Happy New Year everyone! I am starting off 2025 with a brief introduction of myself.
First, let me spell my name:
My first name is Allison. A-L-L-I-S-O-N.
Not Alison, Alyson, Allyson, Alicen, Allisson, Allson…
My last name is Iurato. I-U-R-A-T-O.
Not Lurato, Turato, Irato, Urato, Irate (thank you Spellcheck)…
Maybe to you this seems petty. It’s just minor spelling errors!
But for me, it’s meant undelivered mail, bounced emails, not getting tagged in posts, bugging coordinators to fix my name on banners/flyers/name tags, to name a few…
I’ve even had the pleasure of:
-Being “educated” about the spelling and pronunciation of my first and last names.
-Dealing with assumptions and being peppered with questions about my ethnic and national identity.
-Getting the heat from folks because I didn’t respond to their emails in a timely manner.
I’ve written about this before and made Reels on Instagram about first and last names (which are linked in the comments), and because we’re officially in a new year, why not make it a habit to doublecheck spelling and pronunciation of the names of your colleagues, associates, clients and those in your local and virtual communities? And, perhaps, free ourselves of assumptions and generalizations about names?
This also means telling others what your preferences and corrections are:
-“Please call me Allison or Alli, not Al.”
-“My last name is Iurato- I as in India, U as in Uniform, R as in Romeo…”
-“You may call me Ms. Iurato, not Miss or Mrs. But, you just call me Alli.”
-“Oh, you are curious about my last name? It’s of Sicilian origin. Have you ever visited?”
This isn’t meant to shame anyone who’s ever misspelled, mispronounced or made an assumption about them; rather, let’s make it a goal to honor someone’s name instead.
Do you find that you deal with this with your first or last name? What are other phrases you can use to help others? Let me know in the comments!
