What’s in a name? Better yet, why are some names so confusing for some people to pronounce, no matter how simple?
Do you know anyone for almost a lifetime who still doesn’t know how to spell your name?
How about having a four-letter last name that people cannot only not spell correctly, but also mispronounce? Even better, my first name is spelled wrong by over 90% of people who formally correspond with me, that would be Debby, not Debbie.
Ya, that be me. And to think that all through my school years – elementary through high school, when I’d cringe at roll calls because it seemed no teacher of mine ever seemed to know how to pronounce my last name back then too. I used to dream about the day I’d marry to kick away my maiden name to one that someone could say correctly – or spell for that matter.
Back in the school days, my family name was Kushnir. This is pronounced ‘Kush – as cushion, nir – as in nerd without the d’. But sadly, I never heard it pronounced correctly. It always sounded like ‘Kush – as in, rhymes with lush, and nir – as in, rhymes with fear’. I could never wrap my head around it, especially from teachers, I would have expected better. So everyday at roll call I’d suck it up and prepare for humiliation as the letter K approached. The kids who found it funny would think of some more embarrassing versions and rhymes – like ‘tush’. I’d dream of the day I could change my name, but never figured four simple letters would be a condundrum for so many.
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So, I get married, and happily take on what I thought was my husband’s simple and short last name. I thought, alas, a simple four-letter name. Not. It turns out, the last name Gies is a puzzle or a mouthful for many.
Anyone who has ever addressed me formally by my married name has NEVER said it correctly the first time. I mean how many variations can one get from G I E S? Well, apparently the most common name I get called is Mrs. Giles. Yes, you read right. Where did the ‘L’ come from? Is my name an optical illusion? On the off-chance someone doesn’t imagine an ‘L’ in my name, the pronunciation becomes Gies – as in ‘Guise’. Seriously?! (Did you catch the punctuation mark I used before this sentence? See more about the Interrobang here.) I felt it was appropriately used here – exclamation and question mark conjoined.
Gies sounds like ‘Geese’. . . like the birds.
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Surely I can’t be the only person around whose last name seems to be a tongue-twister for many?
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DGKayewriter.com 
