Friday, May 09, 2008

E.L.E.N.A.

I was named after my great-grandmother, Daisy Eleana (yep, she spelled it differently). I often have my name mispronounced; it's always been that way. And I've grown so accustomed to it that I hardly notice when people say it wrong. Since some of you don't actually "know" me, have never talked to me in person, and have never heard me say my name, I thought it might be fun for me to tell you all how I say it.

I get called anything from Alaina to Ellen and everything in between. But I pronounce my name "L" (as in L,M,N,O,P) "E" (as in A,B,C,D,E) "nuh". It's not difficult really, but hardly anyone gets it correctly. (And don't feel bad if you're one that doesn't. I honestly sat down and tried to think of how you each say my name and I don't have a clue.)

Do any of you get called something other than your name?

21 comments:

Miki said...

How fun. Good post. How long did it take me to get your name? I think at LEAST three tries, if not more. I'd forgotten all about that until now.

Lee Ann said...

My name is always spelled wrong. My mom thought she was spelling it very easy, but I guess not. And since my first name is Lee and my middle name is Ann, I get called Lee a lot. The nurse at the dr's office is always looking for a man when they see my chart.

Anonymous said...

Your mother thanks you.

Anonymous said...

Just to add to the mix, when Daisy would say her name, she would throw in a little Alabama, Georgia twang and pronounce it
"L" "een" "ner" "Eleener". Aren't you glad I didn't keep that pronunciation?

Deidra Smith said...

I can't remember if I ever struggled with your name or not. But I know people do with mine. You have a better attitude than I do though. I hate it mostly 'cuz people say it like 'dear dree'. I know that name is close to mine, but it has never been one of my favorite so i hate that i've been tagged with it:(

LouandAngela said...

:) Ha! You're mom's comment cracked me up!! :) I might just have to call you Eleener from now on! :)

Unknown said...

Yeah, some people cannot pronounce "Jennifer" so they called me "Pickle".

Torman said...

Um...Ok so this post is funny because I avoid saying your name in conversations with your family because of this reason and I have even told Emily "I do not know how to say your sisters name." Well now I should know how to say it. I don't think your mom corrects people so I can see why she is glad you made this post. It is a good name!

Jennifer P. said...

What?! Your name's not Pimento?!

Anonymous said...

WAIT!!! Is it El-ee-na or El-A-nah? Crap. I think I've been saying it wrong the last two years.

Dawnyel said...

OH MY GOSH!! I've been saying it wrong!! Shoot me now!! :P

Anonymous said...

Miki- I don't even remeber that.

Lee- uh, Leroy, wait Lee Ann....are you male or female? :)

Mom- You're welcome and thank you.

Deidra- I know, there are some versions of my name that I really hate, others, I just go with the flow.

Angela- If you do, I'll call you Angie. :) J/k

Fur- Do you like them yet?

Kacey- Hilarious!

Jennifer- I was waiting for pimento.

Stevie- It's eeeee in the middle sound. :)

Dawnyel- Like I said, no big deal, but now you know. (And you'll probably still be confused. Once you start saying it one way, it's hard to change.)

Mama Williams said...

LENES- Greeting from Walt Disney World and Happy Mother's Day. I finally got a post up. We're having a great time and I don't even want to come home yet!

Debbie said...

Because we have never met, I have called you Alaina in my head. Now that you have given me the phonetic pronunciation, I can actually call you by your real name, ya know, when I'm talking to you in the blogosphere. My name is easy, Deb, Debbie....what I don't like is when someone spells my name Debi, with a heart over the "i" or Deby, or Debbi, again with a heart over the "i" ..it's Debbie people...plain and simple ;)

Emily said...

I knew it! I have a cousin with the same name. ;)

Happy mom's day.

Natalie and Quin said...

I always thought your name was Smelly Elly!!! hahahaha

People always spell my name with 2 N's. It only has 1 - Quin. Also a lot of times when talking to people for the first time they start calling me Clint for some reason.

becky ward said...

hey. i was looking at your profile and saw some other blogs listed at the bottom. what are those? confessions of a messy housewife and good mail or something like that? are they secrets? (;

Elise said...

Ha! I TOTALLY need to do this post. People mess up my name all the time. I love "Eleener", by the way-- so funny!

Jewelle said...

So I've been saying your name wrong. Sorry! Good thing we hardly ever get to talk at church huh? You asked if anyone else had problems with their name. I have to confess....noone get's my name right. Wait, my family does, but nooone else. I mean how exactly do you say Jewelle? How do you explain it? How do you explain that it isn't Jewel? I could go on, but I don't want to bore you!
~Jewelle

Anonymous said...

Jewelle- Wait, so it IS pronounced like Julie right?

Jewelle said...

Basically yes. Let me explain. You say Jew...El..Lee. When you say it fast it comes out Julie (Jew...Lee). But if you look close to how I sounded it out above, it has as an extra syllable. I honestly don't care, as long as I get called one or the other. Now Jewel on the other hand starts to bug me after I have corrected the same person about 50 times. Ah the joys of differently spelled names!
~Jewelle