaFae”! I’ve been called Laura, Larue, Larry, Lorraine and the list goes on. The most ridiculous? Well that would be Layaway!! HAH. Jeeesh. Then there is my last name – Mikulecky. End of story. LOL!!!
Being a Foley, I get a lot of mail for Fooly or Folly or Folley — but none of that bothers me. It’s getting “Mary Ellen” right that trips people up. But c’mon — “Mary Ellen”: how hard is it to get that right?
My parents decided to name me Catie, with a “C”. Not once has my name been spelled right the first time. They were cruel, cruel people…
Such a funny post! I know how you feel. My name’s Jaclyn, and everybody insists on trying to spell it the French way (as in that super-long spelling with a Q, U, and E) or try to throw a K in there. Sometimes people even spell it Jacoyn, even though I have no idea how they get that. At work, my name tag is Jacclyn, which always leads to weird questions, and on an award I won my sophomore year in high school my last name is spelled Whatson. (How hard is it to spell Watson??)
Ahh, I have a special place in my heart for this post as I have a tough last name and my nicknames happen to be Fiebs and Fiebe (pronounced like Phoebe). My first name is simple enough, you’d think (Cathy), but some of my relatives and friends in Germany pronounce it Casey, and it absolutely drives me nuts! Great post and comments!
I love this! My husband’s name is Kyle. Kyle. However, he is mistaken almost every day for something else — Scott, Todd, Tom, Cal, but not Kyle. I’m sure he feels your pain.
Love it, I find here in South Africa, that everyone struggles with names. most of them being unconventional, completely random, nouns or verbs.
My family and I always give “fake” names when we go to the bux. Its fun to be called someone different for five minutes. haha
HA this sounds very familiar. Love it!
Sweet cow, this post is absolutely hilarious…probably because I can relate to it all too much. My full name is “Melinda” & at the office I used to work at people would always call me “Melanie” or “Melissa” all the time…even after 5 years of working with the same people. I’ve always reminded them to feel free to call me “Mel”, but they still insisted on mistakingly (perhaps accidentally) calling me anything but my correct name.
I also have a good friend named “Alyes” (pronounced: Alice). Every single time at Starbucks, WITHOUT FAIL, the baristas get her name wrong. She even annunciates her name very slowly & clearly…telling them “My name is AL-ICE, like Alice In Wonderland”, but they always end up spelling it as “Alex” or “Alisha”.
Also, during my last visit to Shanghai, China, I popped into a Starbucks shop with my fiancé. While ordering/paying for our drinks, the barista didn’t even ask us for our name, but continued to write on our cups. Keep in mind that my fiancé & are both Chinese & can speak semi-fluent Mandarin…so we had no problem speaking to the baristas. They still wrote “foreigner” on our cups in Chinese. My fiancé & I just laughed about it, but still….we were still slightly embarrassed by it.
Reblogged this on rabbits & foxes.
My name is Alyssa, which now days is pretty common in the US…or so you’d think! I’ve had the following written on my Starbucks cup, all close but no cigar: Alice, Elisa, Elissa, Alysa (one S), Alisa, Melissa, Alicia, and Alyysa (??). When I was a kid people often called me Melissa when they first heard my name. Also once got a piece of mail addressed to Alysso (LOL). Still to this day I get Melissa-ed sometimes especially if I am meeting someone for the first time or introducing myself at a crowded/noisy place. Even popularity doesn’t help my name! :(
Oh, and the worst part is I was born with a long confusing German name for a last name Housholder (Householder is how you say it). I constantly got mail that said “Householder” WITH the stupid “e” no matter how many times I told people it wasn’t there! Even on government documents they put the e in even though told not to and I didn’t write it that way! Oi!
Reblogged this on livingleanandinthegreen and commented:
I can relate to this with the long German last name I was born with and the fact that people always get my “common” first name wrong too! :(
My name is Moranda, the Best WORST mistake people made with my name is Brandon!!! YUP.
Nice post,Thanks for sharing.
marg swarnabhoomi
My name is Kristie – but it apparently is a hard one to understand, as everyone always either calls me Christine, Christina, or Kristin. No matter how many times I try to correct them, Kristie just doesn’t sit well with them. I never imagined my name to be difficult – asides from the spelling being a bit different than most Kristie’s?
Also, my last name is Vezina…which brings whole new level of unfortunate mistakes. Best ones to date: Ogina, or sadly, Vagina. What the hell! lol
Your post is hilarious! And I’m so relieved to know I’m not alone. I’ve been called ‘Sedan’. Yup, right on my orthotics, they printed it as Sedan, like as if my feet are big enough to be vehicles. :D
Pink.
Great post like it very much….
I wrote about this a while ago on my other blog! It’s way more fun to pretend to be random other people if they are going to get your name wrong anyway =)
http://outofera.tumblr.com/post/21407999032/ooh-naa-naa-whats-my-name
Pingback: L’art de commander un café « A Frog between the Flags
Great I like ^^
I have to say, I massively object to the whole Starbucks name ons cup idea. We’re not friends/colleagues, why do you need to know my name?!
Incidentally, I used to be a Smith & people always got my name right. Now they always get it WRONG. It’s Pirt, but I’ve had Purt, Pert, & even Pritt & Pint! Drives me nuts.
Try a Chinese name like mine… “Jun Jie”! I’ve given up and I go by JJ, but that gets messed up too.
Oh let’s see, My name is Tina, I have been called, Gina, Lina, Dina, Trina, Nina, and Zena….I like the Zena one the best, because of course I am a warrior princess HA!
My name is Kristenia (pronounced just like Christina, the second “i” is silent). Goodness gracious the pronunciations and spellings I get. I have actually had arguments with teachers and long discussions with bank tellers that YES that is how you spell my name, they did not spell it wrong in the system, and yes it is pronounced just like Christina Aguilera’s name.
I get kris-ten-ee-ya, kristen-ee-a. People will also automatically shorten it and call me Kristen or Kris. They use to ask before shortening but now they will even just call me K without a second thought.
What makes me laugh the most is one year I got a card from my dad. My parents were divorced and I believe it had to have been the 1st or 2nd time writing my name as I’m sure my mother did it all before. He actually spelt my name something like:
Krystehina
Reblogged this on diamondsinthesand.
Wow! Thanks so much for the reblog.
No worries! I really like reading your articles. Keep up the good work. :-)
My name is Misti Dawnn.
I turned in my graduation application and diploma name form with Misti Dawnn. When I picked it up, the lady said, “Oh, we fixed your name for you.”
…. Um, gee thanks. Can you unfix your fix?
I’m about to graduate from Grad school, and I’m wondering if I should even put my full official name..
What ya think?