Coworker Insists on Misspelling My Name in Emails- WWYD?

[Anonymous]

I can only really focus on a limited number of things at once. If I am asking someone to lunch, or about a routine work matter, I can certainly remember the correct spelling of their name. While I am trying to coordinate numerous things by email while talking on the phone about another issue, the spelling of their name is not foremost in my mind.


Then you really should wait to send the email until you can give it proper attention

I would need to get a different type of job to have that luxury. But thanks for the suggestion.

[Anonymous]

Some of you people are seriously petty and have too much time on your hands if you have energy to worry about such silly things.

I have an unusual name. Our email addresses are first initial_last name. My first name is routinely misspelled by coworkers. It is rare, but is phonetically spelled and pronounced and shouldn't be a problem for people.

Yet, it is. Fortunately, I have better things to do than obsess about how "disrespectful" my coworkers are allegedly being. I assume the best of intentions until proven otherwise.

So, I never correct a misspelling of my name. I sign my name on outgoing emails and hope they eventually get it. If they don't, no big deal. If I am mis-introduced in person, I will quickly correct while shaking the new person's hand and say no more.

I have no interest in embarrassing coworkers just because my name is unusual to them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Some of you people are seriously petty and have too much time on your hands if you have energy to worry about such silly things.

I have an unusual name. Our email addresses are first initial_last name. My first name is routinely misspelled by coworkers. It is rare, but is phonetically spelled and pronounced and shouldn't be a problem for people.

Yet, it is. Fortunately, I have better things to do than obsess about how "disrespectful" my coworkers are allegedly being. I assume the best of intentions until proven otherwise.

So, I never correct a misspelling of my name. I sign my name on outgoing emails and hope they eventually get it. If they don't, no big deal. If I am mis-introduced in person, I will quickly correct while shaking the new person's hand and say no more.

I have no interest in embarrassing coworkers just because my name is unusual to them.

everyone's name is unusual to somebody in this world. for example, "john" may be unusual for a non-predominantly christian or european society. it's all relative. what is common is basic respect for spelling and pronouncing a person's name correctly. you can be given a few initial passes, but after that, you have a problem. zero tolerance for this stupidity.

[Anonymous]

My name is always spelled wrong in emails. I don't take it personally. It's a first name with two well known spellings (it ends in 'in' or 'en'). I don't take it personally, nor do I really care. However, I do take the time to make sure that I spell other names correctly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you people are seriously petty and have too much time on your hands if you have energy to worry about such silly things.

I have an unusual name. Our email addresses are first initial_last name. My first name is routinely misspelled by coworkers. It is rare, but is phonetically spelled and pronounced and shouldn't be a problem for people.

Yet, it is. Fortunately, I have better things to do than obsess about how "disrespectful" my coworkers are allegedly being. I assume the best of intentions until proven otherwise.

So, I never correct a misspelling of my name. I sign my name on outgoing emails and hope they eventually get it. If they don't, no big deal. If I am mis-introduced in person, I will quickly correct while shaking the new person's hand and say no more.

I have no interest in embarrassing coworkers just because my name is unusual to them.

everyone's name is unusual to somebody in this world. for example, "john" may be unusual for a non-predominantly christian or european society. it's all relative. what is common is basic respect for spelling and pronouncing a person's name correctly. you can be given a few initial passes, but after that, you have a problem. zero tolerance for this stupidity.

So says you and your one opinion. You can call it stupidity all you like. It doesn't make you right. It does make you petty.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My name is always spelled wrong in emails. I don't take it personally. It's a first name with two well known spellings (it ends in 'in' or 'en'). I don't take it personally, nor do I really care. However, I do take the time to make sure that I spell other names correctly.

Kristin! Kristen!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would talk to her in person about it.

FWIW, my name is (something like) Bailey and I have a pretty senior person on my team who spells it Baileigh EVERY TIME. I've worked with her for 7 years. It does annoy me. But then I realized she is from another country where that spelling is more common. It doesn't sound likely in your case, but maybe she knows someone with a similar name and it is spelled that way, so her brain just always goes to that.

I have a name that has two spellings -- my name has the less common spelling. I'm not surprised when people spell it wrong in emails. I could care less, and I don't take it personally. I just think that they don't pay attention and that it's innocent.

Same here. But, my MIL spells it wrong. I corrected her and she said she knew she was spelling it wrong but she prefers it the other way. ?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you people are seriously petty and have too much time on your hands if you have energy to worry about such silly things.

I have an unusual name. Our email addresses are first initial_last name. My first name is routinely misspelled by coworkers. It is rare, but is phonetically spelled and pronounced and shouldn't be a problem for people.

Yet, it is. Fortunately, I have better things to do than obsess about how "disrespectful" my coworkers are allegedly being. I assume the best of intentions until proven otherwise.

So, I never correct a misspelling of my name. I sign my name on outgoing emails and hope they eventually get it. If they don't, no big deal. If I am mis-introduced in person, I will quickly correct while shaking the new person's hand and say no more.

I have no interest in embarrassing coworkers just because my name is unusual to them.

everyone's name is unusual to somebody in this world. for example, "john" may be unusual for a non-predominantly christian or european society. it's all relative. what is common is basic respect for spelling and pronouncing a person's name correctly. you can be given a few initial passes, but after that, you have a problem. zero tolerance for this stupidity.

So says you and your one opinion. You can call it stupidity all you like. It doesn't make you right. It does make you petty.

yes, i guess better to be petty vs. lacking the class to respect a basic thing such as a given name.

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I would just get over it. People are constantly calling me by the wrong name at work because I go by my middle name, but have an email address that includes my first name. At some point you just have to accept that they are going to get it wrong.
Ask yourself, are there other signs of disrespect from this person? Then the problem isn't that she can't spell your name, the problem is that she is not extending the professional respect you believe she should be, and that is the problem you need to address. If there are not other signs, then maybe you can just continue to remind her, and continue to laugh to yourself when she spells it wrong, and remember that you have her professional respect despite her spelling errors.

[Anonymous]

My name is Masha (Russian nickname for Maria). I can't tell you how many times it gets spelled Marsha, how often official documents get corrected to include the "r". I have learned to let it go. It's not worth the aggravation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you people are seriously petty and have too much time on your hands if you have energy to worry about such silly things.

I have an unusual name. Our email addresses are first initial_last name. My first name is routinely misspelled by coworkers. It is rare, but is phonetically spelled and pronounced and shouldn't be a problem for people.

Yet, it is. Fortunately, I have better things to do than obsess about how "disrespectful" my coworkers are allegedly being. I assume the best of intentions until proven otherwise.

So, I never correct a misspelling of my name. I sign my name on outgoing emails and hope they eventually get it. If they don't, no big deal. If I am mis-introduced in person, I will quickly correct while shaking the new person's hand and say no more.

I have no interest in embarrassing coworkers just because my name is unusual to them.

everyone's name is unusual to somebody in this world. for example, "john" may be unusual for a non-predominantly christian or european society. it's all relative. what is common is basic respect for spelling and pronouncing a person's name correctly. you can be given a few initial passes, but after that, you have a problem. zero tolerance for this stupidity.

So says you and your one opinion. You can call it stupidity all you like. It doesn't make you right. It does make you petty.

yes, i guess better to be petty vs. lacking the class to respect a basic thing such as a given name.

You need to work on that reading comprehension. The reason you are petty is that you assume a lot of things about my coworkers and claim it is "stupidity" of a "lack of class" to "respect" what you think is some kind of "basic thing". That's a lot of petty judgments (especially when you don't even know my name) that I don't have time for when someone misspells my name. I assume good intentions from the people I work with. You assume a ton of negativity and judge people harshly. That's why you're petty and that has nothing to do with people who make mistakes.

So you believe it's better to be petty vs. assuming the best of people.

That's ok, but let's be clear and compare apples to apples, not oranges to grapes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you people are seriously petty and have too much time on your hands if you have energy to worry about such silly things.

I have an unusual name. Our email addresses are first initial_last name. My first name is routinely misspelled by coworkers. It is rare, but is phonetically spelled and pronounced and shouldn't be a problem for people.

Yet, it is. Fortunately, I have better things to do than obsess about how "disrespectful" my coworkers are allegedly being. I assume the best of intentions until proven otherwise.

So, I never correct a misspelling of my name. I sign my name on outgoing emails and hope they eventually get it. If they don't, no big deal. If I am mis-introduced in person, I will quickly correct while shaking the new person's hand and say no more.

I have no interest in embarrassing coworkers just because my name is unusual to them.

everyone's name is unusual to somebody in this world. for example, "john" may be unusual for a non-predominantly christian or european society. it's all relative. what is common is basic respect for spelling and pronouncing a person's name correctly. you can be given a few initial passes, but after that, you have a problem. zero tolerance for this stupidity.

So says you and your one opinion. You can call it stupidity all you like. It doesn't make you right. It does make you petty.

yes, i guess better to be petty vs. lacking the class to respect a basic thing such as a given name.

You need to work on that reading comprehension. The reason you are petty is that you assume a lot of things about my coworkers and claim it is "stupidity" of a "lack of class" to "respect" what you think is some kind of "basic thing". That's a lot of petty judgments (especially when you don't even know my name) that I don't have time for when someone misspells my name. I assume good intentions from the people I work with. You assume a ton of negativity and judge people harshly. That's why you're petty and that has nothing to do with people who make mistakes.

So you believe it's better to be petty vs. assuming the best of people.

That's ok, but let's be clear and compare apples to apples, not oranges to grapes.

you seem very invested in this topic, and i am glad you live a life of positive purpose. FWIW, you're pretty much assuming things about me as well. (negative, at that). Just so we are comparing apples to oranges, as you say. i think it is fine for you to have your opinion, and for me to have mine. all the best.

[Anonymous]

**obviously, i meant apples to apples** you brought up too many fruits.

[Anonymous]

Very easy to spell name with the less usual spelling and often misspelled. Let it go, and sign your name correctly. I have ADHD and screw up spellings sometimes, even though I'm trying. I really doubt bosses in a professional environment want to deal with this. It make you look difficult to get along with, and you don't want to call out your co-worker publicly-- you never know where you will both be in 5 years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Some of you people are seriously petty and have too much time on your hands if you have energy to worry about such silly things.

I have an unusual name. Our email addresses are first initial_last name. My first name is routinely misspelled by coworkers. It is rare, but is phonetically spelled and pronounced and shouldn't be a problem for people.

Yet, it is. Fortunately, I have better things to do than obsess about how "disrespectful" my coworkers are allegedly being. I assume the best of intentions until proven otherwise.

So, I never correct a misspelling of my name. I sign my name on outgoing emails and hope they eventually get it. If they don't, no big deal. If I am mis-introduced in person, I will quickly correct while shaking the new person's hand and say no more.

I have no interest in embarrassing coworkers just because my name is unusual to them.

everyone's name is unusual to somebody in this world. for example, "john" may be unusual for a non-predominantly christian or european society. it's all relative. what is common is basic respect for spelling and pronouncing a person's name correctly. you can be given a few initial passes, but after that, you have a problem. zero tolerance for this stupidity.

So says you and your one opinion. You can call it stupidity all you like. It doesn't make you right. It does make you petty.

yes, i guess better to be petty vs. lacking the class to respect a basic thing such as a given name.

You need to work on that reading comprehension. The reason you are petty is that you assume a lot of things about my coworkers and claim it is "stupidity" of a "lack of class" to "respect" what you think is some kind of "basic thing". That's a lot of petty judgments (especially when you don't even know my name) that I don't have time for when someone misspells my name. I assume good intentions from the people I work with. You assume a ton of negativity and judge people harshly. That's why you're petty and that has nothing to do with people who make mistakes.

So you believe it's better to be petty vs. assuming the best of people.

That's ok, but let's be clear and compare apples to apples, not oranges to grapes.

you seem very invested in this topic, and i am glad you live a life of positive purpose. FWIW, you're pretty much assuming things about me as well. (negative, at that). Just so we are comparing apples to oranges, as you say. i think it is fine for you to have your opinion, and for me to have mine. all the best.

Fair point, PP, and I can easily concede that I both brought three too many fruits into the conversation, and that we can certainly have differing opinions and both live a life of positive purpose while disagreeing about names. Also, you're right that apparently I have stronger opinions than I expected on this topic and you have given me something additional to think about.

Thanks for you post and all the best to you as well.