When my wife first moved from Tokyo to the United States, she spent her first week in America with me in Las Vegas. Trust me, that is not my preferred way to introduce someone to the states – there was a work conference I couldn’t worm my way out of. I’d almost have preferred taking her to New Jersey – or, as we like to call it, “the Gunma of America”.
Ahem. But I digress.
One day, I met my wife and our friend Emi at Starbucks for coffee. I found the two of them looking at their Starbucks cups and laughing out loud: apparently, the Starbucks employees had misheard the name “Emi”, and had inscribed it on the drink as “Judy”.
This, as I was to discover over the next couple of years, was not uncommon. In my wife’s case, her first trip to an American Starbucks ended with her name being spelled “Iya”, which was, at least phonetically correct. I’ve also seen her name come across as “Aye”, “Ai”, “Hya”, and “Iyai” (yeah, we don’t get it either). Another friend, Chiaki, once got her drink served up as “Jackie”. She saw the cup, rolled her eyes, and said, “It happens every time. I’ve stopped caring.” Another Instagram acquaintance, Mariko, has had her name changed to “Miracle”. (Which, hey, could be taken as a compliment.)
Curious about how widespread this phenomenon is, I asked my followers on my Japanese Instagram account if they’ve ever experienced the mangling of their names. I received a number of replies from both people who travel abroad as well as Japanese people living in the states who indicated that it happens to them almost every. Damn. Time.
“なつみ”を”なつに”と聞き間違えられてしまったことがあります。友達は”みゆき”ですが、諦めて”みみ”と言うようにしてました！
I’ve had “Natsumi” misheard as “Natsuni”. My friend’s “Miyuki”, but she’s given up and just goes by “Mimi” now!
も〜〜諦めてます。ヒロミはHeromi, Hetomo,Holomo…綴りを口頭で言って呼ばれてもヘロモ、ハイロメ、ヘイロー…です。たまに、娘のAnnaでお願いします😩
I’ve given uuuuup. “Hiromi” has become Heromi, Hetomo, Holomo…Even when I spell my name out, it gets called as “Helomo”, “Hairomi”, “Heilou”…Occasionally, I use my daughter’s name “Anna” 😩
知人の名前に沢山あります。ちずこさんはCheeseco、やよいさんはYeayoeでした😅 ついでにスペルを教えたじゅんこJUNKOさんはジャンコ、ふみFUMIさんはフューマイ(焼売みたい😂)と呼ばれました。 It happens with my friends’ names all the time. “Chizuko” becomes “Cheeseco”, “Yayoi” is “Yeayoe” 😅 Junko, who spelled her name out, was called “Janko”, and “Fumi” became “Fuumai” (like a shuumai!).
私はYokoで簡単なのにスタバで名前聞かれてスペル言ったのに「loco」になっていて悪意を感じました。😤
I’m Yoko, which is easy, and even though I spell it after people hear it, I’ve had it become “Loco”, which felt malicious 😤
「まいこ」なので「Michael (マイコー)」と間違わられます。「まい」にしても「Mike (マイク)」と間違える😅お友達は「みほ」なので「Me whole 」に聞こえるらしいです😱
I’m Maiko, and I’ve been mistaken for “Michael”. “Mai” gets taken for “Mike” 😅 My friend is “Miho”, but it seems it gets heard as “Me whole” 😱
ホームステイ先にて最近発音がわからなかった様でhidekoがハイディーカの様に呼ばれていました。以外と嫌じゃなかったのでそのまま呼んでもらっていました。
At my home stay house it seems they didn’t understand my pronunciation, so “Hideko” is now called “Heideka”. That’s surprisingly not bad, so that’s what I let people call me now.
I’m sure people from other countries (not to mention people with “non-white”-sounding names) can relate similar experiences in America. And I don’t fault poor coffee shop employees. They’re already doing a stressful, fast-paced job, and having to grapple with names from a culture whose language, outside of loan words, shares few common touch points with English is no mean feat.
A word to the wise: If your name isn’t “Michael” or “Judy”, just consider adopting a Starbucks nickname. Or, just “borrow” your kids’ name; that seemed to do the trick for several respondents!
