Oh boy, this post about "Taking on an English name" hits the spot. Having been given a slightly non-standard name by my parents, I've had my name mangled quite a number of ways. But I understand why it gets mangled. It's different, it's unusual! I geddit. And a lot of people are *not* used to reading phonetically, unaware of other names because they don't friggin read enough or know about the world, or just plain can't spell even if the letters are in front of them.
But here's the thing: instead of giving up, and getting a new name, why not try TEACHING people how to say your name? Educate them, and teach them to make new sounds with phonemes. Teach them how to make sounds they never thought could be done with letter combinations!
In the end, for me, it's all about respect. Respecting other people's cultures to learn their name. Pay attention to how they say it, because "correct" is always defined by the owner of the name. (even those normal-but-misspelt names like Jazzmyn)
To some it might be trivial, but to me if you can't be arsed getting someone's name right, what more when it comes to other things that actually require a bit more effort?
Your name matters. The more you teach people, the easier it becomes both for that person and other people who have "strange" names. Do it. Do it for little Zbignew and Raghavendra.
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