Junior Eagle Mahkimetas, senior Kasayna Alverez and freshman ChyloCree Belisle are constantly getting their names mispronounced in and outside of school. When people come across these student names, they often see a stumbling block bound to trip up their tongues.

“A time when my name was pronounced wrong was at my job. My boss kept pronouncing my name wrong, and it was kind of embarrassing,” said Alveraz.

For some students, there are reasons and stories behind their names that stuck out to their family leaving them with their unique name.

“The story behind my name is my auntie had a miscarriage. She was going to name that baby ChyloCree, and I was originally gonna be named something different; however, since her baby passed away, I was named ChyloCree instead,” said Belisle.

A mispronounced name is often the first of many slights these students experience, and some people get offended by their name being said wrong; however, this is different for Alvarez.

“Usually my reaction is I get too shy to say something, so my face gets beat red, and I won’t correct them. I just let them call me whatever they end up calling me,” said Alverez.

Also, some people even consider it laughable by how their name is pronounced and will correct the mispronunciation.

“I usually correct them and usually laugh it off because it’s funny the way that they pronounce it,” said Mahkimetas.

Others even go as far as helping them pronounce it because their name has been mispronounced for so long.

“How I react to people saying my name wrong is kinda the same every time because I’m used to it so I don’t really have a reaction but to just help them say it right,” said Belisle.

Students deal with their own reactions when it comes to their name being said wrong. They sometimes make it a game to see if they can get it right.

“Usually say it right away, but sometimes I will let it play out and just have them guess they’ll keep trying to guess my last name,” said Mahkimetas.

Effort is the biggest obstacle to learning how to correctly pronounce a person’s name plus the need of some students needing to break it down to help others.

“I pronounce it for them, and then I tell them there’s the word “say” in it so it’s easier to pronounce,” said Kasanya.

Some of these students give out tips to help other students who are struggling with saying their names.

“Tips for helping people say my name correctly is usually just having them spell it out how it sounds. Since my nickname is more popular than my full name I would just have them spell it out like “Shilo”,” said Belisle.

Lastly, the advice to others who struggle with the same problem of getting their names pronounced wrong.

“Don’t take it the wrong way and just laugh it off or I don’t know, make it into some sort of game I guess,” said Mahkimetas.