‘People constantly mispronounce my name – I keep correcting them but it does my head in’

One woman is fed up of constantly having to correct friends and work colleagues when they mispronounce her name, which is one of the most common girls names in the UK

It can be incredibly grating when someone mispronounces your name. Many people love the moniker their parents chose for them, and if someone keeps saying the wrong thing you may be tempted to correct them. You’d hope that most people would take note if you point this out to them – but one woman is sick and tired of having constantly correct people.

A woman called Amelia, which came in sixth place of most popular baby names in the UK in 2022, has to correct people on a daily basis. Taking to Mumsnet’s Am I being Unreasonable forum, she explained that her name is Amelia – but it’s pronounced Ah-me-lee-a.

She continued: “On a daily basis people pronounce it as Ah-meal-ya. It does my head in. This is people I’ve known for years doing it too. It’s not my name.

“When I correct certain friends they roll their eyes and can’t understand why it matters. It matters because it’s not my name.

“It is a constant occurrence in the workplace and I’m constantly correcting people. Should I give up correcting?”.

Amelia’s post caused quite a stir, with some people struggling to see how the two variations are different.

One person said: “Well it sounds almost identical, there is barely perceptible difference. I’d give up.”

Another said: “The way you have written the two ways of saying it – if I read those out loud they sound exactly the same to me. Sorry.”

Some pointed out that it might be to do with regional accents, with one person saying: “People can’t help their accents. That’s what this sounds like,” and another adding: “Agreed. I wouldn’t bother making an issue out of it. I usually say my name with two syllables but some people make it into three. I’m not bothered.”

However, Amelia replied saying: “No it’s not, we have same accents (my friends and most work colleagues).”

Others understood why it was bothering her, with one person saying: “You should not have to correct people twice. Your pronunciation seems the normal one.”

Another added: “I know exactly what you mean. I know someone with the same name and I pronounce it the way you like but someone very close to her just calls her Meal-ya. I think it sound really horrible and changes the name completely. I don’t know what you can do only correct them once and if they care they’ll make an effort to pronounce it the nice way.”

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