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Monday, July 20, 2009

That's not my name.

Do you think it's rude to allow somebody to call you by the wrong name without correcting them? Today a person that I knew growing up called me by my sister's name. I think normally I would have corrected her but she said it as if she was definite that she got my name right that I didn't want to embarrass her by correcting her. So I think correcting a friend or longtime acquaintance is something I would normally do. However I do not correct strangers. I let them call me just about anything. I remember working at a soda fountain in my teenage years and one old man always called me Sharon. It didn't bother me at all and it became endearing to me that he was the only person to call me Sharon. When I got married I acquired the last name Bullock. Suddenly people were accidentally calling me Sandra. At first I would correct people but I got so sick of it, I just let it happen. To this day I still answer to Sandra.
I remember I had a roommate once named Barbi. For the first two weeks I kept calling her Bambi. It was an honest mistake and she seemed patient enough. I really hoped that I wasn't offending her. I mean growing up with four sisters I was often called by the wrong name. I'm used to it, but I realize that others might not be. I also know people who hate it when you mispronounce their names. It's hard not to do that when they have a name like Christen, Kursten, Kirra, Christian, Kirsta, Christy, you get the point. People with names like these have probably always been called by a variation of their name but to me that should just make them more patient about it. I think with some it does and with others it doesn't. With me, I know I'm very patient. The problem I run into is when somebody hears a person call me the wrong name and then let's them know what my real name is and then they come up and ask why I didn't tell them they were calling me by the wrong name. I just explain I don't care what they call me, I knew they were talking to me. Somehow whenever this type of situation has occurred the person seems so offended that I allowed them to embarrass themselves. So that's why I want to know. Is it rude to let someone call you by the wrong name? What do you think?

5 comments:

Springbubble said...

i didn't know that letting someone call me by the wrong name would make them feel embarrassed. when that happens to me, i don't correct the person though deep inside i'm offended esp. if we have already met before; and if it's a stranger and we just met, i feel irritated if he calls me the wrong name cause i see that as 'not paying attention' or 'not interested'. having read the situation in here, i think telling the person in an easy way, i mean like you're just joking (half meant), would lessen the negative feeling coming from both sides. hay, did i explain my thought clearly?

okeydokeyifine said...

I tell patients that if they have a complaint my name is Betty (another nurse) but if they have a compliment my name is Pat (easy for patients to say).

Other than that I usually do not correct a person. If they feel awkward later that is their problem.

They might not even realize that they said the wrong name or not sure that I even heard the wrong name. What's in a name, anyway?

Puphigirl said...

I hate when people mispronounce my name. Usually it's just the Niomee. Ugh!! My name is in the Bible, it is not some wacked out spelling of something. You pretty much say the vowels as they are. The only people I excuse from saying Niomee are those with Southern or British accents because they say other 'a' sounds like an 'i'.

Ruthykins said...

i get called lots of names. no, not like that...anyway, i've been called beth, or rebekah, or rachel. i even had someone call me lou once. i remember once in college walking in the cafeteria and not hearing my roommate calling out "ruth". since i didn't hear she yelled out "hooch" which i did respond to. my roommates thought that was really funny. she wasn't being mean or mistaken, though. in brazil the name ruth is pronounced hooch, so it was a nickname that i had. sorry, i know that story was a little off topic, but i still think it's funny. i do usually correct people when they say my name wrong.

EmmaP said...

so, um Sandra,

Hooch, Niomi, Rochelle and I cannot wait until we all get together NEXT.FREAKIN.WEEKEND!!! Whoo-Hoot!

seriously, i don't get offened. people have been calling me the WRONG name for years! We also all have different LEARNING STYLES. If you tell my friend Julie your birthday just one time, it is ingrained in her memory. seriously. I can ask her for ANYONE's bday in the ward and she knows! My other neighbor, Mel can remember ANYONE's phone number after just one time! ME? horrible memory. I can remember a conversation I had with someone 12 years ago... but ask me their name? forget about it. Once someone did ask me why I didn't correct them when they called me Dianne. (Dianne??? WTFreak?) Anyway, I just said, "oh, I just figured someone musta told you my hooker name" She turned bright red. I laughed. that was that.

All right... i think i've done enough damage on blogs for one midnight hour... see ya soon!

Much Love,
Emily :)