I speak English and can only say a few phrases in my family’s historical language (though, I’ve gotten some lessons from home and school on pronunciation). My surname is sometimes mistaken for a similarly spelt English one–and I don’t want to constantly get it mistaken–so would it be cringey to pronounce it in its original language?
Do what you want. Many people have an English name and their native name and just keep them separate. Up to you.
and I don’t want to constantly get it mistaken
From a certain point in life, I’ve stopped bothering with this. The name is just a communication tool, people can call me whatever they want as long as I know it’s me.
When I’m speaking, I just pronounce it correctly and then spell it (I have the benefit of its Latinisation being short).
It might be worth it if there are many chances to use it, but for hotel check-ins, they won’t even remember my name after ten seconds, let alone the correct pronunciation.
That being said, I felt somewhat guilty for not being grateful to some people that actually made the effort to pronounce it correctly (or at least ask and then give up lol).
My wife has a surname that English speakers don’t understand how to pronounce. If she’s checking in at a hotel, or talking to a company over the phone, she pronounces it wrong on purpose so they’ll read/write it correctly.
It’s not very often she says her surname as it should be, lol
Nguyen?
Americans, ironically, can’t say it.
You should have your name pronounced the way you want it to be. Just don’t be a dick about it. People who don’t respect your choices don’t deserve to be given anything, so don’t worry about that.
No. I have a Spanish last name and pronounce it in Spanish when people ask. I’m tired of slurring the vowels to make it sound English.
Rule of thumb more people should follow you call people the name they want to be called period that includes pronunciation to the best of their ability.
Your surname wouldn’t happen to be ‘Bucket’, right?
“it’s pronounced boo-cayyyy”
Do what makes you happy.
It’s okay to insist people pronounce your name the way you want.
Go for it.
I have a Latino surname, I say it in kind of a “half-Spanish” accent that’s easily achievable by non-Spanish-speakers.
If I’m talking to someone official on the phone I say “Last name is (name), spelled (spelling)” so they get it right.
Do what you want, as others have said, but also consider whether doing so would make life easier - for them or for you. The trade-off is how often it’s read and mispronounced by strangers vs. how often it’s written and misspelled by strangers.
You said it’s French; for example, if it’s “Jean” then the “correct” pronunciation would sound like “zhawn”. This might cause many native English speakers to mishear it as “John”. “Michel” sounds like “Michelle”.
On the other hand, they might read Jean and say “Gene” or see “Michel” and say “Michael”.
ETA: again, it’s your name so no, I don’t think it’s cringey.
No.
Also, I’d recommend caring about being cringe. True freedom is achieved when you stop caring.
I pronounce my name based on who I’m talking to. With English speakers its one way, with speakers of my name’s native language, its the appropriate pronunciation.
I don’t know why you got downvoted. My name is completely unpronouncable in Japanese (I’m from the US and have been in Japan over a decade), so it depends upon whom I’m talking to and their language ability. Most of the time, it’s the close-enough Japanese approximation of my name.
I’m pretty sure Chinese (at least HongKongers, but I think all) have an “English name” for going the other direction.
I do the same. My name is pronounced differently by hispanohablante folk, and I use that pronunciation when speaking Spanish.
Depends on the surname and the language but generally I don’t see this being cringe.
Just don’t be snide / condescending with it.
I totally understand
Footballer Thierry Henry, super famous. In French it’s “on-ray” and in English it’s “hen-ree”. In my opinion, there’s one way to pronounce that last name.
A musician i know with a french name often publishes under QTN so anglos pronunce it properly rather than say que-teen.
Go with how you think it will be recognized that feels right to you; it belongs to you after all :)
My surname has a different pronunciation just based on region within the same language; I go with the one my parents used, but I’ll answer to any of them.
It’s impossible to say without knowing what it is.
