What’s in a Name: Why You Should Learn How to Pronounce Your Students’ Names

In the last three weeks, I have had three different experiences of people reacting to my name. Maybe I am biased but I don’t think I have a difficult name to pronounce — you say it exactly as it is spelled. But throughout my life I have had so many people mangle my name in both how they say it and how they spell it that I have come to almost expect it when I meet someone for the first time. Allow me to briefly recount the three recent events of how people* reacted to my name before I talk about why it matters how we pronounce (and spell!) people’s names, especially as teachers in the classroom.

Incident 1: Apologetic Stumbling

Mike and I had interacted entirely online through mostly emails and a few video conferences. The first time we spoke to each other through a Zoom call, I politely corrected his pronunciation of my name. But every time we met after that, he continued to mumble his way through my name, clearly aware that he was not saying it right, despite my efforts to correct him. We met in person for the first time just recently. He was introducing me at an event, and just before the event started, he came up to me and said: “I am really sorry, but I can’t seem to get your name right. I know you always correct me, and I have even tried to practise it, but I can’t seem to get my tongue to say it right. I am going to try my best when I am up there but please don’t be offended if I stumble.” When the time for him to introduce me came, sure enough, he stumbled, apologised, and left it to me to correct it.

Incident 2: Arrogant Misappropriation

Rosalie and I met at a professional networking event where we all wore name tags. We came face to face, greeted each other, and the next thing she said was: “That name is going to be too hard for me to pronounce. Let’s give you a nice name that everyone can pronounce. How about Nelly?” I responded by saying that if we were giving each other names based on our own cultures, I’d like to give her the name Rannamaari. We didn’t speak for long.

Incident 3: Careful Calibration

I met Julia at a local community gathering. When I introduced myself, she paused for a second, and I braced myself for how she would say my name. “Give me a second,” she said. “I want to get this right.” I was not expecting her to take her phone out of her bag and open her notes app and ask me to spell my name for her. She carefully wrote my name, then tried saying it, checking with me to see if she had got it right. We went on to have a lovely conversation, and throughout our interaction she kept on using my name (correctly every time), introducing me to others, and ensuring that they got my name right, too. I was genuinely touched that someone was making such an effort with something as simple as a name.

Each of the three incidents recounted above are examples of how different people approach unfamiliar names, though there are certainly other approaches, as well. You may find that people fumbled their way through a name, taking responsibility for their mispronunciation and acknowledging that the fault is theirs, or they may take the easy way out and make no effort to even say the name correctly, sometimes assigning another name that they find easy to say (in my case, essentially whitewashing my identity). I find that few people fall into the third category, where they go out of their way to try and say/spell a name correctly.

It Is Just a Name: Why Does It Matter so Much?

One of the most important ways we can begin to establish equity and inclusion in the classroom is by honouring students’ identities. A person’s name is part of their identity and the failure to pronounce a name correctly minimises the individual and signals to them that they are not important. This can adversely impact their social-emotional well-being and indirectly affect their learning. When a teacher or person in authority either deliberately or unconsciously disregards, consistently mispronounces, or changes the name of a student, it is considered to be a microaggression or a form of subtle racism. In doing so, they are essentially conveying these messages: You are different. You are not one of us. You are weird. You are not normal. You are not important enough for me to get your name right.

When comedian Hasan Minhaj corrected Ellen DeGeneres when she mispronounced his name, he made an important point: When the person is considered important enough, people go out of their way to get the pronunciation right. It is only when they regard the person as being less important that they avoid making the effort. In a powerful talk in the TED Archives, Erikan Obotetukudo describes how our names represent our identity and heritage and guide us to who we are as individuals.

In the Classroom

Review Name Lists Before Class

Whether it is the first day of the academic year or the first time you teach a new class, take a few minutes to go over the class roster and ensure you know how to pronounce the names on the list. If you are unsure, you could always seek help online as many websites provide audio pronunciations of names from different cultures (try, e.g., NameShouts or PronounceWiki).

Ask Students for Their Preference

Many international students in my classes have an Anglicised name that they have used since they started learning English. Often, they will give this name by default because they feel that this is what teachers want to hear and use. So, Chikayoshi might introduce himself as Charles and Mingyu might say her name is Molly. Take the time to find out from each individual student what they prefer to be called. Don’t automatically assume what their preference might be. Respect their choice and use that name correctly and consistently.

Practise

If there are names that you find difficult, practise saying them before class. Don’t mumble your way through it or avoid using the name. Check with the student until you get it right. Even if they don’t thank you for it aloud, they will be thankful.

Use Multiple Strategies

Use whatever strategies work for you to help you learn and use your students’ names correctly. Here are a few things to try:

• • Write out the name phonetically to help you remember.
  • Ask students to gently correct you if you don’t get it right.
  • Ask students to share their name story.
  • Use name badges until you learn them all.

Concluding Comments

I will be the first to admit that I find pronouncing some names really hard. And I get them wrong. I called someone Junwei for a long time, thinking that I was honouring their cultural heritage before I learned that he preferred to be called Sam and hated his Chinese given name. We learn through trial and error and by applying different strategies to try and get it right. Whatever strategy may work for you, please ensure that you do make the effort. Because when you get those names right, your students will feel valued. 

* All names used here are pseudonyms