Why You Should Learn To Pronounce Everyone’s Name

Hi, my name is _____. It’s such a common introductory phrase that office supply stores sell name tags with the phrase pre-written for you. But your name is also one of the most important things to you. Your name tells a story. Whether you hold a management position or not, you should learn to pronounce every person’s name with fluency and authenticity.

Every person’s name has a story. When you learn the story of someone’s name, you learn their history, their culture, their essence of being — or perhaps not that deep but it does enable an opportunity to cross that bridge. Names are fun and interesting things that should never be changed or altered to accommodate others.

If you have a difficult name to pronounce, you shouldn’t feel the need to accommodate others for the name you were given. Your name is something you never had a say in choosing. Just like your ethnicity, height, and sexual orientation. And if the people you are communicating with care about you, they will do what it takes to learn how to pronounce your name.

After all, learning the correct pronunciation of someone’s name shows that you care about them. You are a person. Not a number, statistic, or generic employee. You are that person’s friend. When you learn to pronounce a difficult name it means I CARE ABOUT YOU. Your friendship/relationship is worth me putting in some extra effort to make sure I am addressing you correctly.

It also shows that you are cultured. No one wants to be the bigot in the office who can’t pronounce “Nguyen”. You don’t need a deep understanding of every culture in the world (it would be impossible to) but knowing basics about Latin/Asian/or African cultures helps you empathize with others. And it’s always fun learning about a new culture.

If you meet someone with a name that you are not familiar with, don’t make fun of their name. Don’t change their name and give them an easy westernized nickname without their consent. I.e. “I’m gonna call you Ed cause it’s easier for me.” And don’t call their name “exotic”. Just because it’s something you are unfamiliar with, does not give you the right to exoticize them.

If you do any of those things, you’ll just end up sounding like a jerk. But you’re not a jerk — which is why you made it all the way to the end of this.