For the nth time, a Taco Bell employee (it could just as easily have been anyone else in the world) asked me for my name and, when I said “Kristen,” wrote “Christine.” Why. Why why why why why. I can kind of understand why someone might see “Kristen” and say “Christine”: maybe the -en makes them think of -een/-ine. And I can understand why someone might misremember my name as Christine (or Kiersten or Kirsten): they ARE similar names. But why when I SAY “Kristen” and they immediately write down “Christine”?? I wrote something on Twitter that expressed my feelings:
And within minutes got in reply:
Clearly this is a thing. Here is what I would like to know: What is the name people think is your name when IT IS NOT YOUR NAME? And/or what is the name people think is your child’s name when it is not your child’s name? Not misspellings (I can understand “Kristin” or even “Christen”) (though not “Chusen“), not unwanted nicknames (I might not go by “Kris” or “Kristy,” but I get how those are nicknames for my name), but WRONG-NAME names?
Ryan gets Brian a lot, which makes more sense to me than Jennifer/Jessica. I can’t think of one Elizabeth gets called often. Matt gets various other M names sometimes but nothing like me. I think his is complicated by the fact that his brothers are Mark and Mike so people who know him are sometimes mixing it up that way.
Lindsay—> Wendy. On more occasions than I can count.
Same! Especially over the phone.
Its not just me then! Getting tired of it! I am known as Lyndz to friends but working on the phone I think it sounds more professional to say my full name, think Im gonna have to make some adjustments unless I change my name via depol!
Ive just been called Wendy via email! WTF is that about????!
People sometimes replace my first name “Matthew” with “Micheal” I remedied this few years ago by using my surname as my name. I started a new job and use my middle name David which works well, but on the work documents my first name is put down as Matthew and people read this as Michael….it’s interesting.
Once a work mate of mine named Tyson was introduced and the person being addressed tried to confirm by saying “Tiger”…..Tyson is now known as Tiger
I suffered through years of being called Alex and Allison, of which there were always a ton in my classes (I’m a mid 80s baby). I’m so glad to see Alice becoming more popular because now I can finally find a keychain with my name on it!
An Alison here! I get Alice, Alex, and Addison a ton.
I am Alex, and I have taken to introducing myself as ‘Alekkkkssss’ so they don’t think I’m Alice.
Always an Alice! I thought about changing it when I was younger, to be honest.
Another Alex who gets called Alice chiming in. :)
I get Megan or Becky (?) The first sounds close to my actual name. The second, nothing like it. At this point I answer to anything that sounds even remotely close to my name at places like Starbucks or similar.
I’m a Megan and I get Becky often! Don’t understand…
LOL! When I say Becca I often get Meghan.
My name is Tessa, and for my ENTIRE life, people have been calling me Theresa. IT DRIVES ME CRAZY. There is no R in my name!!! Theresa is more syllables than my name. I have no idea why they do it, but it happens all the time. People at the DMV, or other government offices will be staring directly at my ID, read my name, then call me Theresa. It never fails. At this point, I respond pretty aggressively and make it clear that my name is Tessa, NOT Theresa. I don’t want to offend anyone, but it’s not fun to be called something that is blatantly not your name. The other more recent development is that with the growing popularity of the name Tess as a full name, more people have started to call me that too. This is also frustrating because, while my close friends and family do sometimes call me Tess, that is also not my name, and I much prefer Tessa. Tess seems very cutesy and really sounds like a little girl’s name. I am in law school, and I actually have had a lot of professors mistake my name for Tess, and call me that. It’s always awkward to correct them, but I always do because I just can’t make it through a whole semester of being called Tess. So those are my two name confusion gripes!
I would LOVE to know what this phenomenon is!!! It baffles me!! My name is STEFANIE and I get JENNIFER – ALL THE TIME, like it’s ridiculous, they don’t sound alike at all, they don’t even start w the same letter. I get called Jennifer by people I know even, it’s even happened w family members, close friends, people I’ve known for years. Really bizarre as it’s probably happened 200 maybe 300 times already by totally different people, different circumstances. It’s happened all my life and it happens so often that if someone says Jennifer I just know they mean me.
I thought I was the only one! I clearly introduce myself as Stephanie and people always seem to say Jennifer, whether over the phone or in person, my name always gets confused as Jennifer. This totally baffles me!
OMG I get Jennifer all the time my name is Stephanie. I don’t get it and I want to understand so bad! I can’t find any information on this.
whenever someone doesn’t know my name they call me Jennifer. I have had people call asking for Jennifer and I know it’s for me. It drives me crazy just because I don’t get the relation with both names. I even respond to Jennifer at times. Lol
Me too my sisters name is Jennifer and mine is Stephanie and every time someone meets me without even knowing my name they call me Jennifer but whenever someone meets her they call her Stephanie by mistake always !!!
Dude you’re not alone! My name is Jennifer and somehow people always call me Stephanie! I don’t understand it whatsoever. Its one of the strangest things to me
Wow! This just happened to me again today, but it hadn’t happened to me in awhile. I was sitting and having a conversation with someone who referred to me as Stephanie 4 times, but I didn’t bother to correct her because over the course of my life this has happened quite a bit. It has happened to me so often (at least a hundred times) that I just go with it. I have always been curious as to why that connection is being made in people’s brains between the names Jennifer and Stephanie, glad to hear I’m not alone…
My name is Stephanie and everything that you wrote, Verbatim, happens to me. I remember being called Jennifer since kinder garden and I’m now 29, and still get Jennifer – also by close friends and family members. Just like all of you (Stephs) I just turn around because I know they are referring to me. I guess there must be a linguistic explanation ?
I’m assuming it’s because the names have so many things in common. Three syllables, same emphasis. Popular at the same time. First syllable has a short E. Prominent F sound, prominent N sound—swapped, so that one of them is FEN and one is NEF. I don’t get the two names confused, but it doesn’t surprise me that some people would.
I have been called Rachel by random people most of my adult life. I was told once that my name was Rachel in a past life lol. More ironic, I used to be terrified of fire and when I was 3 i told my mom that I had a different family and we died in a fire. If that isn’t enough, my great grandmother had a sister named Rachel that passed away in a fire. Coincidence???
My name is April and I’ve been called Rachel as well by everyone …
My name is also Jennifer and I’m almost 50 years old…and as you stated …exactly the same goes for me. My entire life, as far back as I can remember, people I know well like family, people I know, and people I don’t know have always called me Stephanie. I also acknowledge anyone who calls me Stephanie, because I know they are talking to me. This is so bazaar , to see so many Jennifer’s and Stephanie’s having the same thing going on, as if it was a common thing. Ive often wondered, if I might have been “Stephanie” in a previous life…
Or that I might be “Stephanie” in the next life. Clearly this is not the case…..we all didn’t have the same past life. Somebody out there must know the answer , or at least have a logical theory. Please help.
I think it’s that the names were used during the same time period and are so similar in sound and style. They both have three syllables with the same emphasis. The vowel sound of both first syllables is short-E. Their middle syllables are the same sound, swapped: one is NIF and the other is FIN.
I finally met a Stephanie in person who told me she gets Jennifer all the time, and I told her I get Stephanie all.the time lol it’s hilarious to me because to me the names do not sound the same AT ALL . But good to know I’m not the only one
I have been getting the same thing my entire life!! I am 45 years old and this has happened to me since I was a child , even by people that I know. My name is Stephanie but I have been called Jennifer hundreds of times. Nobody has ever called me a different wrong name, always Jennifer. Everything that you have all described has happened to me as well!!
OMG. That exact thing happens to me EVERYTIME people can’t remember my name (Estefanía), which is the Colombian version of your name, and much more common here than Jennifer is.
I don’t get it.
Omg u gotta be kidding me!!!!! The exact same thing happens to me, I’m stephanie as well and when people confuse my name its always Jennifer, it happened several time,s like a lot, people at work, friends of friends, customers ( I work in a restaurant) like its insane, now when this happens I just smile to myself cuz that’s sooooo weird!!!!!!!
lol Stefanie, I apologize for all of us that have called you Jennifer. I don’t know why but, I do it a lot and since I have noticed that. I tent to think about the name before I call it and it still has happen. it also happens to me with “Megan and Morgan” I decided to look it up (why mix up names that do not relate). because I feel like, first of all it is disrespect full, and also well i wanted to know if i have some kind of dyslexia lol.
I get called Jennifer all the time too! My name is Stephanie
Okay I am so glad I found my fellow Stephanie / Jennifer people! The only wrong name people ever call me is Jennifer. Like someone else here said, I started thinking in a past life I was called Jennifer, but the explanation of similar sounds in both names as well as being popular names at the same time is probably more likely the reason. Although people always tell me I look familiar, so maaaaaybe also there’s a past life thing?
That’s is me! I am Stephanie and since I was a child I have been mistakenly called Jennifer by so many people and none of them knew each other. Weird.
Oh my goodness my name is Stephanie and I get called Jennifer from random people it’s been happening for years. I found you because I wanted to find out what it meant. I started to think I was a Jennifer in another life. Why would different people that don’t know each other call me the same name.
My name is Jennifer and I oddly get called Stephanie all of the time. It’s so weird!
My name is Jennifer and ALL MY LIFE I get Stephanie! I don’t understand it lol.
I get Jessica a lot when I tell people my name is Jennifer. I go by Jennie 90% of the time – even my work email address spells out “Jennie” and yet I constantly get replies from people, or addressed on the phone as “Jeannie”. I hate being called Jeannie!
My name’s Megan so I get Morgan a lot. I also get Marty since my email address starts mc@arty(at)xyz.com – they just drop the “c”.
I get called Rebecca a LOT.
I’m a Rachel and I occasionally get Rebecca, but the one I’m called the most is Heather. A few weeks ago I was at a conference and wearing a nametag and someone still called me Heather!
I get Rachel!
When I am with my daughter Naomi I get Naomi and she gets Rebecca.
It isn’t a big deal though… people jumble up names it isn’t personal!
I am a Hazel and I get both Heather AND Rachel. Heather mostly as a kid and Rachel more now.. Very strange.
I’m Rebecca and I get Rachel. I just answer to it and unless I will see the person again I don’t bother to correct them.
My son John gets Jonathan.
I get Bess, Bev, and (more rarely) Becky. I can sort of understand that, particularly over the phone. But the worst are the people who LENGTHEN it. I introduce myself as Beth and they call me Bethany or Elizabeth. So, you heard me and chose to blatantly ignore me? Never mind that neither of those are actually my name. My birth certificate literally says “Beth”.
The upside is that people don’t misspell my name if they get it right in the first place. There’s not a lot you can do to mess it up.
Yes! I am simply Beth as well, and get Bev, Jess, Bess, or anything with the middle “e” sound. When I am with my oldest, I get called Cate (her name) with such frequency that it amazes me. I don’t have many people call me Elizabeth or Bethany, except sometimes friends who call me Bethany just for fun.
Basically, I answer to all of the following: Deanna, Deena, Deanne, Diane, Diana, and Dee
Gracious, the wrong names that I get called could fill a book. Hannah, Karma, Candice, Carla, Camera (guys. No. This isn’t a name. Stop calling me this.), etc.
There was also, notably, once I was called “Victoria”. Oh, bless your heart, no.
I get Amanda and Vanessa (?) on the phone a lot.
I get it the other way! I’m Amanda and people mishear it as Samantha.
I’m Amelia and I get Amanda. Even in reply to an email with my name on it.
I’m Amanda and always get Amber
I’ve been “Shannon” regularly since I can remember.
Also, my mom (whose name is Sylvia) says ever since she named me Sharon, people have called her by my name. (Though perhaps that is a generational mix-up as well as alliterative confusion– based on popularity, between a mom born in the mid-1950s and a daughter born close to 1980, one might guess that the mom was more likely to be named Sharon.)
My husband’s name is Dana and people find this so confusing that I get called Dana a lot. My name is Natalie.
My name is Mari (MAR-ee) and I get Mary and Marie, which I understand because it is not a common name. My sisters name is Brynn and she gets Bryan a lot. Both understandable – but some of these are crazy! I thought this was only a problem for people with “different” names. =)
Hello! My name is Alisha, and I will forever be known as Ashley.
I also get Lisa a lot.
Both lovely names, but neither of them are mine.
My name is Sunshine. I get Summer often. My son Isaac gets Isaiah.
Susan all the time. Sometimes Susanna.
Me too! My daughter Sofia gets Cynthia (?!) a lot, and Sophie. My other daughter has a less common name, Caterina, and gets Catalina all the time.
I’m a Susannah and I go by Sue now because I was tired of people calling me Suzanne or Susan. My in-laws called me Susan for months when I was dating my husband. MONTHS. I have to use Susannah on the phone though for take-out orders because people can’t understand “Sue” on the phone. Susannah is pretty but it’s like giving a quiz every time you introduce yourself. I would estimate about 20% of people get it right. Oh, also Savannah. I get that a lot.
Jessica, always. I assume it’s because they’re the 3-syllable J names of an ERA.
Monica. It’s a pretty understandable one, if a little annoying because damn it, I enunciate well.
I get called Sarah a lot, which is actually my niece’s name and a name I prefer to Susan. Sometimes people call me Suzanne which is understandable.
For the first 5 months I worked in my current job, one of the executives in my office (a woman who should be sensitive to names gotten wrong, as hers is Randi-not-Brandi-not-Randy-not-Randall) called me Carla instead of Claire every time. She only said my name about twice a week, but she heard other people call me it/saw it written/etc about every 20 minutes for those 5 months, it’s a small office.
I used to talk to people on the phone all day for my work, and I’d say about 60% of the time people would hear my name on the phone as “Cynthia”. I tried to correct them at first, but after a while I just gave up.
I had relatives who called me Kath-A-leen my whole life even after they were corrected. My name is Kathleen. There’s no extra A.
Yes! Me too! Although not relatives, but have also gotten “Kath-A-leen.” Is that even actually a name?!?!
I’ve also gotten “Tate” instead of “Kate” on numerous occasions.
I’m Kayt, said Kate, and I work with a guy named Tate. He has to call into our department for me, and the “Tate for Kayt” thing has to be repeated at least twice every call.
I most commonly get Amy. I can see why you might make that mistake if you read it, or were writing, but in speech they are completely different names! Different number of syllables, different vowel sounds, different emphasis… I honestly don’t understand it. In Starbucks I go by my middle name, it’s just easier.
I’m a Jenn now living in the south & get Gin a lot along with questions about my parents favorite drinks. And I pronounce it Jenn to rhyme with pen (not pin). I also get a lot of “what??,” like Jennifer isn’t only the most popular girls name in the past 40years. I’ve never once been Jessica tho, even tho I went by Jennifer for 18 yrs.
I’m not in the South but I’ve stopped introducing myself as Jen because it just doesn’t compute with most people. “John?”
I am not in the South either, but I always introduce myself as, “Jenn, Jennifer”, because people, especially those who are older, always hear Jane.
My name is Brenda and I get Rhonda frequently. Also, some people call me Bren. I don’t like that! My husband and a few close friends call me that but not random people.
I am Stephanie but have been called Jennifer more times than I can count. Although they sound nothing alike, maybe it’s the three-syllable-80s similarity?
Another Stephanie called Jennifer here!
I’m a Jenna who gets called Stephanie most of the time! Maybe I just “look like one”?
Otherwise, I get Gina. A LOT.
I should have read the replies first! I”m another Stefanie called Jennifer. No one has ever mistaken my name for Bethany. But Jennifer? ALL. THE. TIME.
I am Jocelyn and am called Jacqueline all the time. My oldest’s name is Claire and she gets Clara a lot.
Another Jocelyn here- I get Jacqueline all the time! Also – Roslyn. Since when to R and J sound the same?!
I get Kelly & Karen, and of course Carrie…which is completely understandable but still kind of blows me away when it’s in a work email and literally inches from where my name is spelled out for them.
With my daughter, we’ve gotten Meg a couple of times, which is also understandable but not something we saw coming when we named her May.
Yes, this! If you’re just hearing it, sure, totally understandable. But I’ll never understand repeated, typed spelling mistakes! Maybe once or twice if they’re reading it quickly, but repeatedly?! I know it probably shouldn’t, but it sometimes makes me lose respect for the person–names are so personal, just take the extra second to make sure it’s spelled correctly.
Anyway, it must be some serious top-down processing (http://psychology.about.com/od/tindex/g/top-down-processing.htm) …. either that or autocorrect :)
I work in food service and, while I have an excellent memory for faces and names, got the names of two regulars wrong the first three or four times I tried to recall them. One is a mid-80s Jennifer who I always want to call Kristen, even though I know her name is Jennifer, and the other is a late-80s/early 90s Sam who I always want to call Matt! I felt so bad the few times I screwed up their names, and even now that I know them for sure, always want to call them by the wrong name still.
My name is Sarah, and often people hear it as “Sierra” or “Tara”. I have to pronounce it slowly, like “Saaah-raaah,” when introducing myself, especially over the phone. My aunt is Sally and my cousin is Kara, so at family gatherings our names always get a bit mixed up just because of the similar sounds.
My son Gabe gets Dave a lot.
I get called Amy a lot. Amy is my younger sister’s name, but the people who call me Amy have no idea I even HAVE a sister, let alone one named Amy. I guess I just look like an Amy! I’ve also been called Krista by a few people—also funny, because Krista is my HUSBAND’S sister’s name (and again, these are people who have no idea I have a sister-in-law named Krista).
My son Urban’s name is often misheard as Irwin or Irvin. We just tell them, “No. URBAN, like Urban Cowboy, Urban Outfitters, Urban Development…” Then they get it. My son Levi is sometimes called Eli, which is understandable. There is an Eli in Levi’s karate class, and it’s humorous hearing the senseis get tongue-tied trying to keep them straight!
My name is Melissa, but I get Michelle ALL THE TIME.
I’m also Melissa and am always ALWAYS called Michelle. So often, that if someone says “Michelle?” I always look up, because they are most likely talking to me. (And I’m always shocked when someone saying “Michelle” isn’t talking to me.)
Adrianna.
Even people who have known me for a decade will screw this up.
Never mind that Ariana/Arianna has been more popular since 1984, when I was born. (I think. Don’t make me fact-check.)
Ok I checked. Ariana/Arianna are significantly more popular now, but Adriana/Adrianna were more popular in the 80s and have stayed pretty consistently in the 100-200 range since then.
I’m Katy and get Kathy a lot. Which isn’t a big deal except it’s my mom’s name. My son Conrad gets Connor, Carter, Carson, almost any C name with two syllables.
This happens to me too. I find it’s mostly from older people who think that Kathy is the “adult” version of Katie.
My little girl named Thora gets “Dora” and “Laura” more often than I would have expected.
oooh, I love the name Thora. I’m going to add it to my list of favorite names!
I get Lauren allll the time. I think I’m sliiiighty on the young age for a Laura (32) but it’s funny when people walk up to my desk at work, see “Laura” in big letters on my nameplate and still jump straight to Lauren.
I went by my initials in college (LJ) which my landlord always seemed completely baffled by. His confusion made more sense when my security depost refund check was made out to “El Jay”.
Hahaha!
Anna, constantly. Maybe I just talk funny over the phone. It’s always Anna/Hannah/Emily, and Emma is NOT an uncommon name!
I’m Emily, but I almost always get “Amy” or (oddly) “Annemarie.”
I once got called Kenny at Jamba Juice. I can see how it sounds similar to Katie, except I am a girl and Kenny is a boy name.
Someone once heard my daughter’s name — Lydia — as India. What?!? And her pre-school said they checked her files to see if her official name was Olivia. I could understand this if her name was Livia…
Me: “This is my son, Jonah.”
Half the people he’s introduced to: “Well, hi there Noah, how old are you…?”
My son has gotten that the other way around, but not as frequently.
Guys, I am part of the problem. As a teacher, I am so very guilty of committing these non-sensical name mix-ups. I don’t know why I look at Seana (Shawn-ah) and call her Ciara… Or Elysia turns into Alyssa! Sometimes it just comes out and I feel terrible, considering I am a Caitlyn who was often called Katherine or Katie growing up. It always seems like there are one or two kids in my class that just look like a different name.
Side note – I am also guilty of the Call-the-younger-sibling-by-the-older-sibling’s-name problem that I SWORE I wouldn’t do when I was in school!
My full name is Kathleen and for some reason in college I was constantly called Margaret. I even had a class where the teacher called me Margaret and all of my assignments said Margaret on them. I tried to tell her that was not my name but she did not speak English well and did not understand me. Surprisingly, at the end of the semester the class was credited to me (still cannot figure out how that worked out). Anyways I tell this story because that is the class in which I met my husband and we almost missed making a connection because he was shy and tried to find me on facebook as Margaret. Good thing he learned my correct name or I might be married to someone else!
I get Sandra, mainly from people of my parents generation.
My baby son Donovan is already being called Jonathan. Grrr, infuriating!!!
I am Kirsten (pronounced kur-sten, not keer-sten), and I always get Kristen, Christine, Krista, Kristina, Kiersten, on and on and on. I can pretty much not say my name in public and expect it to be repeated properly. Going to Starbucks is always a crapshoot. It’s become so annoying that now I just say my name is Kate because it’s so satisfying to hear them repeat it correctly. What is so hard about just copying the way someone says their name? I’ll never understand.
I usually get Leslie instead of Lindsey.
My youngest daughter is Cecily, and she has gotten Cicely, Cecilia, Cecile, and “Ce-what’s her name?” When she was three weeks old I overheard my husband repeating her name to my FIL because he couldn’t keep it straight. She is only 9 weeks old, and I truly didn’t realize I was setting her up for a lifetime of correcting people.
My older daughter is Louis@ and we haven’t had many problems with her name.
Also a Lindsay known as Leslie. :(
Peyton —> Kate/Kaitlin or Megan (?), all the time. No idea where Megan came from, though I suppose both of those are a lot more common for a mid-80s baby than my actual name.
The worst I ever heard was when I worked at the department of planning & land use as a secretary. One of our inspectors was named Larry Pugh (pronounced PEW). I can’t tell you how hard it was not to burst into hysterics when I would answer the phone and people would very hesitatingly ask to speak to inspector “Harry Poo”? I still laugh just thinking about it. (And the poor guy!)
I get Rachel a lot. I had to laugh at the commenter named Rachel earlier in the thread who gets called Rebecca.
Almost every Rachel/Rebecca I’ve met in real life has had similar problems.
The other thing I get is people calling me Becky. Not too surprising, since it is a nickname for my name, but when I give my name as Rebecca, and it gets written on the cup, or on the reservation list as Rebecca, I’m unclear as to why it would occur to someone nickname me. haha
Annnnnd here’s another Rachel who’s been called “Rebecca” many a time. WHAT IS THE DEAL? DO THESE NAMES SOUND REMOTELY ALIKE? Noooooooo. Yes, I know they are Old Testament blah blah blah but HONESTLY.
My son’s name is Eben (a short form of Ebenezer), and when I introduce him (he’s 3 1/2) about 50% of the time people hear Evan. *Cringe.* Yes, I should have seen this coming—I read the name before I ever heard it spoken, and I somehow just thought, “Oh, of course! Eben! Like Ebenezer! Dickens and the like! Love it! Hurrah!” etc etc and didn’t remember the OH SO COMMON name that is just a bit different—”ven” and “ben”. Luckily Eben can tell when people mishear his name and can correct them. He’ll be cursing me for this in future years, I’m sure…but I still love his name. Ah, well.
We took care of a friend’s baby for awhile. She was Saphira. Without fail the early-20-somethings and younger all said, “I loved those books! Awesome name!” Anyone older always said, “Sophia. . .? Sapphire. . .?”
Tammy. What the why?!
I’m a Tammy who gets Mandy. And Jamie.
I can’t tell you how many people have called me Taryn instead of Tara. I get that they sound very similar but it got to the point where I would very clearly enunciate the “a” ending of my name and they would still end up calling me Taryn. Now that I have a daughter named Teresa that is my little mini-me I get called Teresa a lot.
My name is Tricia. People usually think it is Teresa or Tracy.
I get Carolyn all the time. Spelling and speaking. Which I do not understand because the word “line” is in my name, so it is CaroLINE. Especially when I say it out loud, it confuses me when people write Carolyn. I also got Carolyanne once, which I have no idea where that came from!
Oh I know this! This is actually different than most examples here. My daughter Caroline is in speech therapy and one thing we’ve learned is that LINE is a harder sound for most English speakers to make than LYN. So people are just being LAZY speakers. Although they might not want to acknowledge this, it is a better explanation than some people are just stupid/not paying attention. (also true) Also confusing is that people named Carolyn do get called Caroline. Also, you can pronounce a name however you please and so there are some famous people named Caroline who choose the Carolyn pronunciation. (They are wrong, but what can you do?)
Another example is the popular burrito chain. Many of us say Chipotle incorrectly, bc its easier. Of course Chipotle doesn’t care how we say its name.
Well, now I’m curious. I say “chih-pote-lay,” which is the only thing I’ve ever heard it called! How should it actually be pronounced?
don’t worry, you’re right :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqLTU-f0Jvg
…but people constantly say “chip-olt-ay” (or many other various pronunciations, but I think that’s most common) … a friend’s mom (a middle-aged woman, completely serious) even called it “chipottie” once. Potty?! Heh…
I always feel badly mispronouncing Caroline.
I live in a part of Canada with a large French population, and Caroline in French is pronounced Caro-linn/lyn but with the -line spelling, and a roll of the R (nn. Caro). So, when I have to guess, I usually guess -lyn because it was more popular among Francophones in my area until recently. Also, most Anglophone Carolines in my area go by Caro-lyn pronounciation, too. I actually remember as an adult the first time I heard the proper Anglophone pronounciation, and I was surprised.
That is very interesting about the speech difficulty!
And the pronunciation variance is very true. There’s also the Madeline’s who pronounce it “lynn” so it’s confusing. I don’t get upset with whoever mispronounces my name because I understand it’s a bit confusing and I was named after a Carolyn. I just find it funny that the word “line” is in my name; I figured that makes it easier to figure out!
I’m in college right now and 2 of my teachers cannot seem to remember it’s CaroLINE, so I just go by Carolyn in those classes because I’ve corrected them about 5 times, yet they still don’t get it.
I get called Samantha. One time I even got asked “Do you preferred Samantha or Sam?” I guess it has the same rhythm, same letter, and greater popularity. I don’t mind and usually I don’t even correct people.
I always get Sammy. Or Sally. I don’t think people expect a Sandy who is my age.
Jennifer. ALL THE TIME.
I get Anna a lot when I’m on the phone with someone. Sometimes Emily, but mostly Anna.
I have an eleven-year-old daughter named Holly. Friends I have had for the last TWENTY years frequently call me Holly now… and my poor girl gets called Jenna instead.
The name Holly belongs more to my generation, and the name Jenna belongs more to hers.
Jessica/Jennifer is very common. I had a cubicle mate for 6 years named Jennifer (she went by Jenny) and people were always confusing us!
(Cubicle mate = we didn’t even get a whole cubicle to ourselves, we SHARED one.) (It was great, I wish I still saw Jenny every day!)
I have gotten Melissa, Amy, and Alyssa on multiple occasions. I guess some people only remember A and/or M and just take a shot.
As another Amanda I once had a coworker call me Amy. I was utterly confused. Apparently, in his family it’s a nickname for Amanda…which I *kinda* get (same first letters) but I had never heard it before. I suppose that will teach him for trying to nickname people without asking first.
As a Lauren, I get Laura/Laurie pretty often. I am shocked by the number of people that see my son’s name, Jude, and say Judd. And my newborn Leo has already been called Liam enough times that I know it’s going to be an issue for him.
And my daughter is Kate, short for Catherine. People always try to call her Kaitlyn, sometimes even after I say, “short for Catherine.”
I get called Jennifer all the time! I don’t even miss a beat now when someone calls me it.
My daughters name is Lila (pronounced Lye-lah) and she ALWAYS gets called Lily. Sometimes they pronounce it Lee-lah but more often than not its Lily. I don’t get it!
My name is Irene and I get called Eileen ALL THE TIME (and then, the song. Come on Eileen). Also Amy and Erin.
I get Joan and Joanie, Joanna and johanna a lot but the worst is my daughter Veronica gets called Victoria allllll the time.
Our not-quite-4-week-old Beatrix gets misheard as Beatrice so much that I’ve just started saying “Beatrix-with-an-x” when folks ask her name.
At my college graduation, yes graduation(!!!), I was announced as Collin. My name is Colleen. Doh.
YES! People routinely called me Collin when I was younger, which I don’t understand at all.
I also heard Kathleen, Eileen, Callie, and, my personal favorite, Holly on a regular basis. How you get Holly from Colleen, I just can’t hear it.
I get Helene as well. But that may be because that is my aunts name?
I get Colleen a lot a my name is pronounced “ha-LAY-na”!
Most of the time, I get Roseanne instead of Roseanna (which I loathe). It happens with people I’ve known for years as well as people I’ve just met. I used to correct people and they would still get it wrong, so I’ve stopped trying. At this point, I will answer to Roseanne, Roseanna, and Rose.
Other names I get called occasionally (and DO correct) include Joann(a), Susann(a), Roxann(a), Hosanna, Hannah, and Rosemary.
I (Sara) get called Cheryl a lot. Like, A LOT. Less often, Tara.
My non-blog name is yours with an H at the end. Most people get it right, but older people sometimes say Susan or Sharon. Other than that, I just frequently get called other people’s names (like my sister’s or coworker’s or friend’s name) because people can’t spit out the right one at the right time.
BUT! I frequently mishear people who are talking near me but not to me. Several words sound like my name when overheard, especially “Sir”. So I look up and think someone needs me and they are not even remotely talking to me. My stupid ears.
My name is Meaghan (MAY-gan). I’ve gotten Emma and Morgan. There have also been mangled attempts to pronounce it: Meegan, Meaguh-an, Meggin…
My son is Wylie, which is a family surname. He gets called Riley (we didn’t think of that despite the popularity of that name). When he was younger, people thought he was mispronouncing his own name (e.g. couldn’t say the R) so I taught him to correct it by saying “Wylie with a W.” He learned to spell his name aloud very quickly. Occasionally, gets Willy, but not as much as I thought.
My cousin is Alanna (A-LAN-na). She has gotten Alayna, Al-onna, Helena, and O’ Anna. When she was baptized, instead of Alanna Lorine, the minister said Atlanta Noreen.
I’m Robin. I get Rachel a lot, occasionally Rebecca, and recently, someone giving my introduction before I spoke at a conference introduced me as Ruth. (She also got my last name wrong, though, so it may have been a larger problem…)
Kaitlyn/Caitlin/Katelyn. Nearly everytime. Or Kayley sometimes, even Michaela. But usually Kaitlyn.
I’m an Elizabeth who goes by Litza. Yes, it rhymes with pizza. How clever of you to notice! It also sounds a LOT like “Lisa,” which I get called regularly. Introductions always go:
“Hi, I’m Litza.” (I stretch my mouth into a grimace in order to emphasize the “tz” sound.)
“Oh, Lisa?” (They’ve heard that’s not quite it… but what else could it be?!)
“No, Litza. L-I-T-Z-A. Litza. It…. well, it rhymes with pizza.”
At places like Starbucks, I cheerfully go along with Lisa, just tell them Elizabeth.
I’m Madeline. I’m from the U.S. and there I used to be called Natalie. I’ve now lived in the U.K. for a while and it’s different here – I’m often called Melanie. I suspect it has something to do with the pronunciation of d/t in the US because they sound the same (hence confusion between Madeline/Natalie) but Natalie is pronounced so differently here in the UK.
I’m a Hazel. Recently I’ve been called Rachel more often than my real name! I’ve only noticed this since I came to university, previously the mistake was always Heather. My mum (Helen) would get this too, it was the default name for both of us until it became a family joke.
Hehe, I’m a Heather and the top two names I’ve been called mistakenly are Helen and Rachel. There must be something there! Oh, I also get Melissa on occasion, but have been told it’s because I “look like a Melissa” not that they’re confused by my name. That’s a whole other topic of discussion: what name besides your actual name are you told you look like?
Wow, I am a Hazel and I get called Rachel, Heather and Helen too! Others are Hayley and Heidi and even Kate on a few occasions. Being called Rachel curoiusly only started happening in my twenties (in my 30’s now)
I’m Julie and my surname starts with Odl (and email with first initial, surname jodl___), so I get Jodi with some frequency. I also get Judy. But these cases are rare; Julie seems to be a pretty easy name for people.
I used to play a game where I asked people who didn’t know my name to guess it. Most guessed “Julie” correctly (which is all sorts of interesting about how we grow to look like our names), but second place was “Susan.”
My wife has a casual acquaintance who got it in her head that my son Noah was named Will. She didn’t correct her the first time and then it got too awkward to do it so for YEARS this woman referred to him as Will. Oddly, William (nn Will) was in our top three for a second boy, but we never had one.
I’ve kept a running list in my head of all the wrong names my kids have been called even once and my ideas about why. Interestingly, a lot of them are favorites of mine and I can kind of see them on my kids.
For Noah
Adam, Benjamin (old testament names)
Owen (some similar sounds)
Jonah (old testament AND similar sounds)
For June
Rose (one syllable, summery sort of word name)
Ruby (word name with a short u)
Joan, Jude/Judy (similar sounds, when she was younger we often called her Junie)
I have no idea why, but Caitlin has become Heather multiple times!
Unsurprisingly, I get “Jenny” instead of Ginny. When people know me as Virginia, Victoria is the most common substitute.
I’ve talked to a lot of Daniels who get called David and vice versa: similarly with Peter/Paul/Philip and Michael/Matthew or Mark/Mike. I think a lot of people unconsciously lump names with the same first letter and similar associations (in the above cases, all Biblical and popular around the same eras).
Ginny is a tough one.
We have a Virginia/Gini and she gets Jenny, Gina, & Jenna a lot.
When I say “Gabrielle” people often hear “Deborah” (though less often now than when I was a child – Gabrielle is becoming a more familiar name).
If I get introduced as Meg, I will inevitably be called Megan. That’s why I ALWAYS introduce myself as Margaret and hate it when other people *coughDad* introduce me by my nickname.
Otherwise, from teachers I’ve gotten Mary (understandable), Madeleine (Margaret + my maiden name kinda, sorta sounds like Madeleine, I guess, if you ignore some syllables and insert a random “l”), and Dorothy, which was just…weird.
On the phone I constantly get Beth or Bethany. (?!?!?!) In person, I mostly get confused looks, the occasional Tina and longer versions of that (Christina, mostly).
Melody here, ALWAYS called Melanie.
My name was very, unusual when I was growing up (given to only 301 babies the year I was born). I have regularly been called lots of names, other than my name. Some make more since than others.
The most common are Lois, Allison, Melissa, Elizabeth, Elise, Elisa & Alice. Most recently, I got Leslie.
Anyone who can guess my correct name based on the wrong ones gets a gold star. :-)
Ugh, that should be more “sense” not since.
@liss@ ? :-)
I’m gonna guess Alyssa since that is my name and I get mistaken for most of the same names you listed :)
Being a “Caitlin” sometimes people only hear the Cait and not the -Lin.
My mothers name is Candis which for people that know us both I was constantly called Candis just because we both had “C” names.
Being a “Caitlin” sometimes people only hear the Cait and not the -Lin so at Starbucks I’m frequently Cate/Kate/Katie.
My mothers name is Candis which for people that know us both I was constantly called Candis just because we both had “C” names.
I also got Casey once.
People hardly ever get my name right…I’ve had roommates and friends take several months to get my name right because I just give up trying to correct them after awhile. The most common mistakes are:
Sara, Celia, Selah, Selena, Cecelia, Sheila, Sasha, Sabrina, Serena
I get Greta a lot. A LOT. Like, often enough that I started doubting my pronunciation and thinking I might have a speech impediment.
I’m a Candace and off the top of my head, I’ve been called Karen, Janice, and the most befuddling: Samantha. The last one was over the phone and the guy was so convinced my name was Samantha that he got incredibly confused each time I tried to spell Candace and basically gave up.
Last time I was a at a Starbucks, I just told them my name was Annie. I happened to be watching the barista at the time and he actually did a double take when he read my name and had a strange look on his face when he called out “Annie.” I couldn’t decide if it was so common it was unusual to him or if he’d never heard the name Annie before. It was pretty entertaining.
Another Stephanie called Jennifer. Or Bethany.
My name is Marnie (Mar Nee). People hear Marty, Barney, & sometimes Marcy. If people read my name, they call me Marine. Very few people get my name right the first time the hear or read it.
My name is Carmyn. I get called Cameron all the time. I answer to both because I just don’t care. I’ll typically correct people once or twice, after that I don’t bother.
Haha, I love that I’m not the only Stephanie who gets called Jennifer! Daphne is the most memorable mistake. My daughter is Sophie and unsurprisingly, has been called Sophia when first introduced to new people.
I have always got called Stephanie instead of Tiffany. My sister marisa always got Melissa.
I ALWAYS get Stephanie… Or Estefanie. And people never seem to spell it right, like Tifini or Tyfeni or some other crazy spelling!
I’m Kaitlyn and I get Kristen almost on a daily basis. Karen is another one I hear a lot.
About half of the time I say my name, people ask if I said Lisa.
My name is pronounced “Amy” and I can’t actually remember a single time when someone has misheard my name as something else when I’ve verbalized it. No one knows what to expect when they READ my name, though. I’m most commonly mistaken for an “AHmee” or “ahMEE,” and, paired with my last name…it’s pretty clear that most people are surprised to be dealing with a 30-something, suburban-born white lady when I respond. Thanks, Mom, for the creative spelling.
Also, my son’s name is Gage, and a lot of people hear “Cage,” to the point where when I’m asked, I say his name, spell it, and if the person still looks unsure, say “G as in ‘go'” as a matter of course. I mean “Cage”??? Yeah, guys, this is my son, “Prison Bars.” Although actually…
I’m another Lauren who has been called Laura/Laurie quite often.
My dad called my sister in law Lauren “Lorna” for months and months when she was new to the family. He could never get it straight and when the grandkids started calling her Lala he hopped right on board. I haven’t heard him call her anything besides lala since.
As for Lauren, she good natured ly doesn’t mind the mistakes and answers to Laurie and Laura (“basically anything with an L” she says).
I am Anne and get Erin over the phone a lot. I usually say “like raggedy Ann” then people get it. I have a couple close friends who leave the E off my name after years of seeing it and it drives me crazy. I try not to think about it but it kind of makes me itch- especially after exchanging literally hundreds of work emails with one of them.
Maybe my coworkers are stealing your ‘e’ from your coworkers. ;) I get Abbey pretty often, also from coworkers who can obviously see my name (properly spelled) in their contacts list!
It just occurred to me. I don’t think the taco bell people think your name is Christine. I think they just don’t know how to spell Kristen.
Or if they’re 18-ish, they may not be aware that “Kristen” is a name, and just hop to Christine. People seem pretty unaware that “Gage” is a name, so….hop to other random stuff pretty easily. Late FIL thought our son’s name was “Cachet” for a very long time, for example. As in, pronounced “Cash-ay.” His name is the very, very old English name “Gage.” OK THEN.
I’m Annabel and I get Abigail all the time! Amanda sometimes. My brother used to call me Isobel to make me cry!
I’m Sarah and for the most part people get it right except they want to spell it Sara. Sometimes I get called Tara.
My son has an unusual name, Aurelio… when i say his name most of the time people just stare at me all wide eyed. Its hilarious! Usually I just tell them his nickname, Leo which seems much more comprehensible to them. I still love his name though even if most people won’t even try to pronounce it and usually get it wrong. It’s not that hard really. …
Au- Rel- (rhymes with gel)-Leo
I have been called Amanda and Sarah on multiple occasions. Neither sound remotely like Ashley. I guess people just hear my name and remember that it is a common 80s name but don’t remember which one. Or maybe I just don’t look like an Ashley.
I gave my daughter the middle name Hazel and it is tripping up the oldest generation of my family, who keep thinking I am saying Rachel. I still love it, though.
My name is Eli. I get Ellie a lot – which is understandable for native speakers of Spanish or Hebrew. Otherwise, no.
I also get Levi, Elliott, and Ian a fair amount.
But once I got Clyde.
I don’t have this problem with my first name, but my last name is an animal name that sounds like Burke. You would be shocked at the amount of times I’ve gotten Emily Beard and Emily Birdy from people.
In person I always get called Stephanie. People that have known me for years do it.
Occasionally I will get Michelle. My brother inlaw calls me Marissa so often I answer without correction.
On the phone I always get Martha.
My sister who is an Ashley always gets Leslie.
OH I forgot about the Martha on the phone thing. ME TOO! No clue how they hear that. Plus? Who is named Martha anymore?
Oh, there are a few of us around. :)
I get Marsha sometimes, especially over the phone.
I get Rosie a lot. (Partially because it kind of sounds like Ruby, and partially because my middle name is Rose and I guess people get confused.) I also get called other noun names sometimes, like Amber or Violet.
I usually get called Mar-see-ah. (I often wonder if people named Patricia get called Pa-tree-see-ah.) If not that mispronunciation, I get called Martha or Maria. It makes me so happy when someone actually pronounces my name correctly!
I get called Amy pretty frequently. I’m a children’s librarian and even some of the parents who see me regularly will tell their kids to “Say thank you to Miss Amy!” On the phone, I occasionally get Debbie (but not as much in person, perhaps because of my age).
I am an Alyssa but I have learned to answer to: Melissa, Marissa, Alicia (pronounced both Aleesha and A-Lee-sia), Alice, Alison, Elise, Elisa, Eliza, Lisa. Don’t even get me started on how people attempt to spell my name
Colleen aka Colin, or Pauline, or Polly.
We doomed our daughter to a lifetime of mispronunciation by naming her Thalia. We pronounce it THay-LEE-ah, but apparently we are in the minority.
I get Courtney a fair amount.
The other/more funny one I get, probably due to the spelling of my name, is Britini – as in martini. It happened so much that the “Britini” ended up being the signature drink at my 21st birthday.
Even now, years later, we have a couple & their kids that call me Britini exclusively – like.. I don’t think they realize that’s not really my name.
I’m guessing by the length of the list no one will read my comment… but I’ll leave it anyway!
100% of the time over the phone people say KATHY. My name is Kelsey. I speak clear and I’m quite a loud speaker, so it’s not as though I’m quiet or mumbled.
“Thanks for Calling Kathy”
“Yup… ” I don’t even correct people anymore.
I was looking for a Kelsey comment. :) Me too! When I worked in customer service this happened to me all the time. I came up with a theory that this happened because the people I was speaking to were from an older generation when Kelsey was not a common name. I think they just subconsciously assumed I said Kathy because to them Kelsey didn’t even seem like an option.
I’m Kayt, and I get Katie a lot, which is understandable, Keith, and Megan, which are not.
I’m Stephanie….I frequently get called Bethany. People also want to call me Stacy when they forget my name.
Julie. All the time. Even when I email someone and sign off with “Thanks, Julia” I will get a reply back “…hi Julie.” I don’t understand and I hate it.
My son is Jude. People think it is Dude
First name Gretchen. I get a lot of Rachel and Bridget. It’s never really bothered me, though, as Gretchen is not a super common name. My older son is named Theo, and he used to get a lot of “Leo,” which was surprising to me, as I didn’t think Leo was a familiar name at all. Now I hear Theo more and more, though, and most people get his name right on the first try.
I have inextricably linked Bridget and Gretchen in my mind and have to work extra hard to remember which one is the right one. What is that? Apparently I’m not alone in that. Sorry from all of us. ;)
I get Michelle a lot. Occasionally Margot, which is nothing like Melissa, but okay whatever. That’s when I know they aren’t paying attention a bit. Cheesecake Factory just yesterday wrote Meliosia whatever that is supposed to be.
Only my oldest has some issues with her name. For some reason when she says Maya people hear Morgan or Mia. Heck even my aunt is still convinced nearly 13 years later that her name actually is Mia. We’ve given up correcting her.
I frequently get either Peggy or Debbie. As someone in my mid-thirties, I find this perplexing, as Rebecca was a very popular name when I was born, and neither Peggy/Margaret nor Debbie are at allcommon in my age group.
I get called Becca a lot–definitely the more popular Rebecca nickname for my generation, so not surprising, but annoying all the same!
Considering the amazing number of comments on this post, I think the lesson for parents choosing names is that there is literally no name that you can choose that your child won’t have to spell or correct at least occasionally.
Mostly Adrienne. A few times people have split the difference, I guess, and called me “Adria.” Also, Amanda.
My name seems to fairly easy to for people to remember (if not spell). However, my son’s name is Elias and for some reason, multiple people misremember his name as Eliza. They seem to realize while they’re saying it that it’s not quite right (maybe because it’s a girl’s name?!), but that’s the name that they remember.
I’m a Laura and I get called Lois. All the time. I could not possibly dislike that name more. Also, I’m 34, so that should tip you off that I’m not Lois, as that is quite firmly planted in my head as an old grandmother name.
I’m Stacey. Which is frequently misspelled as Stacy, Staci, or Stacie, and mistaken for Trac[e]y. Also sometimes for Susie.
I’m Erin, and get Karen quite a bit. In fact, I just got Karen on a voicemail today, as in minutes before reading this post! I understand why, because they are very similar. But when I literally spell my name on my voicemail, E-R-I-N, why do I still get Karen? And also, most of the Karens were born in the 50’s-60’s, correct? I was born in the late 80’s. I don’t like being called a “Mom name” (to me – now it’s a Grandma name!).
When I call in to customer service or am speaking on the phone, probably 9 times out of 10 I get called Ann. Ann? I don’t want to yell my name and overly pronounce the syllables (AIR *pause* IN!!!), but that’s what I have to do to be heard as Erin instead of Ann.
I think this is so funny because people on the phone think I say Erin when I saw Anne. It seems like you wouldn’t just imagine the “r” to get Erin when I say Anne. I guess we all need to enunciate (or listen) more!
My name is pronounced ha-LAY-na and I get ka-LAY-na so much that I used to have a bit of a complex that I was saying my h’s like k’s (somehow!).
I get Colleen a fair amount, too. Also a-LAY-na (just dropping the h).
My name is Lashley, so I understandably get called Ashley a lot.
My neighbor just asked how my infant son “Cedric” is doing. His name is Cyrus. In hindsight, my husband (Koan) and I might have picked an easier name for the boy.
It’s pretty rare, but I get Carmine. Car-mine. Different from Car-men. Also, I’m pretty sure it’s a boy’s name, no?.
My son Kieran often gets Karen, which I am CERTAIN is a girl’s name. :)
I’m a Ramona, but go by “Mona” and I get a lot of Monicas, Ramons, Remonas, Romonas.
My name is Adelaide, but I get “Madeline” and “Natalie” all of the time.
My name is Elisabeth. I’ve gotten Melissa several times, which I understand that they at least sort of sound alike, but there was a five-year stretch in college where I got called Stephanie all the time. I worked with a girl named Stephanie at the time, but we looked nothing alike. I also got a letter from my doctor’s office addressed to Stephanie (but with my last name) during that same time frame. It was kind of creepy!
My name is Shannon and people frequently hear Sharon or Janet. My son Ethan used to get Nathan or Ian all the time, and sometimes Steven. Now that Ethan is so popular I think maybe it happens less. I’ll have to ask him, he’s almost 20 now.
My name is Stefanie and EVERY TIME someone gets my name wrong, they call me Jennifer. I’ve never been mistaken for Bethany or Natalie or something that’s semi close. Always Jennifer. People I actually know really well have called me Jennifer. Strangers call me Jennifer. Quite often I’ll cross paths with someone who knows that they should remember me and they’ll do the “umm, it’s Jennifer, right?” thing.
I get Amanda all the time. Even after repeating my name, people still think it’s Amanda.
My daughter’s nn is Evie, and she gets Abby all the time.
Joy for Joyce is understandable. But I’ve also had Doris a couple times. I know Joyce is an old lady name, but it is NOT as bad as Doris!
Are they really in the same category of names?
(Sorry to any Dorises reading this.)
I’m a Genevieve. My name has become slightly more common in recent years and people are more likely to get it right now. However, I still get Guenevere all the time. Sometimes I just get “Oh, like in King Arthur?” and I have to say “No, actually.” :)
I was a child in the age of Jennifers and went by Genny in elementary school. I got Jenny a lot, but it was a reasonable spelling error. A friend’s sister really annoyed me, though, when she responded to my explaining it was “Genny-with-a-G” by spelling it Ginny. And then insisting that I couldn’t spell it Genny because “Genny-with-a-G” was always spelt Ginny.
I used to get Geneva a lot. I guess people just stopt reading after the first two syllables.
The worst mis-pronunciation ever was “Genise.” Um…how? Where did the “s” come from?
It seems like the number of comments on this entry just goes to prove that there is no mistake-proof name.
I consistently get Brittany, Rachel, Rebecca, and Gretchen. All over the country. All my life.
BRIttany, well, it’s popular and starts the same way. RaCHel and GreTCHen are both two syllables, and ch and j sounds are almost the same / said in the same part of the mouth.
Rebecca, well, I guess I just look like one.
My name is Tiffany, and I get Stephanie (always) and Brittany most often. Once, a taxi driver spelled my name Typhanie on a pick-up form, which is wrong in all of the possible ways.
The most horrifying was a camp counselling experience where we used camp “nicknames” with the kids all week. I realized at the end of the week that my co-counsellor thought my name was Hillary… when she wrote me a letter starting with “Dear Hillary”.
I also had a coworker who thought my name was Jessica for a number of months.
Trista –> Unsurprisingly, I have a multitude of misheard pseudo-names that I will respond to. “Krista” is probably top of the list, but there is also “Kristen,” “Crystal,” and “Christy” (for those with no imagination or maybe no hearing). It is sad, I must say, when I get excited about a tech support customer coming as close as calling me “Tristan.”
“Hey, yeah! That was almost it!”
Needless to say, coffee baristas are often told to just ask for “Lee.”
This Amanda always gets Amber.
I get called Hailey, Heather, Heidi, Helen, Rachel and Liezel. I have even been called Kate.
I get called Kristyn and Megan fairly often. Kristyn I can sort of get because Kaitlyn also starts with the K sound, but I don’t haven any idea where people are getting Megan.
One time I was playing a variant of dodgeball in high school and someone on the other team kept saying hat Megan was the secret position player and when I finally realized he was talking about me I shouted that my name wasn’t Megan. Which horrified me since I am a pretty quiet and reserved person and I had just yelled pretty loudly at school…
I work in a clinic and am on the phone a lot. When I say “my name is Liz” people always, always, ALWAYS think I’m saying Ruth. I have no idea why. It happened at my last job too. No amount of annunciation fixes it. I’ve tried….many times.
This is crazy. My name is Stephanie, and I’m reading all of the other Stephanie comments. And I have never a day in my life been called Jennifer. But I do get called Sabrina almost everyday.
Figure this one out–I’m Christina, and throughout my life, the default name that everyone calls me by mistake is Stephanie. This has happened dozens of times. I think I must have been named Stephanie in a past life, since it’s nothing like Christina.
I have found my Stephanie’s who are mistakenly called Jennifer people!!!!!
My name is JULIA and about 90% of people who meet me and then say goodbye say ‘Bye JULIEEEE !!’ (or refer to me as Hi Julie, in e-mails)…
This has been a struggle ever since I can remember.
I personally do not like the name Julie, or Julia. It really bugs me, and I just wish people didn’t struggle over this every single day.. Is it really that hard of a name to remember?….. :(
My name is Brenda and all my life, since I was in grade school, I have been called Debbie or Debra. Even people who know me will accidently call me that. Wish I understood the science behind this!
Well my name is Gail, and if anyone gets my name wrong, the chances are they’ll call me Claire. What is that all about? I’ve guess that it’s a name from the same era (born 1967) and that I must just look like a Claire?? Wierd though isn’t it?
My name is also Gail and I am always being called Claire too AND I once met another Gail who asked me if I ever had the same experience as her ….ie being called Claire by mistake – now that must be more than coincidental!!
My name is Burnadette and I get Brenda ALL the time. I don’t know if I’m just saying my name too fast or what.
So ironic and weird. I just Google’d “Why do people mistake me for, or flat out call me Stephanie when it’s not even CLOSE to my name?”, Jessica. Even when people don’t know my name I get called Stephanie by mistake!
I also get called Jennifer often, I can understand THAT a little bit because it’s another “Jeh” name. As well, Jennifer is my mother’s name and we look very much alike. Even as a little girl – the name swap started when my school bus driver assigned seating on the bus via name tags she made with tape and I couldn’t find my name.
I found out (because the seat I sat in everyday was clearly marked as Stephanie! ) I’m not sure if that bus driver ever got my name right even when I attempted to correct it. This happened maybe close to two decades ago… Lol
Two days ago though, one of my coworkers called me Stephanie and I live in a totally different part of the United States! I have never really told the aforementioned “seating assignment mishap” anecdote to anyone! *SMH*
After reading this thread, I am tempted to surmise that there could be a weird psychological/ and or strange social subliminal/ “Freudian Slip” that happens as a common mistake in individuals that get called the same unrelated name often.
IDK! Just a theory there… Haha, it just seems too strange that many people are experiencing this phenomena commonly (and being able to confirm with others that have the same name, that this happens often.) To me, it seems too colossal on the “coincidence” scale if you know what I mean to seem random occurring if it happens popularly.
Over thinking this issue is probably not healthy lol but it is uncanny, no doubt.
Why oh why do I get called Catherine all the time. My name is Caroline!
My name is Kate and I am constantly being called Karen…
I just met someone today named Jennifer and she asked me if I often get called Jennifer because she often gets called Stephanie. Of course the answer is yes. I’ve always wondered about this which is what brought me to this site. It’s crazy to know that it’s so common.
My name’s Guoda and I’m from Lithuania.
Since I live in Spain, my name is pretty rare and people (A LOT OF PEOPLE) tend to get it wrong.
I’ve got called Gouda (like the cheese), Goada, Guda, Guida, Guadalupe, Guada, Lupe, Lupita…
I honestly never understood it.
Yes, it’s an exotic name but it’s five letters only.
Maybe it’s because there’s two vocals together (uo)?
Anyways, sometimes I correct them, sometimes I don’t, and other times I just say it’s short for Guadalupe so they can understand even if that’s not my name, but that tends to be called Guada or Lupe, which is funny but annoying too.
I don’t even mention my last name (only if it’s REALLY required) because it’s a nightmare.