What's in a name?

From a sista, outta love - Posts

"nikhil @thenikhilkapur: your parents didn't immigrate halfway across the world for u to mispronounce your own name so it fits better in someone else's mouth.

a person's name has meaning behind it, cultural significance and represents their identity. the least anyone could do is learn to pronounce it correctly."

Comment:

"Funny, I thought they came here to perhaps give their child a better chance at success and let them have more opportunities than they would have had if they were back in their country. Thats what my parents told me when we came from Peru, but i guess they were wrong, it was that my name should be pronounced correctly."

"My parents immigrated to survive, not to complain."

"They're not gonna be able to pronounce my name "correctly" anyway, so I just say it like it's English because I'm speaking...English."

"I know plenty of people whose first and/or last names are frequently mispronounced who are not immigrants. Some languages have sounds that other languages don’t so it can be difficult for people to create those sounds. In fact I have a lot of immigrant friends who have trouble pronouncing my name and call me a different version of my name. Doesn’t bother me. When I did study abroad in Mexico, the family we were staying with couldn’t say my roommate Beth’s name correctly. They were not used to making the th sound. She told them they could call her by her middle name. All was good. If people are trying why not be understanding?"

"As a society I think we have bigger issues than having to know how to pronounce every name out there."

"That's extremely arrogant. Obviously if someone is purposefully making fun of the name, that's one thing, but sometimes it's a matter of not having the right phonetics in one language or not enough linguistic knowledge. Try being Japanese, most of the times they'll get names wrong due to a shortage of vowels and consonants. Be happy people try. No shade but their aren't millions of Nikhils running around. I'm just sayin"

"How others choose to pronounce my name is how they identify me. How I choose to pronounce my name is how I identify myself."

"Only people who are native English speakers can pronounce my name and mines basic. I embrace the 5 different sounds of my name. Who cares? I can’t expect them to pronounce it properly so I have them call me Brooklynn and it’s easier for them. Nbd"

"yeah but i got tired of trying to explain how it is pronounced just to have it mispronounced still, then i started saying "Jamie" in english, instead of "Jaime" in spanish, now i introduce myself saying it bothways, "Jaime, or you can call me Jamie", in case they have trouble saying it correctly. Im the one who immigrated, and im the one adjusting the pronounciation of my name. Also, a lot of people have nicknames and everybody calls them by their nicknames, they even introduce themeselves with their nickname. Almost nobody thinks about the "cultural signifcance" of peoples names or the identity that it gives them."

"This is so dumb. Holding it against someone that they can't pronounce my name right is like holding it against them that they can't pronounce words in my language. Why "don't hold it against foreigners if they have an accent and mispronounce words" but suddenly "wow how dare you mispronounce my name that contains sounds that don't exist in your language"?"

"I have a weird name Kasicki. People pronounce it wrong often. But you know what. It doesn’t bother me since I am a adult who doesn’t gets my panties in a twist if someone can’t pronounce my name. Cause honestly people have better things to do than worry about my last name"

"Also, this a melting pot with 1 common language, if ppl from another culture cant say ur name the “right way” gtf over it"

"Actually they kinda did. They sure as hell didn't come here for Irish or German national pride ya nit."

"Oh great we are getting triggered over names now"

"Sometimes I wish my ancestors had gotten a more imperialist agent when they got to Ellis Island, someone who'd rewrite our name, so people *would* pronounce it properly."

"My last name is French and to me, easy to say, but no one can say it"

"I mean we don’t care... I don’t even know how to pronounce is even when i was a kid.. multicultural family can be a task...
my spanish friends say anderson, protuguese andérson,
French Andersên, english ander-son....
Criollo
Africano !ándêsõn"

"This is like saying that I should start spelling my surname “Heß” because that’s how my family spelled it before they came here."

"A name is a sound people use to refer to you. It is completely irrelevant to identity"

"but I don’t even know how’s my name suppose to be pronounced"