• Okay, so I am really at my wits end here. I have some lovely neighbors with a young daughter who has been calling me “Jill” for the last three years, my name is not Jill it is Jenn. I have corrected the little girl, sent the family a Christmas card with our photo and have corrected the Mom also. The Dad always gets my name right but not so much for the little girl and the Mom.
    We are having my graduation party tomorrow and DH just saw the Mom in the drive way and she asked if “Jill” was sure that she didn’t want her to make a cake. My husband said it took everything in him to not start laughing and he doesn’t have it in him to correct her because she is so nice.

    This has been an on-going joke in our house now for about a year or two, DH refers to Jill as his other wife (the one who cooks and cleans! LOL!).
    I have tried to spell it out to them and they still don’t get my name right. Should I just shrug my shoulders and send out notices of my name change to friends and family?

    BTW, many in the south confuse Jenn with Jan so that I could understand, I don’t understand where they go Jill.

    Oh, yeah I earned my Associates degree and will be graduating on Saturday, hence the reason I haven’t been online much and why I am not getting to attend the Basenji Rescue convention. Only 10 more classes until my Bachelors degree is finished!


  • Jenn, I know how you feel. Many people often call my Linda though my name is Lisa and they often see my name in my email sig block. Though I correct them, some people never get it right.

    Don't let it bother you too much. It is very hard to change if someone has learned your name wrong. I know, as a teacher, I always tell my kids to correct my mispronounciations frequently when I am learning their names or they will be stuck with it once I have it memorized.


  • I had to laugh at that story because we once had a neighbor who thought my name was "Karen". DH would pointedly call me "Pat" in her presence in hopes that she would figure it out. It went on so long that I just hated to embarrass her by correcting her. Finally the day came when the husband was transferred and they moved. As we said our goodbyes, she said "I've always wondered why your husband called you Pat instead of Karen. Is it a nickname?" Then I leveled with her and she was able to find the humor in the situation. I have a brother and sister in law who have not ever spelled my son, Steven's, name correctly.

    Pat


  • Try being JoNell.

    I am called JoAnn, Jolene, Janell, JoLynn…......

    And when I was young and single and speaking over the phone, I'd tell someone my name,which was JoNell Sims,and they would invariably say, "Jo Nelson?".

    LOL

    Congrats on that degree!!!


  • That is funny! I am totally that neighbor, though. I am a teacher, and with 75 students or more each year, I get confused from time to time 🙂 I remember my first year, I had a student named John. Well, for some reason, from the first day of school on, I had it stuck in my head that his name was Brad. I don't know where Brad came from, I didn't even have a Brad in my class, but I did it to the poor kid all year. He eventually said he was going to make me owe him candy everytime I did it 🙂 Luckily he never collected, it would have been rather expensive to buy that many candy bars…


  • Try having a name Sharron.
    I don't know where dad came up with that spelling, but its tough and yes, I do answer to Shannon!
    Laugh


  • Oh, believe it or not, my last name is HURLBUT!
    Yes, pronounced the way it is spelled.
    My huband when through the Marine corp as throw ass!
    The refused to page Lou when he was missing in the airport…
    They said I made the name up!
    So, we all get a laugh when folks try to say HurlBURT!
    They dont' want to insult us with HurlBUT!


  • My maiden name is TeWinkle, so I always got Tinkle? Twinkle? No one could ever get it right, and my students still think the name is hilarious. I think I like my new last name, Scharenbroch, better, even though its so LONG.


  • Congratulations on your graduation, Jill.., ah…Jenn! If it bothers you, maybe one quiet, woman to woman conversation with her might do it, rather than all the broad hints. If it doesn't really bother you, just laugh it off and answer to Jill, and say it is your new nickname!

    Anne in Tampa


  • @ChaseandZahrasmom:

    Okay, so I am really at my wits end here. I have some lovely neighbors with a young daughter who has been calling me “Jill” for the last three years, my name is not Jill it is Jenn. I have corrected the little girl, sent the family a Christmas card with our photo and have corrected the Mom also. The Dad always gets my name right but not so much for the little girl and the Mom.
    We are having my graduation party tomorrow and DH just saw the Mom in the drive way and she asked if “Jill” was sure that she didn’t want her to make a cake. My husband said it took everything in him to not start laughing and he doesn’t have it in him to correct her because she is so nice.

    This has been an on-going joke in our house now for about a year or two, DH refers to Jill as his other wife (the one who cooks and cleans! LOL!).
    I have tried to spell it out to them and they still don’t get my name right. Should I just shrug my shoulders and send out notices of my name change to friends and family?

    BTW, many in the south confuse Jenn with Jan so that I could understand, I don’t understand where they go Jill.

    Oh, yeah I earned my Associates degree and will be graduating on Saturday, hence the reason I haven’t been online much and why I am not getting to attend the Basenji Rescue convention. Only 10 more classes until my Bachelors degree is finished!

    I just wanted to say Congrats "Jill" on reaching your educational goals!

    Jason (hehe)


  • Congrats on getting your associates! As for the name thing, it will probably be much more embarrassing for them when they finally realize they have been saying it wrong this whole time. Maybe you should have a big banner put up outside your house that says "CONGRATULATIONS JENN!" Or, you could put a banner up that says "CONGRATULATIONS POLLY" (or whatever other name)…. hopefully they will ask you about it, and you can say "well, yeah, my name is JENN, but some people like to call me different things so it has become a joke around here....

    My name is Michelle and I'm an engineer so I work with mostly guys. When I have to email someone that I haven't yet met in person, many times they write back to me assuming I am a "Michael," instead of "Michelle". then when they meet me in person they feel like idjets... ha ha.


  • @sharronhurlbut:

    Try having a name Sharron.
    I don't know where dad came up with that spelling, but its tough and yes, I do answer to Shannon!
    Laugh

    One of my best friends has a daughter named Sarrah. She put the extra "r" in "to be different". As I am sure you know, it has been a bit of a PIA for the daugter all her life!

    This same friend dated a man named Aaron when she was just out of high school . The relationship ended badly, and so when she finally married and her husband wanted to name their son Aaron, she insisted that they spell it Erin.
    That has caused much confusion all his life – when people see his name in writing, they assume it's a girl and are always shocked when they meet him; and his name is seldom spelled correctly.

    Oh, And I have been looking at your name on here for how long? And on personal emails.... how stupid do I feel? I've been reading it as "Hurlburt" the whole time! I had to double-check after your last post. I feel such a fool!:o


  • Laugh…no problem..I seldom correct folks re the last name...
    Heavens..I am just happy they talk to me at all!
    Laugh.


  • I have a friend (yes I do have a friend) whose name is Su (without an e). We are in a couple of the same organizations and pretty active. For whatever reason - when people meet us as a unit - Su and Diana or Diana and Su. They then have decided who belongs to what name and are seldom right.

    My friend Su has been accused of taking a dog draped around her neck to a football game. My minister told her that he just bought some chili from her husband (it was mine). Someone even called and raged at her husband on the phone thinking it was me. I had someone call me to tell me what horrid things 'my' twin boys were doing in the neighborhood - her boys. It's so bady that our kids call the other Auntie. I should say other than being close to the same age (she's older of course) we don't even look alike.
    We frequently do nametags now that try to clear it up. Mine reads Diana - with a circle and a line through it for NOT. and hers Diana and Not.


  • Well my neighbor came to the party with a card addressed to "Jill" so I laughed and told her "Cynthia, I got to tell you, my name is Jenn not Jill" She was slighlty embarassed and said that she and her husband were back and forth on it for a while. Her daughter always called me that so she thought it was correct! We had a good laugh about it and she stayed till the end of the night hanging out, I really had a great time with her!

    Thank you all for the congrats, I have worked hard and need to keep working hard so that I can finish up these last ten classes for my BA in Sociology and a minor in Criminal Justice. Don't ask me what I am going to do with it because I have no clue! I am actually a Navy supply logistics person by trade but want to change my career. Social work seems to interest me but the pay is so low, I don't want to carry a gun so there goes law enforcement (plus I am too old for a lot of programs).


  • Thats great that you got your issue resolved 🙂
    Another funny name story…
    Like I said, I am a teacher, and two years ago I had a student named Phui Pheng. Pronounced Poo Ping. Well, you can imagine how that went over in middle school, the poor guy was called "pooping" all year long! And it was hard because we couldn't really correct anyone because thats really how you say it, you just put the emphaisis on the Ping, rather than the Poo. I felt horrible for him, what a thing to have to live with!


  • My real name is Elena, but sometimes I go by Ellie. I am a dental hygienist, so I am always introducing myself to people. I'll say "My name is Ellie" and the people always seem to call me "Sally". So I started going by Elena again once I started working at a new office.


  • I laughed so hard at this thread I nearly fell off my chair … what with jo nelson, throwass, pooping, and such. Consider what the reaction would be, with the tendency these days to hyphenate and elongate names, if tewinkle married phui pheng. 😃 😃 😃 😃


  • Jenn - Congrats on your accomplishment(s)!

    My name is Jill - sometimes I'm called Julie - ha ha!


  • Yes, this is a funny thread…course with a name like Hurlbut you do have to have a good sense of humor.
    Poor Poo!

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