As some of you know, my name is Naomi.
My father chose it as it was one of his favorite names.
The meaning of my name is pleasant.
Pleasant?
Only one notch above nice.
I am not sure if it is the two consecutive vowels but my name seems to confuse so many people.
There are so many variations of pronunciations of my name that I don't even bother giving suggestions.
nah-o- my.
nay oy mee.
nae - oh - my.
no - a - me.
no - ee - me.
You get the drift.
It is a slight nuisance.
So much so that the few times that I do go to a coffee chain that asks for your name I lie and say, "Anna."
Anna is a universal name that even people from most countries can pronounce.
But there are some instances where you have to give your real name like the dentist's office etc.
And countless conversations usually go like this.
---
Your name please?
Naomi.
What? Noomi?
Yes, Naomi.
(After years of this I just respond yes to save time.)
How do you spell that?
N-A-O-M-I. Naomi.
Hang on? So it's Naiooomi...
Yes. Naomi.
Sorry - you have a lot of vowels in your name Neeomee.
Yes, Naomi does have a lot of vowels.
Oh wait, like Naomi Campbell? Naomi!
Yes, like I said, Naomi...
---
I don't mind my name anymore and thankfully I wasn't allowed to change it as I had insisted in my early teens.
Otherwise I would have chosen a name that unwittingly sounded
like a porn star or a dumb hooker.
Could you imagine?
My name would have been Melody Chanel Rainbow Guevara.
Good thing my father didn't let me change my name!
It is a slight nuisance.
So much so that the few times that I do go to a coffee chain that asks for your name I lie and say, "Anna."
Anna is a universal name that even people from most countries can pronounce.
But there are some instances where you have to give your real name like the dentist's office etc.
And countless conversations usually go like this.
---
Your name please?
Naomi.
What? Noomi?
Yes, Naomi.
(After years of this I just respond yes to save time.)
How do you spell that?
N-A-O-M-I. Naomi.
Hang on? So it's Naiooomi...
Yes. Naomi.
Sorry - you have a lot of vowels in your name Neeomee.
Yes, Naomi does have a lot of vowels.
| Via |
Yes, like I said, Naomi...
---
I don't mind my name anymore and thankfully I wasn't allowed to change it as I had insisted in my early teens.
Otherwise I would have chosen a name that unwittingly sounded
like a porn star or a dumb hooker.
Could you imagine?
My name would have been Melody Chanel Rainbow Guevara.
Good thing my father didn't let me change my name!
That is hysterical. I am always amazed by people who can't spell M.E.G.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it crazy how people can't get a grasp of names? I bet you say - like nutmeg right?
DeleteAlthough most people can say my name...Teresa...they sure can butcher the hell out of the spelling. If I had been a boy I would have been Christopher. If my mother would have named me, I am the second so it was my dad's turn, I would have been Heidi...I was born in Germany. I always wanted something you could shorten into a boys name. Samantha/Sam, Alexandria/Alex, etc
ReplyDeleteSpelling your name would be a minefield!! Yes I like the idea of shortening as well and funny enough Alex is one of my favorite names and I also like its diminuitive Sasha. So nice. Mine gets shortened to Homie...
DeleteNaomi's a lovely name. Most people repeat my name as they're not sure. Some say Dwana.. or Donna. No it's Dawn - with an a - Dawna. Born at dawn to a creative mum. I don't mind Dawn, D or Dawny if someone's being sweet about it
ReplyDeleteI like Dawna and its meaning is nicer than Donna which just means woman. But i can see how people would get stumped initially!
DeleteNaomi is such a sweet name. I think it's fun when names get mispronounced. I used to love it when the substitute teachers in school just slaughtered names!
ReplyDeleteThanks Connie - Yes I remember those substitute teachers as well - it was hysterical especially as I went to an int'l school when I was younger!
Delete:-) I knew a girl named "Bubbles" when I was at the University of London. She used to insist this was a name of distinction, with connotations suggestions that she was a member of the master class.
ReplyDeleteThat would also have made my shortlist in my teens and that was before AbFab!
DeleteHilarious! Your name is not that uncommon, that is so bizarre that people can't say/spell it?! I've never been that fond of Heidi. There's all the Goat/ Switzerland jokes (from adults no less), plus people constantly mishear me and call me Kylie or Holly or something else entirely.
ReplyDeleteMy name of choice aged four was Cindy. Because I loved the Brady Bunch. Thankfully no one took me seriously. In actual fact, most of my family members go by their middle names - my sister, my dad, my uncle, both of my grandfathers and grandmothers... none of them liked their first names! xx
Growing up there weren't many Naomi's around...There have been a few more Naomi's but Campbell is the benchmark though. It's always the co-reference. It's really weird how people get most words of a sentences and then blank out at names - still don't get it! I would go by my middle name but I didn't get one! xx
DeleteAnd Naomi Watt! Have heard on interview Nicole Kidman call her Nay. Cheers, Pamela
DeleteLove this! Wendy is a made-up name, so meaning is only " name j.m. Barrie thought was good".....
ReplyDeleteI think Wendy really suits you!
DeleteFew Americans seem to know how to spell, period. Your name is beautiful, perfectly phonetic (the way it is pronounced here) and one of my favorites!
ReplyDeleteAw thanks Leslie! But yes spelling isn't people's strong suit anymore especially with predictive text!
DeleteI love the name Naomi - how bizarre that people find it so tricky - I find some names tricky, but usually ones that are culturally remote to me - for example some Chinese and Vietnamese names are hard to remember, and I'm sure I pronounce them badly.
ReplyDeleteI used to hate my name, and wanted to be called Emma or Charlotte. Now I really don't mind, although I think Ruth does sound a bit old lady....
Well Ruth is the book from where my Dad got my name! I must say Ruth might be a tongue twister fro Koreans and Japanese - r's and the th is hard so it is all fair :) But Ruth doesn't sound old lady at all!
Deletei do get it, my name is debbie, think dumb, a downer, old, or porn star, take your pick. i go by debra as an adult and have hated my name from the beginning
ReplyDeletebut we don't get to pick, and like you said, probably just as well!
DEBRA
The thing is I knew a few Debbie's and they tend to be cute and quite opposite the whole persona that the one from Dallas has. I think Debra has a good balance of vowels and consonants myself :)
DeleteIt shows how important it is to select babies' names with great care. They're going to be saddled with them for life. In OZ there are lots of invented names or silly variations of normal names with peculiar spellings. People think they're being original I guess. When our son and DIL were naming their girls we warned them to be careful - son replied, "don't worry we won't choose any bogan names". Much prefer traditional names. When our first grand-daughter was born, friends asked us what she was called. Before we had a chance to reply they asked "or are you too embarrassed to say?" They confessed their first grandchild, a boy, was called "Casper Maximus"! Poor kid. I guess he could later call himself Max. Also care needed for girls because many will take their husband's surname when married. One of my friends had a cousin whose mother gave them all unusual names. Some were fine. But hers was Fonda. Then she married a man called John Hiscock. She kept her maiden name! Cheers, Pamela
ReplyDeleteWell one of Mr CSW's has named his son Septimus and another of his friends has Casper!
DeleteBut I know what you mean about choosing names carefully. But I don't understand the whole Kath and Kim thing of naming kids "chardonnay". The worst is when people insist on a ridiculous spelling but then get offended when you spell it wrong. Like Emma spelled - Ehmmaah. It drives me up the bend. Too funny re keeping maiden name I would have done the same! xx
I once worked with someone who was called Octavia because she was the eighth child. Maybe her parents had run out of names by then - her brothers and sisters had fairly normal but slightly unusual traditional names, nice ones and rather distinguished. They were a famously eccentric diplomatic family, quite intellectual. So can understand if Septimus is the seventh. But still. Maybe in the UK easier to get away with. In Oz when I was a kid there was a cartoon called Casper the Friendly Ghost - so my generation always thinks of him when we hear that name (he was cutesy, but still) - and generally laugh.
DeleteImportant when giving a way-out first name to have a more traditional middle name to fall back on as an option and also to think of the poor kid at school and in his/her first job, eg Clive James' first name is actually Vivian I believe. He used to keep that a dark secret, probably still does. We had the same best man at our weddings in Cambridge and he said he nearly fell over in hysterics when the clergyman officiating called him Vivian, ie "Do you Vivien Clive?"
Naomi is a good traditional biblical name to be proud of, but can understand your irritation about pronunciation - have heard variants. Television Americans often seem to pronounce Naomi Cambell's name as Nye-ohmee and not Nay-ohmee. And also trouble with spelling, but then I don't think Gen Y learned Spelling at school because it's not just names they have problems with.
Yes agree para 2 - and Ehmmaahs are always going to endure torture trying to get their name spelled as on their birth certificates. There are also now so many Tiffanys and Madisons, Siennas (never seem to be Siena) and Chanels and different variations of Mickayla and Tayla and other names of that ilk. When my sister-in-law years ago asked me if I liked the name Bree for a girl, I asked her why she would name her child after a cheese. I think I said she could also be called Cam after camembert. SIS was shocked just enough to choose a traditional name. Thank goodness. My grand-daughters both have beautiful traditional names.
I'm probably just an old girl being curmudgeonly about saddling children with bogan or really weird names. We all need a sense of humour but we shouldn't visit it in this way on our children. Think also of movie and sports VIP children like Romeo, Apple, Satchel, Dweezil Moon Unit, Chastity, Tiger Lily etc. Insane, really insane! Cheers, Pamela
I am a fan of Clive but didn't know about Vivien!
DeleteAustralia does tend to have its own culture but Casper is quite posh so in a way you could get teased for it here as well if you went to certain schools. Septimus was born on the 7th at 7:07 so that was the reason but his father is quite the eccentric so the son will have a lot to live up to...
I think Bree was recently made popular because of the character in Desperate Housewives although I am much more of a Emmental girl. But names are important because when most people are called names one gets offended. But the one name I find like there is a stumbling block is Jesus which is quite popular in Spain and luckily they pronounce it Hesus instead of the J but I notice people in the States kind of freak out when they have to ask for Jesus at the deli counter or at Starbucks - always very amusing. I say if you are going to give them a funky name then it should be a middle name! x
I have an officemate who gets mad that people can't pronounce her name properly. Insists her name is Chanel after the Parisian designer but the spelling of her name is is Channel (like the English Channel).
DeleteSorry but her getting mad only makes me laugh more! I am terrible...
DeleteSome parents ought to be drowned at birth! Channel! No wonder no-one pronounces it the way she wants!
DeleteDon't remember any Caspers when we lived in the UK, and met up with some fairly posh people. The ones I've heard of all seem to post-date Claudia Schiffer naming her son Casper.
At one point when we lived in Cambridge I taught English (EFL) at one of the language schools. Had a couple of students from Mexico called Jesus. But they pronounced it Hay - zoose. So it didn't sound like Jesus. Also had a Spanish friend whose names were OK (sort of - Maria? - but understand it's very Spanish to do this) except that he had so many they wouldn't fit on one line of official forms. I'll vary them to protect his privacy but they were something like: Jose Francisco Juan Maria Ramon Jaime Gonzales Orpinel. When he was issued with his English driver's licence he discovered, after he'd got back to his college, that they'd typed it up with the name Mr J Orpeywell. So funny as it sounded so like a weird English name but he was so Spanish!
Husband's paternal grandmother's name was Anastasia Cecilia, very pretty. She was Polish. DIL's family came from Hungary so our first grand-daughter's name is a Hungarian variant of a traditional English name and quite lovely. Cheers, Pamela
Soo funny Pamela all those stories about names. I must say that there is something about Russian names for sure...Anastasia is just stunning and am surprised it isn't more popular. Thanks for the laugh though!
DeleteI love your name! How strange that people find it hard to pronounce. I have always been ambivalent about mine (my mother picked it out of a pamphlet of suggested names that the hospital gave her... very unromantic) and people can never spell it properly, again the problem being too many vowels. It always ends up getting mangled as "Louis", "Luise" or "Lousie".
ReplyDeleteI just laughed out loud at your story!! Hilarious - name shopping through a catalogue...But Louise is one of the names people do tend to spell at their own whim so I think now people are just being careful!
DeleteOh my gosh, Naomi I can only imagine. Why are some people so thick? I was taught as a young girl that people's names are very important and always use them when you speak with them. Some people are so lazy and do not care at all to even try to do it right. When ordering a coffee, people still say, "Ken?," to me?? Are you serious? Do I look like a Ken?
ReplyDeletexx Kim
p.s. I think Naomi is such a pretty name and all the girls I've known that were Naomis were always cool and a little different! :)
Hey Ken! Maybe it is a Freudian slip of barbie?? Honestly, it's hard to get that wrong...That is pure laziness I tell you! Well I am very uncool and very normal so I am bucking the trend! xx
DeleteNaomi is a lovely name.
ReplyDeleteMy name, Cilla, gets all manner of fun.
"Cilla as in Priscilla?"
(Cilla is the name on my birth certificate - I say as in Cilla Black and that often straightens it out)
I get Cila, Cillia, Killa, Phila (if they have high frequency hearing loss), and the old chestnut Cilly
But I have gotten to like my name, despite the mistakes it often gets.
I always try to pronounce names properly. I am good at pronouncing foreign names, it's a talent of mine.
I dont' know any other Cilla's other than you and Cilla Black.But Killa - too funny!! I think your name is a very feminine name. But yes I think it is a very good talent to have - Thai surnames always get me though!
DeleteOh your blog is my favourite! Love your name...never understand why people have issues with spelling/pronouncing what I would deem relatively easy English names. I think some people are just a little stupid! Or don't make the effort. It is a complicating factor when the same name us pronounced and spelled differently depending on the person. I knew a Tanja "tun - ya" and then a Tanya "tan - ya". School teachers have it hard these days....
ReplyDeleteYes they don't make the effort although I will admit to being called much worse names!! But yes there are cultural and personal and whimsical reasons for spelling but people musn't get sensitive when the spelling is slightly off-piste in this day and age. You are so right school teachers must have it so tough! x
DeleteOkay.. I'm Leslie .. not Les, Lezz (sbian) or the country version .. Lesley. When I was a little girl my mom would call me LeslieAnn when I was in trouble. I think you have a pretty name :) Honestly, I don't know anyone that likes their name. Do you? We could change things up;) I'll change my name to Zoe-Apple.
ReplyDeleteI am Leslie Anne too! I was named after my grandfather Leslie so the spelling was not Lesley....
DeleteFunny though I went to school with threes other Leslie Anne's and our mothers were all on the same ward of the hospital and we were all born within a few days of each other.
I have to say that Leslie has a very sexy ring about it. I must say Leslie Ann is a very good combo so funny both of you must have been called that if you were misbehaving?! I have always like Zoe as well!
DeleteHostess - you bring up another point about certain names being fashionable at a certain time as well - I hope the nurses labelled the respective babies correctly! :)
Naomi is a beautiful name. Along with Ruth and my other favourite which is Alice. I have 3 names and my given name, or the one my parents chose to call me, is my middle name. They shortened it to a diminutive form which was fine until I started to travel and people everywhere seemed to have trouble with saying it and spelling it. So I switched back to the formal version of my name and that works fine. It's my surname that people struggle with now; don't know why really.
ReplyDeleteAlice brings great memories and also I love the book about wonderland. I do think if I had a middle name I would have insisted on being called that for a while. I wish there were a proper formal and diminutive version of my name though...
DeleteNaomi sounds very chic and sophisticated....exotic. I like it a lot.
ReplyDeleteThanks Leslie - like I said I always found Leslie rather seductive along with Francesca.
DeleteI was named after the alcoholic wife in "Days of Wine and Roses"! Not a good omen IMO, but my mother thought it was a pretty name, though she used a variation. It's a very 60s-70s name. I'd much rather have been called Elizabeth.
ReplyDeleteHilarious!!! Although she was beautiful - never saw the movie but I really must. I must say that Elizabeth is foolproof no? No one makes fun of that name funny enough and there are loads of derivatives as well.
DeleteI changed my name. I had to. Every time I introduced myself people would say "oh ha ha ha, your parent's must have hated you". That's pretty brutal, I had it from adults and children my entire life. I can't even bear to say what it used to be. My youngest, when she was 5, wanted to change her name to Starlight.. I said she'd have to wait until she was 18 and then told her (truthfully) that her middle name means stars. She was happy with that!
ReplyDeleteI would have chosed Starlight as well!!! I know someone who changed their name but her new name just didn't stick...I felt bad for her and it took me a while to get into the habit of calling her by her new name. Is your daughters middle name Celeste or Estrella by any chance?
DeleteAw... SUCH a cute post Naomi... had me chuckling here!!... I love your name.. so soft and feminine! Have a lovely week... still raining? xx
ReplyDeleteThanks Jenny! The odd thing is that central London hasn't been that wet...So if it weren't for the news - one wouldn't really know that there were floods. Hope you getting just the right amount of rain for your lovely gardens! xx
DeleteI also love the name Naomi. It's beautiful! My father named me as well, he always loved the name Danielle apparently but then called me Dani. I was always Dani though now that I'm a grown-up most people call me Danielle, with the exception of my family and my blogland-family. ;)
ReplyDeleteWhen I was a little girl I wanted to change my name to Sarah or Rachel. Loved those names and it would have stopped the boys in grade school from calling me Daniel Boone.
I love both versions of your name! But that is so typical of little boys - but I bet they were just teasing you bc they liked you :)
DeleteI never would have thought that people would mess up your name so much! Funny, I have four vowels in my name and nobody has ever commented on the number of vowels. One of my secret possible future kid names is related to the name Naomi. I think Naomi is a great name.
ReplyDeleteYes it is crazy and if anything Naomi Campbell has made it easier! I love your name too by the way :)
DeleteHi, first time to comment. I love your name but I can relate to wanting to change mine when I was younger. I've always wanted those Russian and Spanish names with some gravitas like Alexandra, Natasha, Margarita, Michaela. I love changing my name in Starbucks. Right now I'm using Gwyneth. People look when they call my name and they are disappointed, ha ha.
ReplyDeleteHello Marie! I adore Russian names especially Alexandra and I have a thing for men's names turned feminine too. Yes I think we should all use our nom de plumes at Starbucks more of ten in fact :)
Delete*giggling*
ReplyDeletewe know Many people in Los Angeles who have a "coffee name" ;-)
and we can just Picture the blog that somebody called Melody Chanel Rainbow Guevara would write.
go on.
your alter ego calls.
it's ever so delicious to have one.
coffee name, agent's name, AA name...
DeleteThat is why one must never trust teenagers as I was deadset on that name!!
I am curious to know all the names in your team! xx
My husband named our second daughter Phoebe and it took my father two years to stop calling her Fifi although now that she is a grown woman she tells us she answers to Fifi which lots of other people want to call her.
ReplyDeleteI also like Greek origin names. Phoebe also has a lovely meaning and Fifi is too cute but it is funny how we ebb and flow with our relationships with names!
DeleteEphraim and Eunice are names that make me chuckle. A client named her daughter Berits which I adore. Emma's my daughter it means universal and her middle name means Free (Frances) How do you pronounce your name "nay-omi"? Or nigh-omi -robyn
ReplyDeleteBerit not berits. Pronounced Barrett
DeleteFonda Hiscock I can't even.. lol. Is that real? Reminds me of college classmate Chastity McNutt. True story.
DeleteLast one-- I know a feminist lady I used to work for her name A. Cock. -Robyn. Good laughs
DeleteI pronounce it Nay but a soft nay or a nae sound but to be honest I dont mind as long as there is a variation of my name I am cool but I don't understand how people cant seem to hear my name when I say it! But sometimes you do wonder why people dont think things through but chastitymcnutt and A. cock is too much!!!
Deletelol we also think a lot about pet names... and our future pets will be Biscuit and Pudding probably. Naomi is a lovely name! -Robyn
ReplyDeleteIt's strange that people don't always get your name, it's not the most uncommon or difficult name to pronounce.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree you are a pleasant woman, something tells me that you and your character are more than just pleasant. Apparently I was going to be called Rebecca, I prefer Colleen and I like the meaning of my name too (girl). The only thing that is annoying is being asked whether my parents are Irish! xx
That is hilarious! I think Rebecca would also suit you funny enough. But yes - there are countless times of name issues all over the world! I never knew Colleen was Irish until I came to the UK - I thought it was more American? xx
DeleteThis post has made me laugh. Ah, the name thing! At least you weren't sung to throughout your childhood as I was..."Oh, Rosemareee I love you...." Ghastly song and it made me cringe with embarrassment. I thought very carefully when it came to naming our daughters. I called the first born 'Anna' because I thought it couldn't be mutilated much but a surprising number of people insisted on prefixing an 'H'. You just can't win!
ReplyDeleteYou have just proved there will always be a "thing" when it comes to names! Even my coffee name has issues - mind you Starbucks employees are pretty good with Anna though :)
DeleteYou know what I never ever thought of La Campbell when i think of your name. Love your name, for some reason I know some Naomis in New Zealand. The only pronunciation that astounds me is NOmi - which is what my daughter calls her friend. So important the name isn't it, I've never really loved Jody which is my nickname but the alternative is my real name Joanne which is so matronly.
ReplyDelete80% of people go - oh like Campbell!! Yes I notice Anzacs like my name but growing up I was the only one around - but Nomi is very common in Oz - well how they call me which funny enough is fine because it is done on purpose. I wish I had a proper nickname like you actually I might start working on one!
DeleteWhat about N-star or Mimi or Le Naomi or La Ni (if you're going to be a basketball star) EnEm...partial to the latter
DeleteShocking. Naomi is a perfectly lovely name and I can't imagine why so many folks have trouble with it I think it sounds a little exotic too!!
ReplyDeleteThanks Kimberly! But this was the edited version bc in Asia there is a whole other story...
DeleteBut I'd like Melody!!!:D Just kidding, Naomi's a great name, I can't believe that's even a problem for people?? Halo?!? What about Mrs Campbell?? It's really a very beautiful name, it would truly be a shame if you changed it... I used to give false names at Starbucks when I was in the States. My name is Petra, which is a female version of Peter and is very common in my country. But in the States... Not so much. Once a person wrote Bea on the cup.:) Bea? Really??
ReplyDeleteI loved Melody when I was in my tweenie stage! People are too scared of N Campbell to pronounce her name wrong bc you get things thrown at you! I love Petra and yes that would be a minefield in the States for sure :)
DeleteThat doesn't seem like such a hard name, but I know what you mean. My last name always seemed to give people a fit, but it sounded just as it was spelled - love the name Naomi - glad you didn't change it!!
ReplyDeleteI love the name Naomi, but now I am unsure if I pronounce it right!!! I have similar issue with my family name, and funnily it has also a lot of vowels in it... It still upset very much my husband and booking in restaurants is just a nightmare...
ReplyDeletehaha I think nobody like their name !
ReplyDeleteI love Naomi though !
http://www.melolimparfaite.com
As Shakespeare once said:
ReplyDelete"
Juliet:
"What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet."
Romeo and Juliet (II, ii, 1-2)
My name is naomi but my parents always pronounced it (n-i-o-m-e) rather than nay o me some people call me nay which I as annoying as I'm not a horse children and some friends and family call me nai (n-i) as it's easier
ReplyDelete