• do you get irritated? Because I sure do! My name is Shanel and I ABSOLUTELY hate when people spell it aloud and say C-h-a-n-e-l or be ghetto and add extra letters like Shannelle. Who else has this problem??


  • You really are way too picky.

    What do you expect? Your name's spelling is unusual, you know. Of course people will search their memory banks for something similiar and come up with Chanel! Why are you surprised? Everyone does that, try to associate something new with something they already know. If they spell it aloud, it's because they are trying their darndest to commit this new spelling to memory. You should be complimented that people are trying so hard, not getting mad!

    And it's so common for moms to add 'elle' to their child's name these days that people assume sometimes that your name has that too.


  • With all due respect to your name, people tend to use conventional spelling guidelines to spell names. With your name, for example, the conventional pronunciation would be SHAnel, whereas I presume you pronounce it shaNELL, right?

    I always tell people my name is Bob, with one O!!


  • I also have this problem. I do get irritated because i find my last name easy to pronounce, but for some reason some people say it wrong. I've learned to not take it personal because people just don't know how to pronounce certain words. I don't get completely irritated if they make an effort to say my last name and ask me if they said it right or not.


  • And how would they know how to spell your name if they never saw or heard it before? The name Chanel is known all over the world and has been since long before you were born, so you can hardly blame people for thinking it's your name since it sounds exactly the same. Get over it. Blame your parents for not knowing how to spell, maybe, or for giving you a name that can be misinterpreted. Would you have liked the name Jane instead? Oh, sorry, bad example. That can be spelled Jayne also.

    My name is quite conventional but can be spelled with two different ways, both of them traditional, as well as with less conventional spellings. I don't get upset if they spell it the wrong way, I just tell them how mine is spelled. I've never seen your name before.


  • My name is oddly spelled too (no, my real name is not rose) and I have had to spell it or correct it for people since I was a kid. Yes, it gets annoying, but I have come to realize it is not their fault and they are not mindreaders.
    The good news is that nowadays, parents are going out of their way to spell names as oddly and annoyingly as possible! So, pretty soon, we will ALL have to spell our names,. all of the time.


  • My name is Edward, but I prefer to be called Ed. Only my mother still calls me Edward, and I hate when other people call me that. Or, if people ask me my name, and I say "Ed", and they insist on calling me Eddie, Ted, or Ned. THATS NOT MY NAME!!!!!!!!


  • People can't even pronounce my name let alone try to spell it :

    When they do try to spell, it's something so outrageous that there isn't even any room for me to get irritated.


  • i hate that too.

    Someone spelled my name "Kelesey" once and im like...wtf.


  • Even people with fairly simple names have this problem.
    The key is not to get upset but to gently (g-e-n-t-l-y) correct them.

    I once met a girl named Shaherah. I pronounced it Shuh-HAIR-uh (similar to Scheherazad from 1001 Arabian Nights [shuh hair eh SOD]).
    It's a standard pronunciation.

    This 12 year old proceeded to scream at me that I was stupid and she was tired of people of my race mispronouncing her name. Her mother came in and backed her up, informing me that all people of my color were racist and deliberately screwed up the pronunciation of her daughter's name just to annoy/hurt her.

    For some odd reason (certainly nothing to do with common phonetics!), their pronunciation of choice was Shuh-HARR-uh (like the "AR" in arm).

    20 years later, I'm still peeved (I've gotten over anger) by this family's reaction. Instead of public humiliation for an error in pronunciation, this family could have made this a learning experience and (g-e-n-t-l-y) corrected me.

    My daughter's name frequently gets mispronounced and I taught her at an early age to, politely, tell people "My name is pronounced...". If they continued, she was to get over it--she was not responsible for their inability to learn.

    BTW, I re-met Shaherah not too long ago. I pronounced her name correctly (which surprised her) but didn't go out of my way to help her (which didn't surprise me!). I didn't cause her any grief, I just wasn't a super CSR for her.

    So, long-story-short, get over it. Life is way too short to churn up stomach acid over this. Be kind, correct them, and get on with your life.


  • Hate it too. Mine is Kristine, Not pronounced Kristen or Kristina and not spelled with a 'C'. you would think it is easy enough to say/spell. ;)







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