Recently, I have been thinking a lot about unique or interesting names because as you know, I have one. I guess more specifically, I have been thinking about unique or "ethnic" celebrity names, like Uzo Aduba, Hasan Minhaj, Lupita Nyongo, and Saoirse Ronan. All of these people have had their names mispronounced throughout their careers, but people finally started to say their names correctly.
My entire life people have said my name wrong, for a while, like many of these people that I listed above, I hated my name and I wished that it was easier to say. It got to the point I would answer to anything remotely close to my actual name. Growing up it was mostly fine, people who knew me never messed up my name and most people could learn it relatively quickly. Occasionally, in school we would have a sub that couldn't or wouldn't pronounce it but everyone would correct them.
Things got tough in high school when I moved to a new school and no one knew me. Introducing myself became a process, I would have to repeat it a bunch of times or say things like, "It's actually, McLean not Casey", or "Yeah, most people get my first and last name confused.". Although all of this sucked sometimes, the worst experiences I had in high school regarding my name were with two teachers, a math teacher and a science teacher. The first one was when I was a sophomore, so like 2014. Without naming names, this teacher was only a teacher so he could be a football coach and left my high school later that next year to be a coach at a bigger more competitive school. My Sophomore year I was in his algebra class. Instead of being a good teacher and normal person, this man refused to call me by my name. He chose to call me degrading nicknames that were loosely associated with my name. He would call me "Die Hard" or "John" because that main character in those "Die Hard" films was named, John McLean. Often times when I told him I didn't like being called these names He told me I was too sensitive and that I needed to brush it off. I don't need to tell you how inappropriate that is for an adult man in a position of power to say to his 15 year old female student. From that moment forward, even if I needed help in his class I would refuse to go to his office hours. At the time in my life I did not have the language to understand that was inappropriate or how to say anything about it.
The other time I had an issue regarding my name in high school was senior year with a science teacher. I realize now I shouldn't have been as mad about this situation because I had never and would never have her as an actual teacher, although it was still inappropriate. This woman was filling in for our study hall monitor. This event happened during roll call. She was going down the list with no trouble until she got to me. I knew it was me because my last name starts with a C, so it's usually toward the top of the list. This teacher looked at my name on the list for what felt like a long time but it was probably only a minute or two and then said, "I am not even going to try." and then proceed with the rest of the list. Ironically, the next person on the list was my brother. That was when I got upset. After she called his name, I had a quote-on-quote outburst. I said out of turn, "You didn't call my name." and all she was, "oh sorry." but didn't attempt to say it again or actually apologize. Don't get me wrong, I get why people mispronounce my name and I have nicknames with my friends to make it easier but when a student is put in an awkward position because a teacher refuses to learn a student's name that is unacceptable. These are not the only times my name has ever been mispronounced but they certainly were the most traumatic.
You might be asking yourself, "McLean, why is this so important to you that you wanted to write a blog post about it?". Well, that is because I want to normalize making people pronounce "Unique" or "Ethnic" names correctly. A person's name is very important, it is how someone introduces themselves to world. It is a gift given to your by your parents when you are born. A name is part of what makes you special in a world that is constantly trying to make feel like they aren't special or important. I am and always have been proud of my name, my whole name. My full name is McLean Aurora Casey. My name encompasses my entire family, it is what keeps me connected to many worlds and many histories. It is a very special thing to have a name that has been past down a family line.
The reason I brought up those celebrities at the beginning is because many of them wanted to change their names or shorten them so that they would be easier to pronounce. One of my favorite celebrity name stories is Uzo Aduba's. If you don't know this actress is most famous for her role in Orange is the New Black as Crazy Eye. In an interview she said, '"My full name is Uzoamaka. I came home one day and said, "Mommy, can you call me Zoe?", She said "Why", "Nobody one can pronounce it." without skipping a beat she said, "Well, if they can pronounce Tchaikovsky, Michelangelo, or Dostoevsky. They can learn to say Uzoamaka."'. Although my name could be arguably easier to say than her's I felt this struggle. When I was younger I would have given anything to have an easy name but as an adult I demand they learn.
Another name story I loved and made me feel seen was when comedian Hasan Minhaj was on the Ellen Show. Minhaj went on her show to promote his show, "Patriot Act". When Ellen pronounced his name in a white-ified way, he took a moment to correct her. He talks about how people always try to either over pronounce or under-pronounce it, but they can say names like Ansel Elgort or Timothee Chalamet like it's as simple the name Emma. Unfortunately, in every interview he does the interviewer asks him how to say his name. The same is true for irish actress, Saoirse Ronan. Even if the interview is not about her name the interviewer will sneak that question in. Saoirse says, "It's Saoirse like inertia". Although she handles it with grace I can imagine that is gets annoying to constantly be asked how to say your name.
Can we just agree that as a society we will not only attempt to say unique names correctly but actually do it. It will make every kid in elementary, middle, and high school so much easier.