Why oh why can't people spell my name? We're genealogy researchers. Shouldn't one of our number one skills be the ability to copy what is on a document. Copy accurately? Not write what we think we see, or expect to see, but what is there?
Let me explain. My first name as most of you know is Lorine.
L O R I N E
I have my name on the bottom of all my emails. It is on my websites.
I know how to spell my own name. Therefore, my question is - why are there a significant number of correspondents who return my emails with my name badly mangled?
I get Loreen. Lorrine. Laurine. Variant spellings of my name but not correct. Honestly, I do know how to spell my own name! If you see it in my email or on my website, trust me, I spelled it correctly.
I also get Lorraine or Loraine. That's not even my name! That's an entirely different name.
Then I get those who decide to give me a nickname such as Lori. I've never been called Lori in my life and I don't want to start now.
I find it disturbing that so many genealogists don't copy things accurately. How are they ever going to find the right ancestor if they can't get a name right?
And I haven't even started my rant about my surname of Schulze. It's spelled S C H U L Z E. That's right. No "T" and put an "E" on the end.
It's been a long week. Maybe next week will be better?
3 comments:
Ooh, I feel your pain!
Same here - you would not BELIEVE how many people start hunting for "Coons" right after I spell out K O O N S to them! Or even *show* it to them, driver's license, etc. When they say, we don't have your (order, Rx, clothes, books, food, etc.) I always ask them to look again with a "K" ...
I often have to ask to have the second 'e' in Shelley back again. And I'm not Shirley. And I'm not Michelle, either!!
Post a Comment