When people constantly confuse your kids name

Coconuthead · October 2014

So my little one is Lucian. I love his name, love, love, love it. Since he's been born some people have had some confusion about his name, and we did expect some. We moved back to my home town a few months ago and it seems like ever since we've been back people I know have messing up his name. Not people who are super close to us but people we see on a semi-regular basis.

For example I have started re-attending a religious meeting. The first week back I had a whole conversation about his name.

Person A: "We are so happy to have you and little Lucas back in the group"! Me: "Thank you, I am glad to be back. It's Lucian actually." Person B: "Lucia? Isn't that a girls name?" Me: "Lucian" Person C: "Lucius?" Me: "Close! Lucian" Person C: "Lucien? L-u-c-i-e-n" Me: "Yes, but L-u-c-i-a-n, pronounced Lu-shin. Luc is fine too". Person B:"No! Lucian is lovely!" Me:*whew*

Next week: Person A: "It's great to see Lucas again!" Person C:"Oh hey! Little Lucien!" Me: *facepalm*

I just don't know what to do in this situation. I am trying to just use his name a lot in conversation so that people can catch on. I don't want to sound nagging, correcting people over and over. On the other hand I don't think his name is such a puzzler that people should be unable to learn it.

Anyone with a similar experience? What did you do or what would you do?

BethPSU · October 2014

Yes. I don't have a lot of problems with Isla's name, but there is one friend of mine who continues to call her Ayla. I try to call her by name in front of her a lot, but she just doesn't pick up on it. We are past the point of me correcting her. She says it with such confidence!

hcurley03 · October 2014

I get that a lot with my son, Ezekiel. Totally never thought it was a weird or confusing name. I knew it wasn't super common, but had no idea so many people would have never heard of it.

4N6s · October 2014

I have no advice but I would never get that pronunciation right by looking at it. Haha
Doesn't sound like they were reading it though...
Good luck!

Coconuthead · October 2014

Thanks ladies! Hopefully if I keep saying it everyone will catch on! @hcurley03‌ I wouldn't think Ezekiel would cause trouble either!

Zimger · October 2014

In the midwest I hear it pronounced LOO-see-ən (even though it seems unusal) it's more phonetic and more common in my area. I also hear LOO-shən but the phonetic is more common.

Edit: I didn't finish my thought.

What I mean to say is too keep correcting. People will get it soon.

MaineMama33 · October 2014

Yeah.... It's bound to sink in eventually. I'm sorry, that sounds really frustrating. My son's name is Ambrose and many people hear a girls name when I introduce him. Strangely enough (or maybe not?) I am always worried about sounding rude when I correct them!

Stay strong, mama! Your son has a great name, in my opinion.

SidraJedi · October 2014

DD is Oona. I get Emma a lot from strangers. They also call her a boy. I don't correct them. I correct people I *know* and they usually get it soon enough even if they still spell it wrong. The one acquaintance that hasn't gotten it calls DD by her MN. I've corrected her before but for some reason this girl is set in her mind that DDs MN is her FN and since we are not that close I just let it slide. I really don't care if someone is on autopilot that hard it's their prob not mine!

Coconuthead · October 2014

Thanks for the encouragement ladies. @Zimger‌, you are right that the Loo-see-en and Loo-shin pronunciations are both legit. When we were deciding we figured the Lucien spelling would be more associated with the other pronunciation. Turns out most people here (in the Southwest) are more familiar with the Lucien spelling and the Loo-see-en pronunciation.

@MaineMama33‌ and @SidraJedi‌ Ambrose and Oona are both awesome names!

I think in the long run I can live with a Loo-see-en now and again. The Lucas one is the one that really bugs me. I guess it's like your Oona/Emma situation @SidraJedi‌ , people automatically substitute a more recognized name even if it sounds way different!

catahoulatte · October 2014

If they are getting close and actually trying, I'd be ok. This is from a lifetime of getting called every random mispronunciation you could think of of my name. If they are close, I stop caring. If they call me something off the wall, I just correct them.

I haven't had that issue (yet) with G, so I can't tell you what I'd do if it were my kid.

missamERICA · October 2014

Not totally the same thing at all, but equally annoying for me. My son's name is Wesley as in (wess-lee)... and many people will say "Wezley" is drives me nuts. I HATE the pronunciation of the "Z" instead of the "S" -- we call him Wes often so most people get it - but every time I hear "wezley" I cringe.

WaterEclipse · October 2014

My first name is Aja (pronounced Asia) and people slaughter my name on a daily basis so I know the struggle. I just correct them or ignore it, whether or not it's important for that person to know how my name is pronounced. It's all you can do!

Marshmallow&Lilypad · October 2014

My DD is Cosette...I get "Cause-et" a lot...makes me think "who the hell would think that's a pretty name!?" But I digress. I just laugh it off and pronounce it correctly, people can be uneducated on the more unique (but not YOUneek) names!

AnotherSun · October 2014

My daughter is Lilian and my mother in law insists in pronouncing her name Lily Ann. The solution for us was insisting on her only using the nickname. If your happy with Luc, try hard to push that instead.

Coconuthead · October 2014

I was wondering if you were encountering a similar situation @TheEmpireNeedsYou‌ . I think you are right, I will let the Loo-see-en pronunciation slide but definitely not Lucas. Especially since I have given the option of Luc, there isn't any reason for someone to not use one of those options.

When people constantly confuse your kids name

Re: When people constantly confuse your kids name

Choose Another Board

Search Boards