DF's DD (18 yo) has a two-word first name that is a classic name and a color (think "Sarah Teal"). This has clearly been a lifelong issue. She gets upset when teachers do roll call and only use "Sarah." DF has advised her for years to correct them each time, but DD is frustrated that it takes a while to sink in with the teachers. DD is about to apply for college and go out in the world. Thoughts on how to handle this?
Is it like “Ana Maria“ or “Mary Kate”? With these names, using both is very important and it would be odd (and rude) for people to ignore that. If instead they are names that don’t usually go together, like “Mary Pink”, I think the DD will need to get used to the fact that this will be an uphill battle her whole life. I have a long first name and I hate it when people call me by the common nickname (think “Liz” instead of “Elizabeth”). Its bad manners to assume that I use the nn, but I don’t always correct it because you have to pick your battles.
No. It's literally like "Sarah Teal."
Agree about picking battles. This has been an ongoing issue for DF with her DD, I think it's taken on a life of its own by now.
Precious is a good way to describe it.
Your fault for picking a weird name for her. She's going to have to deal with people not doing what she wants. Whole thing is very snowflakey.
It’s not my DD. My Dd has a very standard name with one standard spelling that is still often Misspelled. Lol.
If this is her biggest problem...
My daughter has a double first name which is hyphenated. The hyphen signifies that the two names belong together. Some people including her teachers use just the first part, without a second thought. She doesn't mind so much. As she has gotten older, she tends to go by her two initials.
What region of the country is she in? I live in the south and double names are very common here and usually respected. But it took some getting used to for me as a northerner who is only used to hearing 2 names when someone is in trouble and getting called out by their first and middle (and last name too if they did something really bad)!
This! Reminds me of a southern woman I met named Mary-Britain. Was surly if anyone dropped the Britain.
So southern-precious it makes me ill.
West Coast. I think not having a hyphen is part of the issue
She should just get used to this.
I think the only thing she can do is correct the person until it sinks in. I don't think she is rude or a snow flake to want to be called by her correct name.
I disagree
Ha no. Very boring "normal" name for both my kids.
I think names are important to people and people should be called by their rightful names. I had a friend named Mary Louise and it was no great trouble to call her that. And by the way, my dcs have very common first names.
Agree, just call the person by their name. It's a small consideration.
She should get over it. How delicate people are!
My two cents is that she should be preemptive with a teacher and correct people once. Then let it go. At freshman orientation I approached a girl with same name as me except with an accent over one letter (we both had same unusual spelling). I said "oh I've neve seen XXX spelled with an accent" She gave me an eyeroll and said that's because it's YYY. LOL we were at a small school in the same major and she was a B from start to finish. My point is friends DD needs to be careful not to alienate people right as she meets them.