Spellin' It Out... About This Page:

[simbarel]

I thought I had it bad with my maiden name. I used to always be asked to spell it out, and even after that they'd confuse it with a certain yellow citrus fruit, or Nimoy's first name, or Vladimir's last name, and if they got it right, it was always "Oh! Are you related to [insert Beatle here]???!!!!??" No!

So I was glad to take on a new name in February 2004, but Wally warned me. IT'S TEN TIMES WORSE! I get trillions of crazy spellings by people who don't ask (so far, "pencil" with a "W" is my favorite) but it's even worse when they DO ask. It's only got six letters peeeeeople! They get all confused when I spell it, so I make a conscious effort to go slowly and pause where the syllabic break occurs, which breaks it only down to THREE letters per syllable...I do the whole "ZEEEEEEE as in ZEEEEEEBRA" thing....and today, I get mail addressed to Rachael Wizmdell. (Note: my first name has only one A.) My last name is Wenzel, does not rhyme with Denzel, and for the few locals who do understand what I'm saying, frequently ask if I'm related to a local hockey player. NO!

Please commiserate with me before I get more postal.

[crystalloubear]

I feel your pain my maiden name was 10 letters ending in "eveur" which confused the heck out of most people. I used to get "Ahh, ahh Crystal Cre......oh you know who you are" Anyway, so I marry a man with a nice easy 6 letter simple last name and people still screw it up bad!! I have a friend whose last name is Smith and people still mess that up!! They say Ms. Smyth or Smeeth. DUH!!!!!!!!!
The funny thing is a while back I got a cake for my Uncle John's Bday. So I get it at Baskin Robins and asked them to put "Happy Birthday John" on it and they ask me how to spell it so I Say "J-o-h-n". The dipwad says Ok and goes to write it on the cake and comes back with ONLY "John" on the cake - No "Happy Birthday". I ask where it is and they said "You didn't tell us how to spell it" WHAT!! I think some people are getting stupider daily.

[Cam22]

My first name is Cornelia. Actually, very lovely name! But I've always gone by my initials Cam. In elementary school kids at Valentines wanted to challenge themselves by spelling my real first name. For some reason, other kids thought my name needed as many "Ls" as possible. Since my nickname is Cam, many people think I'm actually Camilla or Camille. One strange one was Camela since I have a sister named Pamela. Must have thought my parents were crazy. My last name is now Matthews. But people never know if it needs one or two "Ts" and if it gets and "S" or not. Then we decided to spell our DD's name S-t-e-f-a-n-i-e. As she says no "PH" please. So I definitely empathize with you.

[luv2sail]

I married a Murphey....Yes, that's Murphey....with an "ey". People screw that one up all the time. I used to be Taylor...that was so easy and I never had trouble with that one.

[Tara O'Hara]

Rachel, I'm sorry that you are having issues!

[graygables]

My GF's 1st name was A.Y. didn't stand for anything, it was just A.Y. and NOBODY knows why That was always interesting at the license bureau. Last name was Gray...A-Y, so I wonder if that had anything to do with it

I named my 1st 3 DDs "normal" names w/ standard spellings: Nicole, Megan, Sarah, but DD4 was named after my pseudonym on AOL when DH and I met...Breeanna. Cool, I thought, spelled phonetically, no problems. WRONG. She is 6 and tells people, "2 E-s, 2 A-s, 2 N-s" with a

[mestitch]

Rachel I totally understand! Before I got married my name was Suddeth. I thought that one was hard for people. I used get Sudduth, Sudder, and more. Then I get married and my last name only has 6 letters and it's spelled phonetically... L O F L I N!! Not hard people. But I usually get people trying to spell it Laughlin. That way seems much more difficult. When we go out to eat we usually have to listen for any party of 2 that sounds like Loflin, Loftin, Loftis, Loflis, etc. I guess I'll aways be burdened with last name issues!

[SuperKate]

Kyle's last name is very unusual, it's romanian, and always ALWAYS is spelled incorrectly. When we go out to eat we always put in one of our first names.

[buzzspal2]

I alway spell my last name Y B A R R A and it is pronounced
Ebarra. The boys have a teacher that calls them the Yarbough brothers

[Belle*]

I'm feeling your pain! If I get called Sara Barney one more time....

[clio]

DH has a long German last name which noone seems to be able to pronounce correctly even if they've know us for years. My first name is Elizabeth which I always have to spell for people. My maiden name was short but noone could spell it either .
Liz

[christiejay]

Try exchanging Fortenberry for Huddleston!

Obviously, I dropped my maiden name when I got married. Can you imagine being Christie Fortenberry Huddleston?

So when we go out to eat we give my husband's name Jay, that seems to work for everybody.

[Luv4My4]

Our last name is Powell but the way DH pronouces it everyone spells it Pal at least they still say it the same way. I always have to spell it out for example Pal P-o-w-e-l-l !! All of DH's friends call him Pal instead of Jimmy, it gets confusing. We've also gotten Towell and my personal favorite Bowell on mail.

[GoofyMom]

I can join in your pain! If I get called Donna Summer one more time..... And there is no "e" on the end of our name, but EVERYBODY adds one, even if I spell it out slowly and say No E! Oh, well. The people that matter get it right!

[graygables]

[ QUOTE ]
I can join in your pain! If I get called Donna Summer one more time.....

[/ QUOTE ]

"Gotta have some hot stuff, baby, this evenin..." or is it time for that "Lets dance, this last dance, toooniiight" I'm sure you'll "Survive"! Sorry, it's late and I'm tired !