Really- is it that complicated!?

Patricia - posted on 10/04/2011

You're not being too uptight, in my opinion, because it's not like it's a cute little pet name, but an insistance to call a girl named Natalia "Natalie." It's a totally different name. My daughter's name is Emily, and we call her by nicknames at times, but when people call her "Emma," it bugs me, because that's a different name, not a nickname.

Tracy - posted on 07/20/2010

I know how you feel. I have an aunt who would call my kids the most annoying names and when I got mad she would laugh at me. She called my son Deck (his name is Deklan) and my daughter HB ( her name isHolly-Beth) I absolutely hated it. I realized that she did it just to get a rise out of me, so I stopped paying any attention to it and once she couldn't make me mad anymore she completely stopped. Maybe that would help you?

April - posted on 07/20/2010

Natalie Wood, the actress from the original Miracle on 34th Street was really named Natasha. Another example of someone whose name is NOT Natalie!!

Ashley - posted on 07/20/2010

my daughter's name is Aurora and everyone calls her rora or rorie

Elaine - posted on 07/20/2010

My daughter's name is Abigail, so of course everyone wants to know if they can call her Abby. I politely tell them that we're calling her Abigail unless she decides that she likes a nickname when she gets older (she's only 4 weeks now). It gets really old getting the same question every time someone meets her, and having to correct all the people who just automatically call her Abby without asking. If I wanted to name her Abby that would be the name on her birth certificate, thank you very much. I think the most irritating for me, though, was the person who asked if we were going to call her Abby or Gail, as if calling her Abigail wasn't even an option!

Christine - posted on 07/20/2010

no, i don't think you are being to uptight.
my name is christine, but people always call or spell my name christina. they'll say, it's just one letter, so what. i want to say, how about i change one letter of your name.
also, my daughters name is evangline (pronounced "leen") . when i tell people her name they'll say it back to me properly, but then a few minutes later, they her name with "line" or "leena" at the end. it's rather annoying, i never even thought about the kind of problems people would have pronouncing her name. and since we kept her name a secret, we didn't have to deal with it until she was born. i call her eve or evie for short, a lot of my friends call her eva, truth me told, i don't like the name eva, another name issue i didn't see coming. i just correct people, i'm used to it, having dealt with misconceptions of my own name all my life. i advise you to tell your friends and any other people who deal with your daughter on a regular basis how you want your daughter to be called. just say, this is her name and we call her such and such for short, in time others will catch on. i've learned short of being rude, you have to be very direct. it seems that some people just don't get it.

Erin - posted on 07/20/2010

I understand how you feel! We named our daughter Jocelyn and I can't tell you how many times her name has been butchered! We also call her Jocie (jaw-see) but everyone thinks its Josie. Thats like a totally different name! lol And when people see her name written, they think its pronounced either "Josie Lynn" or "Joyce-a-lynn" Drives me NUTS! lol

MamaTo2 - posted on 07/20/2010

Make it a point to use her name yourself as much as possible around them. It may be annoying for a while but I seriously think I'd just throw her name into EVERY sentence I say to her so they hear it constantly, especially her nickname. They could think it's just no big deal to give her their own nickname or they could be actually doing it just to spite you a little for correcting them in the past. Either way, the more they hear it the more natural it will sound to them whether they like it or not and hopefully eventually she'll just BE Talia to them because hearing it constantly with her will make that name have her personality. And I would continue to correct them EVERY time. Even just a gentle "please don't call her that, we really hate it, her name is NataliA/Talia" is not disrespectful or bitchy in any way. And if you keep doing it every time, maybe they'll just get tired of going against it. I disagree with anyone who says you're overreacting. You don't have to fly off the handle of course but you SHOULD correct people who call her the wrong name and you should teach her to correct them as she gets older. I heard once that studies show that subconciously your own name is the sweetest sound to your ears. That's your daughter's identity and you picked that name because you love it. You could've name her Natalie if you wanted, it's a nice and valid name, but you didn't, so that's not who she is. (Maybe tell them that too! Haha)

Amanda - posted on 07/20/2010

My son's name is Braylon and everyone gets it mixed up w/ Brayden and I hate that name so much it makes my blood boil. Everytime i hear someone call him Brayden i quickly correct them. It may be bitchy but I am his mom and I can do things how i want. If i wanted him to be called brayden i would have given him that name...besides I don't want to just let it slide cuz if it continues to happen he'll grow up thinkin' his name his brayden and that is NOT going to happen.

Dawn - posted on 07/20/2010

My daughter's name is Alexis, and until the da he died my grandfather called her Alexa or Alexia. I think because that was original choices and her dad didn't like it, so we settled with Alexis. But, Grandpa didn't like her dad. But, still, it was not her name. Now that he is gone though my daughter laughs about it and remembers how crazy he was anyway. She went by Lexi forever and then around 7 decided she wanted to be "Alex." Almost 3 years later some people refuse to call her "Alex." I know it can be irritating but try to not let it bother you too much. Family can be a double edge sword, pick your battles and be thankful she has family in her life to mess up her name and that they love her. There will be many many things family will do over the years that will irritate you. If it bugs your daughter when she is older than let her correct them. BTW, I think Natalia is absolutly goregous.

Kayleigh - posted on 07/20/2010

I didn't know anyone named Braedin until I had my son, of course! Now I hear the name everywhere it seems, but this makes me happy because I hope my son will fit in with his generation and be proud of his name. I haven't seen anyone spell it like I did (yet), but I did try to advise my girlfriend on the spelling when she had a little boy 6 months after me, and named him brayden. Which, I love my grandma very much and the only issue she had with the name I'd chosen was that she kept thinking of a donkey whenever she heard it. But as soon as she seen the way I wanted to spell it, she agreed that it's a beautiful name for a boy, and even though she calls him Ryleigh, she no longer pictures a donkey in place of my son! lol
I really like Nolan and Connor, very nice Irish names. We were looking for an English-Irish, unusual name when I found Braedin in a very old book on Celtic history. I love the way it seemed to combine my husband's and his father's names, too! Which is probably why I'm becoming a fanatic about the way people say it!

Racheal - posted on 07/20/2010

kayleigh, i really love the spelling of your son's name!! we actually considered that name and spelling for our newest son but my girlfriends son has that name and we like very unique names( granted when our son connor was born we didn't hear it often til now everyday at the park there is another connor somewhere..lol) our baby is 8months and his name is Nolan. :)

Kayleigh - posted on 07/20/2010

To hell with making it easier for other people! All the names I've seen people complain about are unique and perfect for a new generation! If the old generation doesn't like it, I'm sure it's only because they come from a time of joe, dick, and harry, but they don't have to go to school in this day and age that kids can be so cruel. I tried so hard to give my child a name that couldn't be abbreviated or used crudely to tease him. It's not bray like a donkey, or braid like fixing hair, I spelled it Braedin which is a combination of his father's name (Kevin) and his Grandpa (Brian). His middle name is Ryleigh, even though I've had so many problems with that spelling, I believe it's special to give your child a name with meaning! So what I have to spell my name for everybody, it's way better than being a betty or barbie or candy! I just hope my son will have the same feeling when he is grown. I would be heartbroken if he wanted to change his name to bob!!!

Racheal - posted on 07/20/2010

i know this isn't a big deal either but i have never vented about it..my son's name is Connor we love how it is spelled and absolutly hated all the other spellings..yet some how everyone in the world must think it has an "E" in it..ie, conner..ugh we HATE it and what makes it worse is in his preschool he has one teacher that always writes it like that and even he said to her my name is spelled like this c-o-n-n-o-r...and she STILL gets its wrong, seriously is it that hard to remember something that simple????

Kim - posted on 07/20/2010

I understand calling my Daughter Nat or Natty- my husband and I just can't stand it- its too harsh sounding and irritates me.

But Natalie? Thats not her name. Thats not a nick name. thats like telling someone who's name is Kaitlyn her name is Kathryn. I thin it annoys me more since my in laws gave us a hard time about naming her Natalia in the first place.

I for sure think that I am going to name the second something next to impossible to mispronounce! Maybe We should all just change our kids names to Bob to make it easier on everyone- right Kayleigh :P

Julie - posted on 07/20/2010

i have three cousins with odd names and they will definatly tell you how to pronounce them now that they are older first is isaydora (is a door ah) she is 16 now and goes by dora then shanna (sha nah) 13 who is always being called shannon and hates it and darryan (dare ie an) 11 and goes by nothing else is very quike to correct you all three are girls my son is 6 months and my mil calls him toy when his name is troy jr just like her son is troy it gets on my nerves too!

Ginny - posted on 07/20/2010

Eilish, that's a pretty name. Believe it or not, I've actually had people ask me how to pronounce my son's name--Liam. I mean, it's not the most common name, but it's common enough that it shouldn't seem foreign to people! (Actually I get people calling him 'Ian' fairly frequently). If my kids want to go by a nickname of their own choosing when they are older, that's okay with me. It is their name, after all, and they will carry it for the rest of their lives. But I won't let other people dictate nicknames or alternate pronunciations for them.

Carrie - posted on 07/20/2010

When my daughters friends ring and ask for eye - leesh (her name is Eilish, which rhymes with Irish) we pause, say 'who?' or 'what?' a few times, and then say "Oh, you mean Eilish!" They are starting to get it! She picked out 'eye' as a nickname for herself, but I refused to allow it.

Alison - posted on 07/20/2010

I totally know what you mean, my son's name is Josiah but my parents and sisters call Joziah. My husband and I decided we wanted it pronounced the right way but my family continues to say it the wrong way. I absolutely dislike when they say it wrong. Really, all it takes is a little practice to get it right.

Darcel - posted on 07/19/2010

No you are not being to uptight. My son's name is Jason. His father's name is Jason. My son's name is NOT Junior. Do NOT call my son Junior. His father doesn't even call him Junior. His father is the only one with the right to call him Junior. If you must call my son anything but Jason call him Deuce.

As you can see I have the same rant. You you are not being uptight. Nicknames are hard to get rid of when a child gets older. Natty is not a cute name for a 16 year old young lady. Tali however is a respectable nickname that she can use until she is 80 or older.

Ginny - posted on 07/19/2010

I think it's annoying when it seems like people don't care enough to make the effort to learn the name properly. My daughter's name is Lena, and despite the spelling we pronounce it "Lay-na." It's a family name and that's just the way it's pronounced. We expect to have to correct people on the pronunciation, but there's no excuse for having to correct family members numerous times! So yeah, I get where you're coming from!

Cherri - posted on 07/19/2010

no ur not being up tight...she is ur daughter and u gave her a specific name for a reason...no one has any right to state the name wrong. I have a son name joshua and even though that is such a simple name i have tried to stay away from "Josh" and whenever someone says that im like no his name is joshua not josh.

Kayleigh - posted on 07/19/2010

Well, apparently we all have the same problem, my name being Kayleigh people have mispronounced it my entire life, but I still can't understand what is so hard about that spelling. I suppose we could just change our babies names to bob or betty because really, how could those names be abbreviated? I named my little boy Braedin, and so far he has been called brendon or brandon, and the worst B-rae! I almost slapped my brother in law, and I'm not a violent person! I just told him my son is not and never will be a rapper, so that nickname is totally inappropriate. Everytime I see him now though, I call him by his dreaded childhood nickname which makes him turn really red! My husband was so kind in sharing that tip that I got over my urge to do serious damage to his brother! I love his name though, and he always anwsers to it with a smile, so I'm not even considering a change (other than the rearrangement of certain people's faces!) I considered Natalia if I had a girl and I agree that is a beautiful name, and anyone who calls a baby a nat should certainly be notified that they are more annoying than your baby, so that name would suit them a lot better!

Denise - posted on 07/19/2010

no way you just keep telling them

Francesca - posted on 07/19/2010

My name is Francesca. I get Francine, Franciska, Franny, you name it. None of which are my name. My professor asked me in front of the class for a favour. He addressed me as Francine. I ignored him. He repeated himself and I asked who he was talking to? That I didn't know there was any Francine in the class. He laughed and said he was an old Jewish man and that Francine was close enough. I laugh and started calling him Joe (His name was Ken). He never got my name wrong again.



My Dh is Jonathan. And everyone keeps calling him John. He has never, ever gone by John. And I try to politely correct it. As I know it drives him nuts.



My daughter's name is Ella Rayne. And my sister calls her Ellsie all the time. I know she just wants a pet name, but its not her name.



So I completely understand your rant. Start calling them the wrong name. Maybe they will get it!

Jennifer - posted on 07/19/2010

my name is jennifer, and people always call me jessica!

Jessica - posted on 07/19/2010

Also my Name is Jessica but people tend to call me Jennifer go figure.

Jessica - posted on 07/19/2010

My Niece is named Tarah, People tend to call her sarah, tara or other such things I get tired of correcting them and so i just gave up. My husband calls her Terrible Tarah the Terror as she is very hyper and seems to be fearless and will climb, or Jump or be into everything. Lets just say babysitting her is an adventure. So good luck with getting people to get her name right.

Laura Zoey - posted on 07/19/2010

I think you aren't overreacting! Natalie is more common then Natalia but Natalia is sooo much more sophisticated. Talia is super cute too. I think natty nat etc is so uggo. Stand your ground now before she decides she likes one of those Nick names. My son Eric hasn't gotten any variations of his name, mostly because there isn't much to change with Eric. But I'd never stand for anything I didn't like. Our next choices of names are brendan and I will NOT stand for Brandon ever!! Mikayla can be mike, micky, Mickey mouse, Kayla, but not just Kay. Leo will not be lee. Lucy will not be Lou. Molly isn't easily shortened so I think that's ok. And Julia will not be Julie! I'm prepared to stand up to anyone who called my kids the wrong things so we can get it through their heads early and be done with it! Best of luck to you and to talia.

Briana - posted on 07/19/2010

I think to a degree you are being a little uptight. I don't think it's people aren't grasping the fact that it's her name, but they are just giving her a cute nick name. I don't get how they get Natalie out of it though. That one confuses me. But, our son's name is Devilan John (Jr), and my parents call him DJ. My husband hates it, but I tell him to let it go because it's just their nick name for him :)

Cally - posted on 07/18/2010

You poor thing, keep the faith, eventually they will get it. I often get called Kelly, Cathy, Kerrie or Carly if I say my name is Cally or get Caroline if using my full name of Carolyn. Perhaps you need to get your daughter's father to talk to his parents as he's being dealing with his whole life and will probably know a good way to get through to them. They might be wanting to call her Natalie as their pet name for her, perhaps you can recommend something different.

Eventually they will get it or your daughter will start to correct them or ignore them when they get it wrong.

Kim - posted on 07/18/2010

Wow... I am glad I checked this thread tonight- you Ladies are WONDERFUL.



I was very close to kicking my in laws out of the house today (I do love them- really) after hearing them say Natalie... ALLL day today. I finally said, if you cannot pronounce her name properly please call her Tali, or Talia. Her name is NOT Natalie and I really feel insulted when you call her that.



the response? Well calling her Tali is similar to Natalie...



ARRRGGGG...

Brittany - posted on 07/18/2010

i do not think you're being too uptight, because hey - that's YOUR daughter :) you named her Natalia not those nicknames. i guess you'll just have to say "Please do not call her that; she's my daughter and I would really appreciate it if you'll call her Natalia." If that doesn't work, get snappy with them and tell them they won't see her again if her correct name cannot be called :) LOL - seriously though, ask them to call her Her name so she won't get confused when she starts learning it (if she hasn't already, not sure how old she is).

hope they get better soon though!!! people make me mad when they refer to my daughter as theirs!! i just stare at them :)

Danielle - posted on 07/18/2010

My daughter's name is Anabella pronounced like the A is an O.
I was debating spelling it Onabella but opted not to. She gets called everything but Anabella. She gets Annabell, Belle, Bella, Anna. And all I do is correct them kindly as to what her name is.

Sylvia - posted on 07/17/2010

Meh ... that's not a hill I've chosen to die on. I've learned to live with a lot of nicknames and misnomers for myself. My name is Sylvia, with a Y, but lots of people spell it the Italian/Spanish way, Silvia. I went to school in French for 6 years (and did a minor in French at uni as well), at which point I got accustomed to being called Sylvie. My name is misspelled "Slyvia" all the time. People I know call me Syl, Sylver, Sylve, and Slyv; people I don't know, for some reason, frequently send me e-mails that begin "Hi Susan" o_O. DH similarly answers to Alex, Alec, Al, and Alexander. So ... we're not real uptight about people nicknaming DD.

However ... there was a nurse at the paediatrician's office when she was a baby who could NEVER get her name right. Her name is Shaina (we now wish we'd spelled it with a Y), and this lady called her Shania, Shay-Anne, Cheyenne, Shanay ... that, I must confess, did irritate me. Mostly because, hello, how am I supposed to know you're calling us, in this waiting room full of people whose names we don't know, if you're calling a name that isn't even vaguely recognizable as DD's? (They don't call out last names, because confidentiality!)

Now that DD is old enough to have an opinion, I encourage her to politely correct people if they get her name wrong, which if they're not Jewish they often do. (Shaina is a fairly popular Yiddish name.) But if someone calls her by a nickname and it doesn't bother her, then I don't say anything -- it's her name, so who am I to be annoyed if she isn't?

Getting names wrong on official paperwork is of course a whole other thing, because there's actually the potential for serious mix-ups of various kinds. That, I would raise a stink about.

Amy - posted on 07/17/2010

My story is not a real big deal but tends to be a little irritating... my daughter's name is Gabriella and she is called Gabby by myself and the rest of our family. However, every single piece of paperwork I receive, whether it be medical information or daycare notes, lists her name as Gabrielle. Like I said, not a huge deal but.... the ella part of her name was chosen after my grandmother and is important to me. Just hope it doesn't remain a common mistake when she begins school..

Kimberly - posted on 07/17/2010

I found with moving to aus that everyone one shortens what ever name you have and ass either and i or an o to the end of it so I thought to make things easier I would call name daughter Gracie which I've always loved and I thought that since it was already the shortened name it wouldnt be a problem. WRONG!! People ask me her name and when I say Gracie they say thing like Are you a good girl Grace?!?!?!? What the? so ya I've just learned to let some of it slide but I do still correct some people when everyone else in the room is using her real name yet they still call her Grace. But you might want to let your family slide a bit as I have nicknames for her that I use but nobody else calls her it.

Corinne - posted on 07/17/2010

My M.I.L always shortens my kids' names to "Me" and "Dev" when their names are Mia and Devon. I always stop her and point out what their names are and remind her that myself and her son made them, and named them. I will not tolerate having their names shortened or people using "babyspeak". My kids, my rules. :) x

Misty - posted on 07/17/2010

I totally understand. You chose her name because you wanted Natalia not Natalie. My daughter is named Ella. Of course I call her snug a bug, but that's just my special name for her. My husband's stepmom calls her "Ewwa". It drives me nuts! My daughter is not going to be able to pronounce her L's if she listens to this woman. This is a grown 50 year old woman saying her name like a toddler would. It drives me insane. I just make sure to stress the L when I say her name around her.

Angie - posted on 07/17/2010

Cannot be as bad as what I got as the childrens paternal grandfather made up names for mine and my sister-in-laws kids. My first Daughter Karen got Sawdust afer Karen Carpenter. My 2nd Justin got justintimeforxmas as he was born 1 week before xmas, my 3rd daughter Madison got Madison Sq Gardens. My sister in laws children Calvin and Cole got Aftershave and Black as coal respectively. Eventually it stopped once they were a bit older, and I think he did it to humour himself more. Be patient and if you don't like it just up and leave until they get the hint :D x

Jacquelyn - posted on 07/17/2010

I feel your frustration too, I had to correct people and still do because I go by my full name and not Jackie and that is just unheard of :) people will even ask what I prefer to be called and then still call me Jackie!! Also with my first (Jalayna) people started calling her Layna which I don't like so we made the nickname of Nayna (similar to her dad's nickname) so people would stop but they didn't and I gave up because it was to hard to keep being annoyed an I know that if it bothers her in the future she will correct them :)

Lerin - posted on 07/17/2010

I'm glad you posted this, as I've never vented about this. In my oldest daughter's case, her name is Kaylor. My MIL asked me in the beginning if they could 'just call her KK'. Hindsight's 20/20. Now everyone on that side of the family calls her that, and she's 7 now and HATES it. Also my sister calls her 'Kaylee-K' and that just all out gets on my nerves!
Ironically, all the other kids on my side of the fam & my in-law side, NONE of the other kids have ridiculous nicknames- they all get called by their given names.

Kim - posted on 07/17/2010

I'm glad that I'm not the only one ready to hit my head against a wall. :) It just sucks that we spent SO much time picking out the PERFECT name, only to hear people completely dismiss/butcher it. I know thats not the intent, and all we can do is correct and explain.... Well hopefully I don't freak out on the in-laws this weekend. Thanks for the support and input Ladies.

Jessie - posted on 07/17/2010

I feel your pain. My sons name is Hale pronounced hail (yes, like frozen rain, ugh!) Anyways people constantly screw it up. Had I known such a short 4 letter name could be so messed up I would never have agreed to it! He gets Halle (like Halle Berry) hailey, haley, hall. it's never ending. or when I tell someone his name they usually assume I said Kale. My father and grandmother bought him a birthday cake for his birthday and they (cake decorator) spelled it Kale. I just pretended it was a really ugly H because I know my son didnt know the difference. I correct them and spell it out every time.

Charlie - posted on 07/16/2010

I don't think you're being too uptight. Really - every parent is different and with each child they're different too. With my 1st 2 children (now 13 and 11!) I was adamant that their names were "Kirana" and "Daniel" - NOT "Kiri", "Kiki", "Danny" or "Dan". People thought I was uptight too - but ~I~ named them b/c I wanted their name to be their name, right?! Anyway, I had grandparents, family, and friends trying for nicknames and each time I just politely said, "Her name is Kirana. I don't want her to have any nicknames until she's old enough to decide she wants one herself." or "I really don't want any nicknames for Daniel until he's old enough to decide he wants one." Something like that. Some puffed out their chests and said, "Well!" while giving knowing looks to other family, but that only lasted a very, very short time and before long everyone called my children by their given names and there were no hard feelings in the end. Good luck to you! ;)

Amanda - posted on 07/16/2010

I couldn't agree more!! My son's name is Nathaniel and we call him Nate..not Nathan not Nater not anything else! After we had him my mom started with Nater and I put my foot down!! She got mad, but did start calling him Nate...at least in front of me They recently came down for a visit and she must have been calling him Nater in front of my daughter (Eleanor who we call Ella--not Ellie or Nora!) who now calls him Nater!! Drives me crazy, but you can only reason with a 3 year old so much. The 3 year old being my daughter, not mother...although LOL

Maddi - posted on 07/16/2010

i dont think youre being too uptight at all! my daughters name is Sophia and my dad and sister and mom in law call her Sophie!!! and like thats acompletely different name to me! its ridiculous. i tell em not to andthey keep doing ON PURPOSE to irritate me it drives me nuts...

Christy - posted on 07/16/2010

My son's name is Tomas. Said as if spelled like Thomas. We do not allow people to call him Tom or Tommy. When they persist we leave. My in-laws got the hint VERY quickly. Good luck!

Stina - posted on 07/14/2010

I hear you! Our son is Jonathan. Until just recently, we called him by his full first name and it always sounded strange when people would call him Jon. (after his first year at preschool he has decided for himself that he wants to be called Jon)

Our second child is Katrina and my parents tried forever to call her "Kate" which I wasn't fond of b/c Kate could be short for Katherine, Kathleen... and we liked to call her Kitty when she was little. Around 3 yo she decided her name is "Trina"

Our third is Eliana (Eh- lye- ah-na) and sometimes people mispronounce it "Elaina or Elaine." The one that really grates my nerves though is my husbands nickname for her. "Ellie-belly" Drives me crazy. I bounced my aggrivation off my brother first and he put it into perspective- Kids will eventually choose what they want to be called. So I've made the best of my husbands nickname and call her "Elle-Belle" sometimes. Hoping my husband will drop the "Belly" nickname soon.

Anneke - posted on 07/14/2010

I can sympathize with you too. My daughter's name is Mayika and everyone calls her Myika. I keep correcting people. I am used to having to correct people. When they look at my name, Anneke, there aren't many people who say it right. Just keep correcting them. I know it gets annoying, but how else are they going to learn?