The Etiquette Tip of the Week often covers name recall, but what happens when someone keeps mispronouncing your name? Should you correct him/her? How many times?
Believe me, I get this. With a name like Callista, I get called, Alyssa, Carissa, Colesta, Calleesta, Clarissa, Clarice (a perfectly nice name ruined by Silence of the Lambs). In high school, a gym teacher repeatedly called me, "Castella." (After a while I said, "Just call me Stella.")
I try to assist people by saying, "It sounds like 'ballistic."
The worst thing people can do is make up a nickname that is convenient for them. "How 'bout if I just call you, Cal?" or "Callie?" Sometimes they don't even ask. Please don't assume Catherine is "Cathy," or Margaret is "Maggie" or Andrew is "Andy" or "Drew."
I have to confess, there are times I am the perpetrator and not the victim. A few weeks ago, I was at an upscale dinner where the woman across from me was introduced to me as "Judith." In the first question out of my mouth, I called her, "Ruth."
If someone keeps mispronouncing your name or calling you by the wrong name, correct them twice. After that, forget it. They are not going to get your name.
If someone you meet has a complicated name, ask them to repeat it -- again and again, until you get it. Write it down phonetically if you have to. Most people will be pleased you made the effort.
The Etiquette Tip of the Week may be forwarded to others who really, really need it, pinned to billboards, taped to the water cooler, blogged, Tweeted or used to fill that last little hole in your newsletter. Giving credit to the Culture and Manners Institute at http://www.cultureandmanners.com/ is the polite thing to do.