No, I'm not talking about the Destiny's Child song of that title (which I love, love, love, btw). I'm talking my actual personal name. More specifically, the pronunciation of my actual personal name. I don't think my name is that confusing to pronounce, but I've had some wacky attempts over the years. (Most often, it's people trying to pronounce Tera as Teera. Seriously?)Well, that's all about to change!
Because Oh. My. Gods. was featured in School Library Journal's Curriculum Connections newsletter (twice!) I was invited to call in to the teachingbooks.net Author Name Pronunciation Guide. If you visit that page, you can scroll down to my name (past amazing authors like Sherman Alexie, Melissa Marr, John Green and Neil Gaiman) and click to hear an audio recording of yours truly in which I not only pronounce my full name, but also share a funny story about it. (Or, if you're too lazy to scroll all that way, you can click directly to my page.)
What about you? Have you ever heard your name butchered? Do you have any clever ways for telling people how to pronounce your name? (I might say, "It's Tera, like Sarah with a T.") Or how about a funny story to share about your name? Dish, people. Dish.
Hugs,
TLC
OH. MY. GODS. (available now!)
GODDESS BOOT CAMP (coming June 2009)
teralynnchilds.com
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13 comments:
My name is Ameya, so YES. Almost always. I say "Ameya, like the month." as it us uh-may-uh. Usually people say a-maya or a-mee-ya, or ahmee-ya. Even teachers start out saying it correctly and by the end of the quarter i'm A-mee-ya, somehow. Alas..
Well, one of the main reasons I go by Tina is because my full name--Christina--seemed too much for too many people. It constantly got shortened to Christine, Chris and Chrissie. And while those are very nice names, they are not MINE. so I didn't always look up. The sound I "react" to is the "eee" sound in Tina. So at a certain point, I simply started introducing myself as Tina, and all's been well...
Okay, so I totally understand people mispronouncing Ameya (except for the teachers who should *know* better), but Christina? Seriously? I guess some folks are just too lazy to make the effort.
Oddly enough, when I was a kid, everyone mispronounced my name, but nowadays most folks guess right the first time. So go figure!
Anyway, it's "Cara", rhyming with Sara (or Tera!), but when I was a kid, everyone pronounced it like Carra...and then they'd spell it with a "K." :-)
But you know what someone needs to make? A character pronunciation guide! When I was a kid I desperately wanted to know how to pronounce Eilonwy and Piemur and names like that.
Cara
My name is a MESS! In German it's written Ka-Yam*. That should have been the Cantonese pronunciation but it's actually pronounced Ka-Ying*. My mother calls me by Ga Jing* the Shanghai dialect way, my father calls me by Ga Yam* the Cantonese way and officially my first name is Ka. Yes, only KA! The registration office doesn't acknowledge my "-" because I need to go the the court first and PAY for it. That's so ridiculous!
Anyone buy me a new name?
*German pronunciation
I'm used to tell people my Ying is like the Yin of 'Yin and Yang'. That helps...mostly. :P
Have I heard my name butchered? Are you kidding me? LOLOL! I've been called Molly, Marla, Marlene, Maureen, and the good old New England pronunciation: Mahhhhley. I once got mail addressed to "Narley." Talk about OMG! = )
Narley, LOL--you're on the wrong coast for that one. :)
And Ka-Yam, I feel for you. It was easy enough to shorten my name to Tina, but having to buy a "-" takes the cake! (And incidentally, I mailed the book to you today!)
Ok...my name is tough...in fact there are many who don't get it, because it is not only long, but it's also not an English name.
Suma Subramaniam.
Here is how it is pronounced:
Sue- Maa Suebra-mun-eeum
Suma - Means Flower in Sanskrit.
Subramaniam - is my father's name.
It's the name of a Hindu God, the son of Shiva.
Good luck pronouncing it!
People don't ever mispronounce my name but constantly spell it wrong with the most common misspelling being StephEnie, thanks to Ms. Meyer. I do have some trouble with people actually remembering my name though. I have always gotten called Stacy a lot! ;)
No one ever messes up Heather - I'm lucky. But I did have a last name that was crazy-hard for most people to pronounce! Thank goodness I'm back to plain, wonderful Davis!
Heath
Chiming in late...
My name is Raenice (pronounced Ray-Niece). When I was younger, the butchering was worse. I've been called Rainie, Raycine, Ra'niss, Ray-Nice. I can understand the last one because it sounds the way my name looks.
Adults still butcher my name often, but, surprisingly, kids get it right the first time (gotta love 'em). Lately, I've been going by Rae. I love my name, though, because it's unique. There aren't too many of us in this world.
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