What's the best way to introduce yourself when you hate saying your own name because of the pronunciation and you just don't like it?

The spelling and pronunciation of my name is not hard at all, but people are always spelling and saying it wrong – it’s not joni, btw. I’ll never understand how a 5 letter common name can be so hard to pronounce. I can’t think of a better way to introduce myself, so I find myself correcting people quite often.

Interesting question. Do you want to avoid saying your name altogether? Because you can easily just push it aside and insist upon the nickname. If you say your nickname with enough confidence, people won’t question it. If they do question it, consider it a conversation starter.

Examples:
– “Hi! My name is __, but you can call me Jelly/JC.”
– “Nice to meet you! Call me Jelly/JC.”
– “Hi! My real name is __, but I actually hate that name, so feel free to call me something else.”

ironic @Shadling…I’ve read about your issues with the way flutherers spell your screen name

but great answer…LURVE! lol

I had I tumor in my larynx that went unnoticed until I was four. I was unable to talk until it was removed. But after it was removed I started speaking a few weeks later. But I was left with the inability to make the “R” sound. Which was unfortunate since I go by Ryan. It always came out as whhhy-an. I hated telling people my name. I started keeping a piece of paper in my pocket with it written on it.

But after years of getting speech therapy I speak properly now. Though I do still suck at spelling and grammar.

@ JohnP your spelling and grammar look just fine to me, unless my spelling and grammar is just no better than yours LMAO

I have this problem also…not my first name too much although with it being a one syllable name and beginning with L people do seems to miss it unless i shout it at them and elongate the vowels sound. but more so with my surname…i always think its sounds a bit… “dumpy” i guess… and the way it feels and makes your face look when you say it isn’t particularly attractive…. so maybe i should think about just never mentioning my surname and changing my first name altogether??? and there’s also the problem that people don’t know whether to say blundELL or blUNDell (as you would probably read “blundle”)...anyway…i might consider an alternative now… thanks for opening my horizons….

We (family) call my nephew by his first name, but the rest of the world calls him by his middle name. I would call him by his middle name, and do when I’m among his friends, but his middle name is my last name, and it feels weird.

@lynneblundell Since, as previously noted, I have the same last name as yours, only by marriage, I share your frustration with it. It’s a mouthful (“dumpy” is a good description) and people don’t know how to pronounce it. I had considered keeping my own last name when I married but instead use it as my middle name. Sometimes I wish I had kept it as I do not like my last name.

I was never happy with my first name and preferred the nickname Jan. I took a writing class several years ago in which the teacher had us make nameplates with the name we wanted to be called. Since then, I just introduce myself to people as “Jan.”