How annoyed would you be if the school kept getting your child's name wrong?

[Anonymous]

Carolyn and Caroline are two different names. They are not spelling variations. I would be totally annoyed and I'm someone whose name is consistently misspelled (think Katherine v. Kathryn). It usually doesn't bother me -- not with acquaintances and not with casual co-workers. It does bother me when people who are close to me or work with me on a regular basis consistently misspell it. Sometimes I know it's more like a typo and that's fine, but when it is consistently misspelled by someone who should know better, it hurts my feelings and/or makes me mad.

OP's example is even worse. They are two different names! You should definitely correct them, OP. I would be polite but quite firm. It's not that hard.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We are members of an ethnic minority and I regard teachers who refuse to pronounce/learn my child's name as engaging in a form of micro-aggression. Here's an interesting article to read:
https://www.academia.edu/192884/Kohli_R._and_Sol%C3%B3rzano_D._2012_Teachers_please_learn_our_names_Racial_Microagressions_and_the_K-12_Classroom._Race_Ethnicity_and_Education

I get this, but at the same time, I have seen this happen with names commonly found in the US. Not only Carolyn/Caroline as above, but Laura/Lauren, John/Jon, Joanne/Joanna, and lots of other examples. My relative named Laura is constantly being called Lauren. I think some people just aren't very good at remembering names.

As someone with one of these names-- Anna/Anne-- my feeling is that people are careless and it is a very, very poor reflection on a person if they interact with you regularly (or SEE your name written on a regular basis) and nonetheless call you by the wrong name. People who do this, defend yourselves please because I'd like to understand, but when someone is writing an e-mail to Anna S., and it's a colleague I interact with on a regular basis, if you address me as Anne in person and written communication-- even after initial corrections-- it makes me see you as self-absorbed and like I am pretty much worth nothing to you. (Which could be true. But this is not what I personally like to convey to my colleagues, neighbors, and certainly not to a young child.) And I have nothing against the name Anne!

My 2 yr old gets REALLY indignant when people call her by a nickname she does not like. If your child is going to be there for much longer, I would mention it. If not, I would leave with a bad taste in my mouth about that school. (And I have two kids with foreign names. No teacher has ever gotten their names wrong (to be fair, they've only had 4, but still). In fact, it's clear to me that they've gone to great lengths ahead of time to memorize the names on their lists so that they know the kids names from day 1.)

-someone who recently accidentally called an adult neighbor Caroline, realized belatedly that her name was Carolyn, and felt like a jerk, not because I don't think she's used to it, but because she likely is

[Anonymous]

I would say something.

[Anonymous]

I think with Caroline/Carolyn, the person doing it is thinking of the same (hopefully correct) pronunciation and just misspelling it -- not having an issue with pronunciation.

My grandmother's name was Caroline, and people she knew her whole life would sometimes say "Carolyn" to her. I guess it's just a hard name (it doesn't seem like it to me, but I guess to some people who have more experience with one or the other?).

I'd mention it to the staff, but I wouldn't freak out about it. I think it's a spelling error and not an error related to what they call her all day. But the / is pretty weird!

[Anonymous]

I guess the bigger question would be how they are going to teach her to recognize and spell her name if they can't do it themselves! But if you're moving her anyway, this probably isn't an issue at this age.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Carolyn and Caroline are two different names. They are not spelling variations. I would be totally annoyed and I'm someone whose name is consistently misspelled (think Katherine v. Kathryn). It usually doesn't bother me -- not with acquaintances and not with casual co-workers. It does bother me when people who are close to me or work with me on a regular basis consistently misspell it. Sometimes I know it's more like a typo and that's fine, but when it is consistently misspelled by someone who should know better, it hurts my feelings and/or makes me mad.

OP's example is even worse. They are two different names! You should definitely correct them, OP. I would be polite but quite firm. It's not that hard.

Seriously? That hurts your feelings. You really have had a very nice life. Sad face!!!

[Anonymous]

That is very annoying. Way to signal that they don't care much about your kid.

[Anonymous]

This is super annoying! They are two very different names. To the people who are saying they sound the same- have you never heard the song Sweet Caroline? It's not at all the same pronunciation as Carolyn. I would be incredibly frustrated by that. You are not alone OP.

[Anonymous]

I told my husband about this and he asked if the teachers were burned out Starbucks Baristas. HAHAHA

[Anonymous]

People - it's not just two spellings. Her name and the other name have different pronunciations. This is NOT good and I would be irritated.

[Anonymous]

Two is when most kids begin to have a sense that that is their name written down. I'd want my kid's name written correctly for that reason. I don't see this as any different than an elementary teacher giving my kid worksheets that said 2+2=5.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is super annoying! They are two very different names. To the people who are saying they sound the same- have you never heard the song Sweet Caroline? It's not at all the same pronunciation as Carolyn. I would be incredibly frustrated by that. You are not alone OP.

I've known people who spell the name Caroline, but pronounce it lyn. It can be two different names, but it can also be two spellings of the same name.

[Anonymous]

In our daycare the names are everywhere (e.g., on cubbies for personal items, on cubbies for diapers, etc.), so I can't imagine the teachers misspelling one of them. This would bother me and I would absolutely say something if I were planning to stay. I keep some of my daughter's artwork, and it would really bother me if it said Sara/Sarah on it. And I say this as someone whose name is constantly misspelled to the point I barely notice, but I do think less of someone when it's misspelled on an email since my name is in the email address.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This is super annoying! They are two very different names. To the people who are saying they sound the same- have you never heard the song Sweet Caroline? It's not at all the same pronunciation as Carolyn. I would be incredibly frustrated by that. You are not alone OP.

I've known people who spell the name Caroline, but pronounce it lyn. It can be two different names, but it can also be two spellings of the same name.

Then they're idiots who don't know how to pronounce their own names.

Speak up, OP, I can't believe you've let it go this long! I would have been on them after the first week!

[Anonymous]

My daughter is Alexandra and gets Alexa all the time. I trained her from a very early age to say "My name is Alexandra; you can call me Alex" ANY time she's called anything but Alex or Alexandra.