My name isn’t that hard to pronounce. Really, it isn’t. It’s one of the easiest to say and spell. It’s one of the more common names in India too. I was used to this anonymity for 22 years before I decided to go to NY. There, people just couldn’t come to grips with my name. They thought “Nikhil” was Italian! And some variations were:
1. Ny-Kheel (Sounds Arab!)
1. Nick Hill (Ugh.!!)
3. Nikhail (Sounds Russian!! Gimme my vodka!)
So, I decided to put all the confusion to rest once and for all. Here’s what I wrote on a post-it and stuck it to everyone’s computers one morning –
Knee-Kill..!! That’s me! (grin)
What’s in a name, right? 😉
Thats funny! A name does not define the person… or the body part one intends to murder…
Yaake, you have plenty of company in this peeve. 🙂
Many bloggers have been tackling this subject and some truly hilarious views have come forth. I collected many links in a very popular blog post and also as additional reading at the bottom of it. I do not know what your view is on leaving links so I will err on the conservative side and just say that if you wish, you can search for ‘name game’ on my blog and see what you think. Thanks.
You are talking about US?? My name has been distorted to no ends in India. Its such a simple name – Amit. And then it ends up being Amith(which is the most commonly used despite my continuous reminders), Ameeth and Omit to name a few. And lets not get started on my Last name. 🙂
P.s. : This “knee-kill” was one great flash of brillance. 🙂
I don’t even wanna disclos what people call me back at work. Such a beautiul name I ave. I use to get so many compliments back home, but here its a nightmare. I tutor them everytime.Actually I don’t even bother if they pronounce it wrong. But they are hell bent on asking me umpteen number of times everytime they call me. My sweet name is ruined. Oh my mom is sad!! So am I
fruity 😉
Everything’s in a name! its like a covering letter to a resume, a honeymoon to a marriage, an appetizer to a meal:-)Yeah, but nice u’ve had the variations. My name’s so atrociously simple, there’s no way I can look forward to any assortment..
@Enreal,
Lol… I know!! Poor knee! 😀
@shefaly
I’m a huge “link” guy, so go ahead and link me up anytime! And you’re right… This name-defaming thing seems to be afflicting millions!! We gotta do something!! 😀
@Amit aka Amith aka Omit aka Ameeth
hahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love Omit…!! How could anyone make such an error?? 😀
@fruity
hahaha…. I can understand… but tell your mom to cheer up, because even though ppl can’t say your name properly, it’ll still remain beautiful! 😀
@Bina
Here’re a few samples:
1. Bee-nah!
2. Binna!
3. Bheena!
I can go on! 😀
Thanks for droppin by! Visit often maadi! lol…
Yaake:
Thanks, here is the link.
http://laviequotidienne.wordpress.com/2007/08/23/the-name-game-or-gaming-naming/
See the related readings list on that post for more fun on the same issue.
And on the name thing, I have a simple recipe: correct others at every opportunity.
Believe me, you do not want to know what my old first name was. I had to literally go to court to change it. 🙂
@Shefaly
Thanks for the link! I found it hilarious!! 😀
@leafless
Mind telling me what your old name was? 😀
Nikhil, I like Nikhail– rhymes with Mikhail 🙂 Heh. I think i’ll use Nikhail instead of Neeeekheeeel from now onwards. 😉
Shefaly- Remember that I’d written a blog post with a picture of a book that was sent to me by a blog friend? That’s Yaake.
You have a nice name, thanks to your mum/dad(or grandp maybe). 🙂 I don’t like this yaake name though. Don’t ask why, I don’t know. Don’t you think you should have given meaning of your name here? May be you don’t know!!! 😛
P.S. See how many “don’t”s I have written. Surely I am from department of redundency department 😀
in sydney, people have called me by so many different versions of my own god damn name, that i now have finally forgotten the actual pronunciation of my own damn name!
that s heights! and to add to it, people at my work place, they just call me by the letter “V”.
“hey V, could u please do this for me?”, “hey V, till what time you working”.
what the hell. its so irritating when one cant get your name right. i agree with u yaake.
@Rooo-heee
I need to come up with some AFrikaan version of your name!! 😛
@Suda
My name is Nikhil and it means “Complete”… “Yaake” means “Why” in my language, Kannada. I chose Yaake because I was questioning myself whether I should blog again or not… I was getting back to blogging after a gap of two-three months and I was seriously in 2 minds… 🙂
@Chucks
thanksies… Yeah, I hate it when ppl use the first letter of your name to call you… What if my name started with F…??
“Hey, F..!! WTF, man??” lol… 😀
Hey I just remembered one thing. My childhood friend used to change my nicknames (better one is “names”) so often that at last he was out of ideas. So he finally made a nice nickname combining all previous name’s first letters. 😛
Ohh Cannada? Then we are neighbours. Can I borrow half bowl of suger “udhaar”? 😀
P.S. Check your Gmail
@ Yaake:
Glad you did. 🙂
@ Ruhi:
I remember that post and make the connection now.
lol … any idea how they pronounce arvind 😛
Nikhil is my son’s name.. I am sure he will like “Knee Kill” 🙂
In my class,Indian names cause a lot of confusion,add to that Iranian names..yeah we have a dozen of em in our class ..
So much so that pretty Ghazaleh becomes Gazli,Gazelle else ghaz and all weird stuff !
The funniest one that a lecturer gave to my name was Ma-ghana ,gosh! n i always thought mine was a real common name !
Ha Ha.. probably now Aditya chopra and other producers get an idea to name their films a lil different. Remember they made ‘Neel Aur Nikki’.. 🙂
ella okay bejaar yaake?
no bejaar, people! 😀
(translation: no worries, people!)
best post!! a picture is worth a thousand words
Well, like I became “Upper”na and even then, they were pronounced wrong! forget about my last name!!! There was a neighbour who told me, I will get it…and even after 5 years, he did not!!!