The one core memory that has shaped my life as a Filipino woman is when my principal pronounced my name wrong in third grade. I remember happily skipping down the dimmed halls of my school to the “Student of the Month” ceremony, excited for them to announce my name on stage. But as I was next in line to get my little paper certificate and my goodie bag, I was soon hit with a hesitant pause before my last name.
“Alexandra… San…oh dear.”
After an awfully long pause, my principal finally gave a poor pronunciation of my name and shooed me off the stage after I was hastily given my certificate and goodie bag. I quickly came to the conclusion that my name was the issue, and I became incredibly embarrassed of it.
That feeling of shame and humiliation stuck with me for years. Whenever a teacher tried to call my name for attendance, I would cut them off before they got to my last name with a loud “here.” My name was the most embarrassing part of me, and I quickly blamed my culture for giving me such an embarrassing name to bear. I hated being Filipino, all because my ethnicity gave me a “hard-to-pronounce” name.
Nowadays, I am 100 percent an advocate for standing my ground and correcting people when they mispronounce my name, but I am fully aware that there are still many kids and adults who feel the same way I did when I was in third grade and heard my name being mispronounced.
The Cultural Effects of Mispronunciation
Although a name may simply just seem like a title or label placed onto a person, to so many people, a name is a symbol for their cultural identity. Many individuals have their names from their ancestors, religion, or certain historical events, which automatically make someone’s name special and unique to them. This is why constantly mispronouncing someone’s name without trying to correct it can be considered a racial microaggression; it’s an indirect attack on someone’s culture, religion, and family. Mispronunciations may seem like a simple, innocent mistake, but it’s actually quite bigger than that.
The repeated offense of mispronouncing someone’s name can deeply impact the way they view their own self and culture. For many, it makes them feel undervalued, excluded, and unaccepted. Mispronouncing someone’s name over and over again can make them feel as if they’re out of place from everybody else, which should never be the case.
In fact, constant mispronunciations of a name can lead to the lack of self confidence in young students. They can feel disrespected and out of place with their peers, which then leads to a lasting negative impact on how they view their culture. A small, uncorrected mistake can result in kids not wanting to explore their own culture and language. Because of mispronunciations, students start seeing their names as a weight attached to their identity and who they are as a person.
Additionally, many people have ended up anglicizing their names to fit into their social and cultural surroundings. My own father has had to anglicize his name when moving to America to assimilate into his new cultural environment and to find jobs. This means that he had to make his name appear and sound more like an English name than a Filipino name. The fact that so many people, especially immigrants, had to change a critical part of their identity just to fit into a new social environment and culture is incredibly wrong and disregards who they are as a person.
What Do I Do If I Mispronounce Someone’s Name?
First off, it’s okay. We all make mistakes. But the important part of this is that you have to know what to do and say afterwards, as this makes all the difference in how you respect or disrespect someone’s name and cultural identity.
The first step is to recognize that you made a mistake, and you mispronounced the person’s name. Many people tend to forget this. It might be because they think a mispronunciation is a small enough accident to gloss over, or they might just be embarrassed they got it wrong. Either way, it’s important to stay humble and realize that you made a mistake. An easy way to do this is to simply apologize to the person. No excuses, just “I’m sorry I said your name wrong.”
The next step is to ask how to actually pronounce their name. Personally, I love telling people how to pronounce my name (It’s Sahn-Cha-Gehl!), and allowing someone to give you the proper pronunciation themselves is better for both parties. The person who told you their name now feels more comfortable and secure around you, especially now that they know you respect their name and identity, and you’ve learned how to pronounce a name without feeling embarrassed! When listening to the correct pronunciation, make sure you’re really listening. You can repeat after them and ask if you got it correct. Simple actions like this matter.
How Do I Advocate For My Own Name?
This is something I’ve struggled to learn over the years, as I have always been incredibly shy and reserved when it comes to hearing someone mispronounce my name when they first meet me. I know it’s hard at first, but don’t feel afraid to speak up. This can be done by simply letting them know they mispronounced your name and then saying it correctly for them. Giving them a phonetic pronunciation can even help make it easier to correct someone. Don’t feel ashamed or embarrassed to have to correct someone for mispronouncing your name. You should be proud of your name and culture, and nobody should ever take away that pride.