Have you (or someone you know) ever changed the spelling of your original name, or moved your first name to be your middle name, or just gotten rid of your original name all together because it was too difficult for (lazy) people to pronounce? It’s ok… just admit it.

Babak becomes Bob. Ali becomes Al. Yasaman becomes Jasmine. Soraya becomes Sarah. And it goes on…

This is a personal pet peeve of mine…and this is not just relevant to Iranians but pretty much anyone who is not from America. If you look at someone’s name, and actually wonder if the letters are in the right order, you can bet they have also experienced this. We can all relate.

I have heard it all:  “Your name is not spelled the way it should be” or “Oh it’s pronounced so different from how it’s spelled.”.. and the best one is “Why don’t you just change the spelling of your name?” NO.

The good thing about this issue, is it becomes a predictable pattern. For example, I no longer have any expectations for anyone at Starbucks to get it right. It is just a given my name will be spelled wrong.

Case in point: (You probably can’t even guess what these actually should say..that’s how bad it is)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But, why should we be the one to compromise?  How about everyone else just takes a minute to learn how to say the name? Pretty sure that is much easier than us doing THIS.

So, the next time someone suggests that you should change your name or its spelling… spell your name to them and say it proudly!