55 Comments Add your own

• 1. Elizabeth  |  July 17th, 2008 at 5:41 pm

  Aw, I think those pants are kind of cute. Am I insane?

• 2. Sadie  |  July 17th, 2008 at 5:44 pm

  THAT IS IT. We are getting married. I DON’T CARE WHAT YOU SAY.

  I had a pair of those same capris from the Gap (my MOM told me they were “stove-pipe,” which means that is something they called pants in the seventies) and my boyfriend essentially SHAMED me into not wearing them anymore. Apparently 5’4″ is too short for stovepipe capris?

  Also, is there ANY CHANCE you have to pass through/near Connecticut to go this Family Wedding of Dread because I will TOTALLY meet up with you and make it worth your while (even you, Adonymous)…also also please note every introduction of mine ever”

  “Hi I’m Sadie”

  “Hi Katie”

  “No, SADIE”

  “Oh, hi Sally.” ????!!

  “SADIE”

  “So, anyway, Sara…”
  !!!!!

• 3. Sadie  |  July 17th, 2008 at 5:55 pm

  Also, to be clear, I have ALWAYS assumed your name was “donna” with a “J.” Jon-na. NOT HARD. “jonn-i-ker” helped, sure, but not a conundrum. JON-NUH. Yes. Why are people so stupid? WHY?

• 4. celebrate woo-woo  |  July 17th, 2008 at 6:02 pm

  I totally knew how to pronounce it! Easy when I reference jonniker as a starting point, though.

  I’ve so much worse in capris than those, but with bermuda-length shorts in style, I’ve given up the capri pant.

• 5. Swistle  |  July 17th, 2008 at 6:06 pm

  I don’t like to disagree with you. I like us to be OF LIKE MIND on as many issues as possible. But when I saw that photo (before reading), I thought, “Oooo, cute pants, Miss Skinnykins!”

  I get so many people calling me Christine. It’s Kristen. Does the “en” look like “een”? One teacher called me Kirsten all year long; another went with Kiersten. I do have mercy, but HEAVENS TO BETSY.

• 6. Mandee  |  July 17th, 2008 at 6:09 pm

  But you look so happy in your stovepipes. And the shirt is adorable.

  I have a similar pair from Chico’s—my sister and mother are big fans of Chico’s. They keep trying to buy me some jersey knit pants that are a Chico specialty even though I have told them multiple times that I will not wear shiny pants. The capris are not shiny, mind you, but they are surprisingly high waisted.

  I, too, knew how to pronounce your name. Hope that the wedding ends up being a pleasant surprise.

• 7. velocibadgergirl  |  July 17th, 2008 at 6:10 pm

  Oh my sister, I am SO with you. I cannot reveal my True Name on the internets, but suffice it to say we have the same problem. I have been called so many names other than my own. The worst part is that my name is phonetic. It’s spelled EXACTLY how it’s supposed to be pronounced, yet no one can get it right.

  The people who can catch the pronunciation can’t spell it. You know how at Old Navy they write your name on the dressing room doors? I always tell them my name is Jen because it’s way easier than repeating my name and spelling it twice.

  Also? Worse than people who can’t seem to get it right are people who hear it and then screw up their faces and ask, “Where’d that come from?” Um. It’s a real name, you assmunch, it’s not made up, and I was named after my father, so please stop insulting it before I have to take you down.

• 8. jonniker  |  July 17th, 2008 at 6:25 pm

  Sadie: No Connecticut! Just New York and Pennsylvania. Thrillsville. Also: sad.

  Swistle: ME TOO. But if we are to divert, I’ll take that you think I’m skinny, and I do not. That is not a bad place to diverge. Thank you.

  To all: I mean DUH that you pronounced it right because of the handle. DUUUUHHH.

• 9. Anne L.  |  July 17th, 2008 at 6:31 pm

  I think that maybe Old Navy does NOT know where a waist actually is. I just got a pair of “at the waist” jeans, and they are a good 2 inches BELOW my bellybutton. So there’s still the same old muffintop rocking over here.

• 10. Leane  |  July 17th, 2008 at 6:37 pm

  My name is always misspelled. As a kid I had to buy iron on patches for my jeans (shut up) –one that said “Lee” the other saying “Ann” in order to come close to my name. Old Navy doesn’t really have a good idea what bodies are like. They make a lot of shirts for very narrow girls with no chest..or at least the shirts seem made for that type of girl.

• 11. -R-  |  July 17th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

  At least the wedding can’t be worse than you expect, right? You can’t possibly be disappointed no matter how horrible it is.

• 12. Kristi  |  July 17th, 2008 at 6:56 pm

  Your hair looks really cute! I had a friend in college named Jonna and she just let everyone call her Donna because it was easier – your post made me laugh and I’m sending her straight over here to read it!

• 13. Briana  |  July 17th, 2008 at 7:00 pm

  I am with you on the name thing. I was the only Briana –pronounced Bree-on-uh in my school. Now various permutations: Bree Ann Brianna, etc. are popping up. I started saying Brian With An A just to get people to STOP adding that extra N!!!!
  (many fits of rage over this one)

• 14. Jess  |  July 17th, 2008 at 7:18 pm

  OK, the pants first of all aren’t that bad, and second of all, you? Look great and are adorable.

  Also, I didn’t KNOW how your name was pronounced, but I ASSUMED, and you have just confirmed that I assumed correctly. I am pleased with myself about that.

• 15. H  |  July 17th, 2008 at 7:27 pm

  I had a friend in high school named Jonna. I like your name.

  I have name problems too. No one can spell my first name correctly and no one pronounces my last name correctly even though it sounds just like it is spelled. Very frustrating.

  I hope the wedding goes as well as possible for you!

• 16. vague  |  July 17th, 2008 at 7:32 pm

  Man, Old Navy doesn’t know where ANY body parts are! I just bought some pedal pushers from their website that claimed to hit “at the knee,” and they were about 6-8 inches below the knee. And I am 5’9″, so it wasn’t that I’m short or something. That being said, I think those look cute on you!

• 17. Debbie in the UK  |  July 17th, 2008 at 11:36 pm

  I love your name and would give anything to have an unusual name. I also think you look fantastic judging by your photo. Obviously the move agrees with you.

  Love

  Debbie

• 18. Blythe  |  July 17th, 2008 at 11:37 pm

  I’ve thought of just changing my name to Blanche. Or Life. Or Blight. Maybe you, JoHenna, should do the same.

  Apparently Old Navy is overcompensating for the days when their zippers used to be two inches long and their jean legs looked like skirts from Gone WIth the Wind.

• 19. TwoBusy  |  July 18th, 2008 at 2:39 am

  I’m confused. Why isn’t your hair pink?

• 20. CarolynOnline  |  July 18th, 2008 at 3:32 am

  I like your name. People are just hard of hearing and stupid. My name’s easy but for some reason I’ve been called Caroline all my life. Hate that too.

• 21. Fiona Picklebottom  |  July 18th, 2008 at 5:43 am

  I’m so sad to hear that about the second season of Dexter. I thoroughly enjoyed the first season and was looking forward to watching the second. Well, actually, I’ll still watch it, because I am one of those stubborn people who only learns from MY OWN mistakes, and thus CANNOT learn from the mistakes of others.

  Also, I’m with you on the Blogstle thing.

• 22. Lynn  |  July 18th, 2008 at 6:12 am

  Man, does no one like their name? People with solid, regular names think their names are boring…while people with offbeat names hate having to spell it all the time. My name is Lynn, which I kind of like actually, but no one ever spells it correctly. I would have thought that “Lynn” was the default spelling but up here in Canada I mostly get “Lyne” (French spelling), “Lyn,” or “Lynne.” Whatever. My poor husband’s name is Neel and no one ever spells that one right, ever.

  My sister is named Marnie and she has always hated her name for the same reasons. Every time she had to introduce herself in a nightclub type situation, the guy she was meeting thought her name was Barney. She actually vetoed a few of our potential baby names after making us shout them over loud music to see what they might sound like. We call this the “dance club name test.”

  Jonna is nice though .

• 23. jonniker  |  July 18th, 2008 at 6:14 am

  The Dance Club Name Test! That’s awesome. I’m going to remember that.

• 24. Christine  |  July 18th, 2008 at 6:28 am

  I have been saying your name the proper way in my head all along, because frankly that’s the only way it makes any sense. Sometimes I have a hell of a time understanding what people’s names are when they say them to me, but be assured after once thinking your name was “Donna” if we were introduced, I would either get it right or refer to you as, “Hey, you!” all night long. Classy.

  Also, feel better. One of my girlfriends in college is named Keshet. (Hebrew for rainbow.) Many a frat boy called her “Ketchup” she just went along with it.

• 25. Caitlin  |  July 18th, 2008 at 6:33 am

  Delurking to TOTALLY AGREE with you on the name thing. When I was born, NO ONE was named Caitlin. Now there are a bajillion Katelin/Kaitlin/Katelynne/ETC’s running around.
  CAT-lynn? Kaylin? Kite-lin? Carla?
  At my old job, we used to keep a running list of all the names I got called.

  My favorite was when someone would say “Oh! What an UNUSUAL spelling!”. And I would say “ACTUALLY, it’s the original Gaelic spelling for the name.”.

  And to Swistle’s comment, what is UP with people (including my own mother) who cannot remember the name of someone they have known so long?? For years she called the boy across the street Anthony, when his name was Andrew. She called his sister Carolyn, when her name was Caroline.

  To me it’s just disrespectful to not make it a point to remember and call someone by their (correct) name.

  (Sorry, Mom.)

• 26. claire  |  July 18th, 2008 at 6:42 am

  I love the ‘dance club name test’. That’s hysterical. And so important.

  There is one person at work who has called me “Clara” since i started here 8 years ago. I don’t know why he would think my name is Clara, since my name is clearly printed on my cube wall. And it’s not some kind of cutesy, pet-name for me, either; we don’t exactly have that kind of relationship. However, other people have decided that it’s funny so THEY call me Clara, too.
  Whatever, i’ve been called worse.

  I don’t mind my name. It’s sufficiently different (i think i’ve only met 3 or 4 other Claires in my life) and yet is still traditional enough that people don’t look at me like i’m an asshole who’s parents made up my name. My last name on the other hand…

• 27. Shelly  |  July 18th, 2008 at 7:11 am

  For the record, I think you are adorable, and those capris look fine.

  Secondly, I have a cousin named Jonna, and NEVER would have butchered your name……never. I knew a really rough girl in high school named Johnna, and she scared me, so again, wouldn’t THINK of butchering the name.

  Have fun at the obligitory miserable wedding.

• 28. Jamie  |  July 18th, 2008 at 8:07 am

  I have the same name problem, only mine comes in the form of everyone thinking that I’m a man. Almost ALL of my general mail come to Mr. Jamie Mylastname. Argh.

  I also have a cable bill that comes to JenniferJamieKate Mylastname, b/c I once had to add my roommates to the account so they could request service. It made its strange way to the billing process, and five years later, I’m still getting bills with all three names on them.

• 29. winterwheat  |  July 18th, 2008 at 9:17 am

  The hair! I love the hair! Is it strawberry blond? (The pic sort of gives it a reddish tone.) It looks beautiful on you, and more than makes up for the pants, which actually don’t look that bad. (But you’re right, stovepipe isn’t a good look for capris. Can you roll them up, or does that make it worse?)

  I think I told you once that one of my brothers is named Jon. Poor guy had his name misspelled all through childhood — but at least people pronounced it correctly. How do you get Jonna wrong? It’s phonetic, for heaven’s sake.

  I know a woman whose last name is Krcmar. Yes, that’s a C. She publishes regularly, and I’ve seen her name listed as Kramar in search engines. The cataloging people refuse to believe that Krcmar isn’t a typo.

  When my daughter was born, it was the middle of the night, and my MIL didn’t quite process her name correctly when we called to tell her. She went on to call all her relatives and tell them the baby’s name was Faleeka. *rolls eyes*

• 30. Kristin H  |  July 18th, 2008 at 9:38 am

  Like Swistle, I have always really liked my name, though it’s always Christian/Kirsten/Christine to other people. The only thing that kind of bothers me is when people INSIST on knowing what it is, because it really doesn’t matter to me if they get it right or not. Like this:

  Person on the phone: Okay, what was your name again?
  Me: Kristin.
  Person: Christian?
  Me (brightly): Close enough!
  Person: No really, what was it? Krista?
  Me: Kristin. K-R-I-S-T-I-N.
  Person: Okay, thanks Christine!

  I gave up on Old Navy long ago. Their shirts are clearly made for people with less boobage than I. Their kids clothes are okay though.

• 31. Corinne  |  July 18th, 2008 at 9:40 am

  I’ve spent 30 years trying to get people to pronounce my name right.

  It’s Cor-EEN, not Cor-INN. Just because it’s not spelled phonetically doesn’t mean it’s pronounced differently. I got Connie for several years. Eventually I just told everyone my name was Cori. My mother-in-law, incidentally, is a Coreen. To my husband’s credit, he didn’t know my full name when he met me, as I was in my Cori phase.

  Then the other day I found out about a girl named Corinne who legally changed it to Courtney because that’s what everyone has always called her. Poor thing.

  Also: Dance Club Name Test = BRILLIANT.

• 32. Amy  |  July 18th, 2008 at 9:41 am

  I have a friend named John-a and hers is spelled Johnna. I don’t think she has as much problem with misprounounceations as you seem to. I also have a friend named Doanna and she is ALWAYS having to resay/respell her name.

  However, my husband is named Robert A. Ourlastname. I gets quite a bit of sales mail addressed to Mrs. Roberta Ourlastname. Hee.

• 33. mar  |  July 18th, 2008 at 10:24 am

  i feel for your pronunciation woes. people f#%$ mine up on a daily basis. even the people i talk to on the phone at work (clinic scheduling), who repeat it 3 times, ask me to spell it, then at the end of the convo say thank you, mair-en (like karen with an m). no, dipsh#t, i just told you 3 times that it’s mah-ren. i often get “lauren’ & resign myself to it, but i have frequently gotten “marge” in the past couple years. what?
  i wouldn’t mispronounce jonna, but i admit to occasionally accidentally referring to your blog & calling you jonnifer because there’s a lady here at the hospital with that name & i think it’s kinda cool, even though she’s this old cranky, b#tch with white hair who rides her bicycle with her headphones & almost plows people over on her way to & from work. kinda like the witch in the wizard of oz.
  you do look rather cute. and not at all wide, besides the wide/straightness of the legs. i see no belly-bulge whatsoev.
  i’m disappointed about dexter 2, but will probably get around to topping it on my netflix queue.

• 34. Kristin H  |  July 18th, 2008 at 10:45 am

  Hi! I’m back. I meant to tell you, I hope the wedding goes well and may you spend it in a clueless, alcohol-induced haze (as far as the family issues go). And also: no, no belly bulge visible. (Somehow I kept trying to spell that with a “d”.)

  My husband, Bradley, gets mail addressed to “Dravley”. We imagine Dravley as a hipster European 20-something with square eyeglasses and a penchant for artsy furniture.

• 35. Lori  |  July 18th, 2008 at 11:00 am

  Jonna = JOHN-a, seems obvious, but people can be funny.. Lori seems obvious too, but I’ve been called “Laura” so often that I’ll answer to it. Apparently, “Lori” is hard to spell too – people like to add letters or change it completely – Lorie, Lorrie, Laurie, Lauren, Loren, Lorene… My neighbor called me “Linda” for the first 10 years we lived here, I finally stopped correcting her and suddenly, one day she realized what she had been doing and said to me “your name isn’t Linda.” Thanks, I know.

  (I am really grateful that my husband had a better last name, because my maiden name was a real disaster!)

  And honestly, I’m not seeing a problem with the pants, but I can understand the discomfort of a too-high waistband.

• 36. Julie  |  July 18th, 2008 at 12:12 pm

  The pants may be a problem, but that’s really a good picture of you. Nice smile!

  I get called “Julia” and “Jillie” all the time. Hate it.

• 37. Jeanne B.  |  July 18th, 2008 at 12:39 pm

  I never had trouble with your name—I thought, how cool, like Donna but with a J.

  My name? You’d think it was obvious. Jean with an extra “n” and “e”. I get Jeannie, Jeneen, Jane, but the best is:

  Gee-Anne.

  I’m sorry. HOW do you get Gee-Anne out of Jeanne?

  I suppose it’s my fault for wanting to be different in high school. It was given to me as plain old Jean. I had to go spice it up so I wouldn’t get “Hey, Blue Jean” all the time. Besides, “Jean” is the masculine version and Jeanne is the feminine version (in French, not that it makes a dif as I live in Ohio).

  Names. But pity my friend whose name is Chimi. Like the changa. Hey Jimmy! Ginny? Chinnie?

• 38. Shana  |  July 18th, 2008 at 2:56 pm

  You do have a little head! But I totally didn’t notice until you pointed out, so there. Not nearly as noticeable as you might think, I bet.

  That said…

  My name is Shana. Like Jonna, it rhymes with Donna. But it should really have a U or a W. You know, to make things (IMO) uglier-but-easier. I get Shay-na, Shann-na, Shawn-dra, Shann-dra, AND SHANNON.

  SHANNON. FROM SHANA. And you can argue and argue and argue, but eventually you reach the point I have — a point at which you answer to everything. My little sis came to a doc appt. with me and was amused that I automatically answered to Shannon Total-bastardization-of-my-married-name. It’s just easier, and I don’t even realize I’m doing it anymore.

  And you know what? After all this, I still consider myself lucky.

  Because my mother wanted to spell “Shaw-nuh” C-H-A-N-A. Because nothing says “Shawna” like Chann-ah. I told her I’d have pronounced it like challah, all Jewish and phlegmy. That, at least, would be fun.

  But I hear you, and I’ve lived it, and people really seldom bother to pull their heads out of their asses and just read things as they’re written. Which is why I tend to despise “creative” names. Mine’s only mildly creative, but has been kind of a PITA.

• 39. Mauigirl52  |  July 18th, 2008 at 5:21 pm

  I can sympathize as my real name is often mistaken for Minnie, which it is NOT.

  I have a good friend who named her daughter Johnna (almost the same as yours except for the “h” and pronounced the same as your name). She actually named her after her father, whose name was John, because he passed away shortly before her daughter was born. Her daughter will have the same problems with mixed-up pronunciations, I’m sure. But I think she’ll appreciate it when she is grown up and knows she was named after her grandfather.

• 40. jonniker  |  July 18th, 2008 at 5:46 pm

  SO MANY PROBLEMS PLAGUING ME HERE:

  1) I was pronouncing Shana as “Shay-na” because I grew up with two Shanas who said it that way.

  2) Ditto Corinne. Oh nuts.

  It’s not as all clear cut as I thought! GRAH.

• 41. Shana  |  July 18th, 2008 at 10:53 pm

  LOOK:

  http://sharkeymalarkey.wordpress.com/2005/08/22/martha-goes-to-speech-class/

  You’re welcome.

• 42. Shana  |  July 18th, 2008 at 10:56 pm

  P.S. Yeah, that’s reason #1 that my name gets mispronounced — because people know people whose mothers were not on the crack when they were filling out the hatchling paperwork. I think my mom learned her lesson, though — next kid was Vanessa, the lucky wench.

• 43. Provillus  |  July 19th, 2008 at 12:08 am

  hmmm … jonna, just looking at it I would have pronounced it ‘jo – nah’ like the guy in the fish… so what’s your nickname?

• 44. Kelley  |  July 19th, 2008 at 3:43 am

  I think you look kinda hot in those pants…

  And I get called Kerry all the time. Don’t get me started on my last name… long and ethnic thanks to my long and ethnic husband. Cracks my shit up when they send me a translator ASSUMING that my long Hungarian last name is Japanese.

• 45. jonniker  |  July 19th, 2008 at 7:18 am

  Shana: HA HA. Cannot wait to go home and fold sheets.

  Provillus: I KNOW. You and everyone else. No nickname, alas. Just Jonna.

• 46. New Duck  |  July 19th, 2008 at 7:45 am

  This cracks me up. I have to tell my mom about the Old Navy pants because she loves those waistbands that go up around your neck.

  Also, I’m not going to disclose my real name on the internets, but it starts with an M and ends with an N and for reasons I can’t fathom people always think it’s “Laurie.” Ugh.

• 47. She Likes Purple  |  July 19th, 2008 at 8:18 pm

  I wish you were here too. Also, give Weeds a shot. It’s so good.

• 48. She Likes Purple  |  July 19th, 2008 at 8:20 pm

  And, LORD, if the mispronunciations of my last name don’t piss me off on a daily basis. IT’S JUST AS IT’S SPELLED. SOUND IT OUT.

  (In my head, I’ve always called you JOHN-a.)

• 49. Danielle-lee  |  July 19th, 2008 at 9:36 pm

  I don’t think you have a small head, I swear! I like the pants; they look cute. But I don’t think I could wear them, just because of how you described them. I hate when pants hold up my saggy-ass boobs. I also hate when they show everyone my junk b/c they are so low. Why can’t they JUST BE NORMAL????? Ack!

• 50. Lori  |  July 20th, 2008 at 7:09 am

  I’m not without fault on other names though… I remember reading a book when I was young and one of the characters was named Janine. I sounded it out and thought “Jay-nine” -I thought it was weird, but I had never known a Janine, so I had no idea. Another that gave me trouble was Sean, which I thought was “seen” instead of Shawn (or Shaun)- only now there’s an NBC weatherman named Sean who pronounces it “seen.” Arghh!!

  What about Dana? Lana?

• 51. H  |  July 20th, 2008 at 2:18 pm

  I forgot about a funny story from one of my coworkers. He was on a business trip with another male coworker and when they were checking in at the hotel, the person at the front desk called him “DWON” (he’s really Duane) and the coworker was “DWIGOT” (he’s really Dwight.)

• 52. ali  |  July 21st, 2008 at 10:53 am

  i have the SMALLEST little pea head around. i bet mine’s smaller. i challenge you!!

• 53. cady  |  July 22nd, 2008 at 6:05 am

  i can NEVER get people to say my name right. it’s cady (pronounced katie) and i always get cad (like tad)-ee. my full name is cadence, and everyone says ka-dense (emphasis on the dense). in school, my teachers would just stop when they came to my name during roll call, and i would just raise my hand and say, “here”.

• 54. Anonymous for Today  |  July 22nd, 2008 at 9:37 am

  Caitlin – yes, yes. YES! I am familiar with your pain.

  My name is Siobhan (pronounced She-von with a short ‘e’ sound) which is Gaelic for Joan, and although I love my name, it is an absolute nightmare when other people encounter it for the first time.

  The most commonly mistake is a phonetic pronounciation that is roughly Cy-oh-ba-han or Cy-oh-bahn, and points were awarded for the most creative with See-bone. Even after I pronounce it (multiple times) people mistake it for She-bon, Chi-ffon, Chev-ron. Those who can say it but have never seen it on paper attempt everything from Shevaughan to Shevonne and can’t seem to resist an “oh, that’s weird” when I spell it. I grit my teeth, smile and say “actually, it’s the PROPER Gaelic spelling.” Thank goodness my last name is simple.

  Then people ask why I didn’t take my husband’s Egyptian surname . . .

• 55. Patrick28Rosemarie  |  April 21st, 2010 at 4:00 am

  Some time ago, I needed to buy a car for my organization but I did not have enough money and couldn’t order something. Thank God my sister adviced to take the loan from reliable bank. Thence, I acted that and used to be happy with my consolidation loan.

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