Names are the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
– Dale Carnegie
When I was growing up, I was called by a lot of names that weren’t my own. Sometimes, my name was pronounced AUN/DRE/AH, while other times it was pronounced ANN/DRE/AH. It didn’t occur to me that this was not okay until I was 21 or so that my new boss asked me for my name pronunciation. “Oh, it doesn’t matter,” I told her. I figured she’d eventually forget and call me by something that wasn’t my own.
Then, she said something that really made me think. “Yes, it does! It’s what your parents named you. How do they say it?” From then on, I’ve been very good about remembering peoples names and pronunciation, as well as, making it clear how to pronounce mine. (BTW – here’s a video of how I pronounce it).
Names are a very important part of a person’s life. Names are not simply a label, but an identity for us. So when we begin to mispronounce peoples name, we are taking a part of their identity. As a dual teacher, I try to be conscientious of my students and find myself talking with them about their names very often. I have a very mixed group and I want to make sure that I am respecting their names and the importance that their parents put into them.
As educators, I feel that it is our duty to make sure we are making our students feel at home – and what’s more at home and familiar than their name. If we don’t make this a priority, it can be detrimental to the point that the student does not feel comfortable in the classroom. Names carry a lot of meaning and importance. They are what allowed us to begin our story and will follow us around all of our lives. Making sure we pronounce our student’s names correctly is a small, yet significant shift that will make all the difference to how your students behave and interact in your classroom.
Here is a wonderful article that even gives you ways to develop strategies for pronouncing names:
https://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2017/11/15/pronouncing-students-names-correctly-should-be-a.html
So true. Important to also know the names of all the support staff at school. I already thinks it’s imortant that we call the support staff by their last name if that’s the way we address teachers in our school. Instead of Ms Nancy, we should call her Mrs Moreno. Sorry, that I messed up your name last year. Thanks for sharing.
My last name growing up was hard to pronounce. I had one teacher that got it right the first day of school and I never forgot.
When I do my writer retreat with students we always write about our names. It is such a powerful topic that is kinda sneaky. I love this post. Do you mind if I share it with students?
Please, share away! I’d love for students to also read about why their names are so important and why they should be assertive about how others pronounce it.
Love the video to go with the post! Maybe a good beginning of the year activity would be to have kids make a similar type of video for their names. Thanks for sharing!
My name has been mispronounced my entire life, but I really didn’t mind. The biggest example was when they introduced me to 1,000 people as an 8th grader before I gave a speech, with the name Layla. Now that one left a lasting impact, as that isn’t even just a mispronunciation. That was just wrong. I always asked my students to say their name for me on the first day of school. I guess I knew in my heart that names mattered. Great post.
110% agree with you! A student has a name and it’s important, here in India so many people just call everyone brother, sister, mum in their language, not by name…in school they use a register number (there can be 70 students in a class, so it’s tough!) I teach Khasi children and their names can be Wanriehtngen or Damenbanshai or longer… Even when I learn and pronounce them, the locals still laugh as I don’t get it right, but at least I make the effort!