Sunday, April 17, 2011

name nuisance

i was reading someone's post today and in it, she said that her name gets messed up all the time. and i can totally relate because my name has been butchered all through my life.

my dad's name is sheridan. my mom's name is linda. they decided to get fancy and make a combo platter out of their names just for me. okay, i can say now that i think it's lovely, but as a kid, i did not appreciate it at all. almost everyone who saw it written, pronounced it wrong. and for those who knew how to say it, they couldn't spell it.

just so you all know, whether or not you ever wondered, it is pronounced just like marilyn, but with a SH. and i don't mean like you're telling marilyn to shut it.

it's rare that it's spelled by a first timer without a Y and i am frequently given bonus L's and N's. and i hardly ever get an S at the beginning, most often a C. and while we're talking about there being a C on the front, i've had a couple times where i was called char-leen. and i don't mean like charlene. there was definitely a CHar, as in charbroiled. i've been called cheryl, sharon, shirley, sherry, and many other raggedy combinations of wrongness. the only one i answer to is sheri because i used that to avoid some of the name drama for many years.

my husband's favorite butchery of my name came in the shape of shirley-lynn, and he likes to call me that sometimes, preferably with a very heavy southern accent.

sigh. . .  that brings me to part of the reason i picked the name brooke when i was pregnant. no adults pronounce it wrong and even though sometimes people leave off the mysterious E at the end, it's spelled right more often than not. and even when kids get it wrong, it's not usually worse than book, broke or sometimes brick. it's okay though, when other kids say her name wrong, she just makes up a new name for them. like her friend joey, she calls him bob the builder.

27 comments:

  1. Yeah. People have a complete mental block with my name. It was even spelled wrong on my high school diploma; I went ballistic. What is so friggin' difficult?

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  2. It seems petty, but it is irritating. Maybe it has something to do with the nick-names we're given as children.
    Even with an on-line name, I expected AC out of laziness, didn't see Ant coming, despite the 6 feet.;)

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  3. I can relate to that as everyone my whole life calls me Jason. And that is no where near my damn name. The only thing my name and Jason has in common is the letter "J".

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  4. There are so many spellings of names people really need to just ask the spelling. They think if they ask they will look stupid. Doesn't it look stupid to assume and spell it completely wrong?

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  5. Oh wow -I certainly wouldn't have pronounced it like that,cool name, tho

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  6. Better than a boy named Sue. I'm not sure that even applies here. But, I'm tired and going to bed.

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  7. Hmm, thanks for this, I've been seeing your name for a while now and would've totally mispronounced it had you not explained. But a unique name always goes along with a unique person, that's what I say, so enjoy and revel in it!

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  8. now you guys are making me curious about what your real names are when you say that people get them wrong. i wasn't creative (or maybe just not decisive) enough to come up with a good online blogging name.
    al, you said better than a boy named sue & i'm sure that's true. my dad's been called sherry his whole life in order to shorten sheridan. imagine the hubub when he won the ladies golf competition. and when i was living at home & going by sheri, the confusion when people called on the phone for either of us was tremendous. then we had a foster kid named sherrie and things got really weird!

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  9. and antares cryptos, i'll be sure not to call you ant again. AC it is, despite the 6 feet.

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  10. they get my last name wrong ALL THE TIME. and it pisses me off, because it is so easy to say and spell and every one of us has one in their change purse;....for you Canadians it has a beaver on it. makes me crazy.

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  11. Thanks for your comment....I could never imagine in this lifetime, enjoying folding, but cheers to you girl!!!!!!go for it!

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  12. I love your name and the story behind it!

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  13. Only one of our girls has this issue...we call her Reni (sounds like Kenny with a R instead of a K) which is a nickname for her middle name. People call her Renee or Rainy most of the time. Since she's been in college everyone calls her by her first name which is Lillian! LOL

    I was proud of myself- I tried pronouncing your name before I read your explanation and I got it right!

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  14. ok... I will tell you my real name... Rosalind, Rosalind like Rosalind Russell. One of my boyfriend's father called me Roxanne for 4 years, and I quite often get called Robin when I answer the phone. The part that ticks me off is when someone calls and I know they are some telemarketer is when I get called "Rose land" .... for reals? It is pronounced like "Rozlynn". I love my name because it is unique, but it is annoying when I have to correct people, most of the time I just ignore them.

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  15. Hi Sherilin (pronounced correctly), stopping by from LBS! I have a fairly common name, but it still gets misspelled (extra L, anyone?), mispronounced and butchered and I just give up. so I feel you!

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  16. Oh man, I hear ya on the spelling. If I could just have a nickel for how many ways there are to spell Leanne (none of them ever being correct...)! Most people can say it, although I have been know to be "Jeanne" (as it proudly states on my JC Penny charge card) and several times "Lean" (like against a wall). "Lean"? Really, people, who would name their kid "Lean"???!

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  17. Everyone I knew growing up had a kid or a dog name Missy! I hate when parents name their kid one name and call it completely something else. I have only been called Melissa when I am marrying someone...

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  18. I've had the same problem with both my first and last names all my life. It's amazing how Abbey can be Abi, Gabby, Ally, Andy, or Hallie. Do you ever slow down the pronunciation for them? It usually gets the point across!

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  19. Sherilin, no worries, I correct on the real name only.

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  20. Shirley-Lynn? I would go and kick Chris' rear RIGHT now!

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  21. Despite the name that Stephanie is pretty much always spelled the same, people can't ever seem to spell it! I think you have a BEAUTIFUL name. To heck with all the people who can't figure it out! I used to be a member of our local RWA chapters and one of the most popular authors here in Nashville was Sherrilyn Kenyon. She worked with my mom before she hit it big as an author. I'm not sure that's her real name...I think she may have adapted it.

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  22. I wasnt creative to come up with a pen name either, so I blog with my real name ~ Leslie. I got called Lezlie a lot and my friends thought it was hilarious to call me Lezzy thru high school. My husband and I named our son Edden after his cousins whom he lost to a car accident. His name is a combo platter of Ed and Dennie. People call him Eden (as in the garden), they call him Ed for short, Edward, Eddie, Aiden. Poor kid!

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  23. My whole life everyone has called me Daniel, because my mother decided to only give me 1 "l". I could have killed her! And it still happens. Do I look like a boy?

    And I love your name. And I got it right, right away btw! Although I think now I am going to want to call you shirley-lynn just for fun! hehe, I won't!

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  24. That would be frustrating, but I love your parents idea. People always misspell my name. Kristy. There are wayyyyy too many ways to spell it.

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  25. I'm proud of myself. I was pronouncing your name right all along. Yay! I'm awesome! You're awesome too!

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  26. Hey Chary-lynn....good post. (tee,hee)

    Wendy is pretty easy to keep straight.actually, I don't think I ever really even had any nicknames. Just Wendy.
    s'all good.

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  27. You forgot to tell them about the Louise part. Oops - am I not supposed to let that out of the bag?

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don't let me be the only one doing the talking around here. spill your guts!