my last name is...
not hard to pronounce (or spell).
though i've never revealed my last name out here, you'll just have to trust me on the above.
i never understood why so many people stumble over it. especially telemarketers. and sometimes i receive junk mail where it's completely mutilated and spelled completely wrong. it makes me cringe to see my name so totally misspelled and mispronounced.
when necessary, i always explain that it's pronounced phoenetically. one would think that's pretty straightforward, especially considering that my name's spelling is quite simple. but sometimes people see me in person, and instead of pronouncing my last name exactly the way it's spelled, they start trying to pronounce it all funny. i think it might be because my ethnic heritage becomes evident when they see me, and then they assume that my name has to have some sort of exotic pronounciation. these are the same types of people who stumble over any name that isn't an anglo-derived name, like "smith" or something. this has been happening since i was little and in elementary school. i suppose it will continue happening to me until i'm old (unless i take my husband's last name when i marry--but that's a different story altogether and i have stuff to say on that, too. just not today).
i don't know. personally i think that most names in (my ethnic heritage) are easier to pronounce than a lot of, say, east european names. at least i'm comforted by the fact that my name was pronounced correctly when i graduated. in fact all three times they got it right: when i got my high school diploma, my bachelors degree (college) and my masters degree (grad school). i had been afraid on all three occasions that i'd be called up to get my degree and not recognize the name being read over the loudspeakers as mine. but no fear. it worked out fine. happy ending.
