names do matter. as someone with a perceived difficult name, i have spent my whole life having the world mispronounce my name and me letting it slide. when i returned to my name after years of using a nickname, i no longer accepted others mispronouncing it. i have no issue correcting them.
it is shocking to encounter people who refuse to make any kind effort in saying it correctly, sometimes asking if there is another name they could call me or simply dismissing it altogether, saying they will never remember it or get it right. a little effort is all it takes. a little attention to get it right. in a world where intention and attention are becoming lost arts, trying to get someone's name right goes a long way. it tells others a little bit about your approach to life. so, thank you for this.
I absolutely get that--and I did everything in my power to say the students' names right, because it matters. Intention and attention matter. And I have always been curious, how do you pronounce your name? I want to say it right--even in my head--whenever your kind words appear : ).
I've thought about this as well, since I've never loved my first name. At the same time, I've never been able to think of what I'd like instead. I guess the one I have is me. And that's interesting.
I also sometimes think about what it would be like if we'd given our children other names. We didn't know them when we chose them. And especially with the girls--we'd picked two names and who got which wasn't quite arbitrary, but I'm sure neither of us could say just what made us assign them the way we did.
I loved this on so many levels, especially how we choose names for our kids even when we have no idea who they will be --and what that might look like with twins. Fascinating.
names do matter. as someone with a perceived difficult name, i have spent my whole life having the world mispronounce my name and me letting it slide. when i returned to my name after years of using a nickname, i no longer accepted others mispronouncing it. i have no issue correcting them.
it is shocking to encounter people who refuse to make any kind effort in saying it correctly, sometimes asking if there is another name they could call me or simply dismissing it altogether, saying they will never remember it or get it right. a little effort is all it takes. a little attention to get it right. in a world where intention and attention are becoming lost arts, trying to get someone's name right goes a long way. it tells others a little bit about your approach to life. so, thank you for this.
I absolutely get that--and I did everything in my power to say the students' names right, because it matters. Intention and attention matter. And I have always been curious, how do you pronounce your name? I want to say it right--even in my head--whenever your kind words appear : ).
sweet! thank you for that. although the name is of german-dutch origin, i am cuban and so i pronounce it in spanish:
https://www.howtopronounce.com/spanish/aleida
I would love "Birch" as a middle name. :)
I've thought about this as well, since I've never loved my first name. At the same time, I've never been able to think of what I'd like instead. I guess the one I have is me. And that's interesting.
I also sometimes think about what it would be like if we'd given our children other names. We didn't know them when we chose them. And especially with the girls--we'd picked two names and who got which wasn't quite arbitrary, but I'm sure neither of us could say just what made us assign them the way we did.
I loved this on so many levels, especially how we choose names for our kids even when we have no idea who they will be --and what that might look like with twins. Fascinating.