"Tell your mother she spelled your name wrong."

[ApolloSZ]

MadMike beat me to the George Carlin response. My other default response is Monty Python.
"Its spelt Raymond Luxury-Yacht, but its pronounced Throat Warbler Mangrove".

[MoonCat]

I will admit to oddball names and oddball spellings being a pet peeve of mine. I mean, this trend of giving kids names that used to be surnames, like Sutton or Sawyer, is goofy to me. But it's not my kid, so whatever. What bugs me is when people spell something in such a weird way that it's hard to pronounce. I feel sorry for teachers, trying to figure out how "Adyszynn" is pronounced.

But I certainly would never remark to a complete stranger that their name is weird or "misspelled". If I did I couldn't blame them if they told me to go f**k myself

[Slave to the Phone]

My response to seeing an oddly spelled name is to ask "How is your name pronounced?" And then to say "Oh, that is lovely." Most people just go by the names their parents picked, no choice in the matter. Picking on people over their names is about as ignorant as picking on them over their skin color.

[justhere]

I had a substitute teacher in Jr High do that to me on my last name. In this case, though, I was able to tell her that the people at Ellis Island were the ones to blame on how our last name was spelled, so she was welcome to take it up with them, though she'd probably need a Ouji board in order to do so.

[notalwaysright]

I'm all for people naming kids whatever they want, though like everything, I feel like people go a bit crazy. Like the names "Audio Science" or "Jermajesty" (and pronounce it "Hermajesty", true story). My brain just dies. And yet, I still wouldn't say that it was wrong, or not a name, or whatever. It's not like it's my name, it's not my business. I might bite my tongue when I heard it, how could I not?

I like the idea of choosing an easy name, but one that's not on the top 100 list of that birth year. For example, the name "Joy" is not in the top 100 for 2014. So it's unlikely that child would be in a class full of Joy's. It's easy, and pretty, to me at least. I dunno, I've never been great at naming anything. Not stuffed animals, not pets, not video game characters. Think about my username. Actually, go back further. I found this site one day while googling in a bad mood, "customers suck." I chose the first username I could think of, which described my cranky feelings. If I had done even a smidge of looking, I would have seen it was already an established and well-known site, and chosen a different one. But I didn't and here I am.

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

Obligatory:

[Monterey Jack]

Reminds me of that Bugs Bunny cartoon with a sign informing the audience that they're entering Deepinahearta, Texas.

[Racket_Man]

There is a Tex Avery/MGM cartoon (Who Killed Who?? I think) where an interesting brand name appears (one must not to forget about the VERY nekkid lady halfway through the short) The brand name is on a refridgerator in the kitchen scene and the name is Colder Than Nell. In another short the town name is Coldernell Alaska.

How some of this stuff got passed the censors is beyond me. Yes I know TV Tropes

[slyfoxxy]

My name is Ashlee, and if I don't spell it out in advance I get asked 'is it ey or eigh?' it can be pretty annoying. I knew a girl in high school named Ashlea though, which is even less common, I bet it's even more irritating for her.

[Seanette]

At least people who ask are making a good-faith effort to get it right.

[Sunshine]

My name is uncommon in this country, it's a variation of Melanie and not even common in the country it's originally from! My sister, on the other hand, has a dead on trend name for the year she was born. Lil Ray's name is a variation of my grandfather's, and not uncommon. She just has to spell it one time usually. Some of her relatives on her dads side still get it wrong, but that's another issue. O.o

[otter]

And I remember the late great George Carlin making the same point.

"You can pronounce your name however you want. Your name could be S-M-I-T-H, and you could pronounce it 'Jonofsky' if you wanted."

Its like having your name be Bucket and insisting on it being pronounced "Bouquet" (Boo-kay?)

My last name is simple. Five letters. Still uncommon and I default to spelling it. Even spelling it I still get asked "Was that a 'e'?" Its usually the last vowel to get messed up, though rarely it is the other way around.

[Mr Hero]

While my name (Joseph) is common, the short form I use (Seph) isn't, and is often pronounced Seth

I'd be tempted to tell people that's short for Sephiroth to see what their reaction is.

[iradney]

My personal favourite is when I email clients (Say my name is Kathryn) and they reply with

"Dear Cathryn"

or
"Dear Katherine"

Like guys. MY NAME IS RIGHT THERE. It's hard to miss!

[CrazedClerkthe2nd]

My name is Ashlee, and if I don't spell it out in advance I get asked 'is it ey or eigh?' it can be pretty annoying. I knew a girl in high school named Ashlea though, which is even less common, I bet it's even more irritating for her.

I work with a girl who spells it like you do. I know a couple of other girls who spell it that way toom