My uncomfortable situation with the person who calls me the wrong name and an interesting post at Accidental Remediation got me thinking more about how our names impact our professional lives.
Short Geologist wrote about how using nicknames (or not) can be a way for some people to show power over others. Since I have a name that can't really be shortened or lengthened in any way, I've never really thought about how nicknames can be used in this way. It has occurred to me that shortening someone's name could be condescending. I never considered, however, that using a long version could be equally disrespectful like it was for Short Geologist. I always try to call people by the names they prefer, but that's more because I don't want to irritate people by using wrong nickname.
I am aware that having especially ethnic sounding names can be a detriment for landing jobs or renting apartments. I imagine that super girly names can serve as similar baggage in professional settings. In fact I have an acquaintance who has described such situations at her work where applicants with funny names have lower odds of getting positions where they have to deal with the public. I think FSP has blogged about this topic as well, but I'm too lazy to scour her archives for the post.
My name is common, but not too common. Even better, it appears in some form or another in many non-Eastern languages so it's manageable for many non-English speakers. I've never really liked how my name sounds, but I now appreciate its practical benefits.
10 comments:
My name is very short and doesn't shorten or extend well at all. It's not very common either so people would mixed it up with similar more common names. It bugged me as a kid but now I'm so used to it I'm past caring
I get the 'lengthening as patronising gesture' problem - Janie just doesn't sound as much like an adult scientist as Jane, right? Shortening the name back is not that effective in that case either, it doesn't seem to get the point across at all (in fact I think the guy thought I was flirting - ew ew ew - not only is he quite a lot older than me and a smoker but he's on his second or third marriage and fourth child... ew...)
I've never really thought about having my name shortened or lengthened. As it really doesn't apply to either. However, I do know that my male friends who grew up with childish nicknames (Tommy, Bobby, etc.) do not like to be called them now that they're adults.
I have a short, strange first name. And a long ,strange last name. But I am from Sweden, having those silly swedeish letters in them. I don't care anymore - although it is a bit silly at times when people assume I am male, since apparently my name, once changed into English, is a male name in South US and India ^^
The biggest thing I know of is that people can refrain from talking to you because they are scared of mispronouncing your name. I think I might have caused the situation of not even trying with my name since I say "it can be pronounced however, just don't hesitate to call me".
My parents deliberately gave me a name that can be shortened and that would be familiar to people in most areas of Europe (they both taught various languages and knew that we'd probably end up living abroad at some point - in fact I spent the ages of 2-4 in Germany). However now that I shorten Catherine to Cath, they don't like it! They are just about the only people who still call me Catherine, even though everyone else has called me Cath since I was 14!
Somehow my sister ended up with a one syllable, non-shortenable name though - Claire. It is still very portable within Europe, although when she lived in Germany (as a kid) and Italy (as an adult, she also lived in France for a while), everyone called her Clara. Similarly I am Caterina in Germany!
When I spent some time with Arab speakers in Israel, I was either Cat, Kit, Keith or Quiche.
My name gets about as much variation as yours (or, none!), but it is indicative of being foreign. I think the U.S. is one of the few places where that is more likely to be a good thing.
I love the Swedish pronounciation of my name - Yaa-ner - it sounds mysterious and glamorous!
I have had people call me Jennifer before since they assume Jennie is short for Jennifer. Well, it's not. My mom choose to call me Jennie. I corrected people when I was younger but the mistake doesn't come up much anymore.
I just had another thought. This conversation seems vaguely similar to the ones about last names. As people assume that a women has taken a spouses last name, ect. (I'm sure we all remember these discussions). It has lead me to conclude that one should never make assumptions about another persons name-first or last.
My given name is long and I've always gone by the childish nickname version. It too can be shortened and most women my age use the long or very short versions. Similar to Kathyrn, Katie, and Kate. I think using the 'Katie' version sets me apart but also that it sometimes sounds unprofessional.
My advisor refused to call me by my preferred name until he realized that I don't respond to any other version out of habit.
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