It's just a name... get over it.

[Bloodsoul]

Which reminds me, I was a little surprised when I found out that Donald Duck's nephew, Dewey's name, was short for "Deuteronamy" (though I know I spelt it wrong). Had one customer who's son's name was "Malakai" (probably spelt that wrong, too). I like coming up with interesting names for the various characters I come up with; Quintessa, Azi Dahaka, Xiu Mei ("Pretty Plum", perfect name for a babarian! XD)

...I think Guybrush Threepwood still takes the cake.

[CancelMyService]

*name. buh.

This wasn't so much sucky as it was confusing and slightly irritating.

Woman comes to my cash and eyes my name tag.
Woman: Why is that your name?
Me: Excuse me?
Woman: Why is that your name?
Me: Why?
Woman: Yeah. Why?
Me: Because that's the name my parents chose for me?
Woman: What's your background?
Me: That'll be $xx.xx
Woman: *handing me her card* What's your background?
Me: It's irrelevant. Sign here please.

Just for reference, I have an Arabic name with Arabic spelling and am Caucasian. Apparently this is fascinating.

People are constantly eyeing my name and trying to pronounce it, failing every time.
Sometimes it gets so annoying I tear my name tag off in front of the customers.
The customers often ask my background and I've yet to answer any of them.

Now her tone would provide the needed context, but I get the sneaking suspicion that she couldn't mentally organize your name and appearance not "matching" properly and needed to know your background in order to restore balance to her mental chaos.

[Becks]

(My dad wanted to name me after 2 very large Texas cities)

Ooooh, do tell, please? Maybe? OK, you don't have to. I'll guess on my own.

[Kiwi]

my last name sounds like a popular female name, the male equvilant would be "adam or jones" but because its not a freaking common first name as a last name I go through this almost every single day....

stranger: your last name
me : *****
stranger: no, your last name
me: *****
stranger: oh? is that your last name
me: MY LAST NAME IS *****
stranger: oh well thats not very common
me: that doesnt mean it isnt real

Ive started to just hand over ID now, because no one ever believes me! What really drives me wild is when they as K for his name because its strange and DANISH and they accept it first time every time!!!!!!

My name is French, a very common name and still people just dont believe me... I once had some absolute bitch on the phone tell me "that isnt a real last name" I was like EXCUSE ME!!! she said she didnt believe me!!! changed her tune when I asked for her supervisor.

[protege]

I was always flattered back in school when the foreign exchange students from Germany would say "You're German aren't you!", and they were the only ones who could pronounce my last name.

Hehe somewhat similar...my last name sounds German or Austrian. Confuses the hell out of people when I say my father's side originally came from Norway. Roughly translated, my last name means "eastern house." What's funny, is that some relatives on both sides came from Germany, as well as Ireland.

[FuzzyKitten99]

I grew up hating my name because I was always asked "Oh! Like that Princess in the Star Wars movies?!" which drove me up the wall. Judging by my icon though, it doesn't bother me too much anymore.

Anymore, the only name related issue I have is when someone sees my nametag and starts to try to convert me to Catholicism because I'm obviously Jewish (even though I'm not).

Your's must be Lea/Leah/Leia (fill in your name's spelling)... So is MINE! I hated mine because my mom wanted to be 'trendy' and spell it Lea. Because it wasn't a common name and a very uncommon spelling of it, as well as there is a town in our state, Albert Lea, it made people think my name is pronounced "Lee" instead.

I got the "Princess" deal as well when I was younger and once in a while, I will still get it, typically from older gentlemen. However I have come to embrace it with humor. So when people ask my name, I say "Lea. Princess Lea to you." I get pretty good laughs out of that.

[counterjockey]

Your's must be Lea/Leah/Leia (fill in your name's spelling)... So is MINE! I hated mine because my mom wanted to be 'trendy' and spell it Lea. Because it wasn't a common name and a very uncommon spelling of it, as well as there is a town in our state, Albert Lea, it made people think my name is pronounced "Lee" instead.

Been to Albert Lea many, many a time. Less than an hour away from home and I've actually thought of moving up around there.

Someday I hope I'm just famous enough I don't have to use my own name when I check into a hotel. Just so I can say "Hi, I have a reservation, it's under "Albert Lea." Oh hell, who am I kidding. I'd probably try to pull something like that at the Milwaukee airport Motel 6 or someplace.

/probably by which I mean been there tried that
//guy said they don't do aliases, but that he wouldn't tip off the press
///I think he was from Minnesota

[Princess-Snake]

I get people that feel the need to know why I go by my nickname instead of my real name. My real name is Allison, but I go by Allie. They want to know why I don't use my real name. Ummm... because I like Allie? They still insist that I should be happy by my given name and it's so pretty. I am happy with my name, I just want to shorten it 'cause I like it shortened. And god forbid they find out my middle name. "Allison Jane. That's so pretty! You ought to have that as your first name instead of your first and middle!" Thanks for the compliments but do you mind just calling me Allie? How hard is that? And if you overhear any of my friends calling me Allie-cat, do not repeat it. Only my friends are allowed to. (And don't ask how I got Allie-cat either. It's an embarrising first grade incident.)

[Mistress of Foxes]

My name is, quite honestly, very Scandinavian and to me it's pretty boring. I once found out during a Latin lesson that I was the only one in the class with a Nordic name, though, so that was pretty cool.

I rarely use my real name when I talk with my friends, though, since a lot of them can't pronounce it - as they don't speak my language - and I'd rather save them the grief of embaressing themselves. Besides, "Kit" is rather close to my real name, and a lot easier to pronounce for all parts involved, so it's win-win, really

[myswtghst]

My name is Leslie, but on the phones I'm often called Wesley, which makes no sense to me, but doesn't really bother me either. My coworkers sometimes call me Lindsey, but I tend to respond to that too, as I'm kind of used to it. I actually quite like my name, as I was to be Elizabeth, I think, and I think my name is more unique.

My last name is a 6-letter, very commonly-used adjective. It makes sense, as on my dad's side, we're Native American and English, and it's not an entirely uncommon name. People still constantly ask me to spell it for them. There is only 1 way to spell it...I've checked.

[South Texan]

Woman: Why is that your name?
Me: Because that's the name my parents chose for me?
Woman: What's your background?
Me: It's irrelevant.

Why not just state that your name has an Arabic origin? People are fascinated by things that are out of the norm they expect or are used to, so the stupid woman's dull brain probably was trying to figure out where the name came from. She probably has a very limited exposure to the world, so she cannot fathom things that are different. The woman just went about showing her interest in a very rude, ignorant way.

Speaking as one who also has an unusual name, I understand how OLD it gets for people to get excited when they hear it. I have come to understand that their interest is simple, human curiosity and I give a terse but friendly statement of the name's origin and add that it is an old family name. Usually, that satisfies the person and we can move onto business.

[Namrepus221]

Why not just state that your name has an Arabic origin?

And risk her manager getting a complaint about a "terrorist" working for them?

I'd rather have just handled it like she did.

[BookstoreEscapee]

My name is a German word (not an actual name if we spoke German). It is not, however, pronounced the same way as the word in German. So I always know when someone speaks German because that's the first thing they ask when they see my name.

I get a lot of "How do you say that?" but when I tell people they never quite hear it right and repeat it back wrong. If it's someone I'll never see again I just say "yes."

My favorite(), though, was the woman who looked at my name tag and said in a totally condescending tone, "That's an odd name" ... Um...OK...

What's the big deal about going by a nickname? Plenty of people go by nicknames; I think most times they just sort of evolve...

[ArenaBoy]

I have a few friends with unique names, as follows:

I am friends with a girl named Jesslyn, she prefers to be called J as she is annoyed by so many people butchering it.

I went to school with a guy named Chesleigh and a guy named Ashland, they get a lot of strange looks when they give those names.

[Misanthropical]

My first name is Diana, which most people pronounce Diane. I will ignore people who call me Diane, since that IS NOT MY NAME!

I use to tell people it's just like Princess, but she died and I figured it would be morbid to tell people it's just like the dead princess.

Of course, when she was alive I got teased about sharing the same name with her.

I have a very Italian last name, which most people butcher the first few times they pronounce it.

Then, of course, there are the idiots who tell me I don't look Italian when they see my last name. I guess it doesn't dawn on them that I might have married into it.

My children look more like my side of the family, so I'm sure they will run into people telling them they don't look Italian.