Wanting to make my child’s name to be pronounced the way I intend without being a Karen

[nibbana]

@iprefertoremainanonymous

Quite Frankly I would still pronounce it like the state

Literally nowhere did I call her stupid, that's complete misrepresentation.

In America there are enough people spelling normal names in dumb ways that the average person isn't going to stop and think "hmm, maybe it's from another country?" No one is going to google her name to make sure it's not a tragedeigh. And if it somehow makes it way back, there's a chance it'll be posted in r/tragedeigh because people are dumb and no one googles anything on there. Lots of normal names from other countries end up on r/tragedeigh.

I want to close by saying that I never said it was an awful name or that OP shouldn't name her daughter that, idk where you're pulling this "you're ignorant and calling her dumb" thing from. Your ass maybe?

All I did was state what would happen if OP named her daughter this, especially since she said she does not live in a largely spanish-speaking area. The rest is up to OP.

 

[iprefertoremainanonymous]

@nibbana I'm sorry, people who immediately jump to "must be an ignorant tragedeigh name" rather than "I've never heard of that name, I wonder where it's from" ARE racist and/or classist. That's a great litmus test, actually! That's what I'm pointing out. The fact that your first thought (and yes, others in the US too) is that the person must be ignorant means that you are discriminatory! And you just keep doubling down on it!

 

[nibbana]

@iprefertoremainanonymous Did you just say I'm racist and classist.... against a european name?

Karolína is a Czech, and Icelandic name that is a form of Karolina and Carolina and a diminutive form of Karola and Carola. Karolīna is a Latvian name.

The name is also a variant of the German "Karola" which means "free woman."

It's jumping to conclusions to say I would automatically assume the worst of every foreign name when I see one that is familiar, but looks like it's spelled incorrectly because I don't know it's foreign.

AND I never said she was ignorant! Stop put words in my mouth.

Not even the people who create tragedeighs are ignorant. To be ignorant is not knowing any better, but they know they aren't spelling the name correctly.

You seem to have gotten it in your head that I'm calling her stupid for "purposely misspelling a name". I never said nor implied that.

I'm on the internet so I know it's not misspelled, but in real life I would have no way of knowing that.

You can't call a chunk of the population racist for not being able to differentiate an european name from a name they're already familiar with.

 

[prachi]

@berniceann Caroleena

 

[berniceann]

@prachi Or maybe Caroleeena

 

[iprefertoremainanonymous]

@berniceann Where have we gotten that politely correcting someone is being a Karen? Or do you refuse to be polite about it for some reason? I don't think I'm getting the problem here.

This is how to do it: "Oh, her name is actually pronounced Carolina".

Don't shriek. Don't immediately say "oh, you're racist and refuse to say my kid's name right??" Don't say "can't you read? It's Carolina, she's not a fucking state, you idiot". Don't hit them. Don't leave without speaking to them. I feel all these things are pretty obvious, but you seem worried, so maybe not.

If the person refuses to say your daughter's name correctly after being told and a couple reminders, then THEY are the Karen, not you. An appropriate response is "You keep pronouncing it like the state, that's not correct. I've told you a couple of times the right way to say it, and it seems you are ignoring me. I will not be responding to any more questions about my daughter if you do not use her proper name. As a reminder, it's Carolina."

Another refusal? You leave. They are being racist at that point.

 

[cato95]

@berniceann Spell it Carolina, and correct as necessary. I have a daughter with a name that ends in an a, but there is a similar more common name that ends in ow. I always have to say, “oh, actually it’s __a not __ow.” And people are always great about it. The people you know, will know. New friends/strangers you correct and move on.

 

[cato95]

@berniceann Spell it Carolina, and correct as necessary. I have a daughter with a name that ends in an a, but there is a similar more common name that ends in ow. I always have to say, “oh, actually it’s __a not __ow.” And people are always great about it. The people you know, will know. New friends/strangers you correct and move on.

 

[leongleong94]

@berniceann If it makes u feel better at all when I initially read Carolina I pronounced it the way u intend to. Not like the state.

 

[smurfyscott]

@berniceann I would use a K. My first instinct would be to say it the way you want it to be pronounced.

 

[jariel]

@berniceann What about Carina or Karina? It's similar to Carolina, but I don't think there's a way to get that one wrong

 

[tatorgirl]

@berniceann I’d never pronounce Carolina the name the same as the state, but I’m Mexican and come from a place with a huge Mexican population. Maybe in other places they’d say it like the state but that would sound weird to me. I wouldn’t change to Carolena, people will just say Caro-leh-nah.