I have a unique name – I love it so much but people always pronounce it wrong, even when I correct them
A VIRAL trend on TikTok asked creators with unique names about their frustrating encounters with others.
One woman lamented how new acquaintances say her “easy peasy” name and complimented a surprising group for getting it right.
The “unique name” trend caught the attention of therapist Maranyely Beltran (@maranyelyy), who felt compelled to respond.
She broke things down phonetically in a video about her beloved first name.
“Easy peasy lemon-squeezy,” she said. “My name is Maranyely. People pronounce it wrong, even after I tell them the Y sounds like a G or a J.”
She spelled it out in a caption, and said it slowly so listeners could hear the correct Spanish pronunciation.
“MAR-ON-GEL-E,” Beltran enunciated. Even though it seemed simple enough, she said many get it incorrect on their second or third try.
“They still say it wrong,” she sighed, before doing her best imitation of the mangled moniker.
“They say ‘mare-ann-yelly,'” she said. “That’s not my name.”
Commenters understood what Beltran was going through, though some couldn’t believe the wild mispronunciation.
“Maran-yelly, stop!” wrote one commenter in a fit of laughter.
“Welcome to the club, girl,” said another viewer. “Mine is spelled ‘Maranyelee.'”
A different woman said she had also become fed up with being called “mare-ann-yelly.”
“So I changed it,” she revealed. “Shout out to you for embracing it.”
“You know my struggle,” Beltran wrote back.
Beltran went by “Yely” in high school, but as she got older, she decided to stand firm and go by the right name.
She took inspiration from a shockingly young segment of the population.
“Now I go by Maranyely because if my three-year-old clients can say it, so can everyone else,” she said proudly.
That decision has paid off, she said, despite all the struggles to teach others how to say her name.
“I love my name sooo much,” she added in another comment.
