What's in a (last) name?

elSicomoro · 01-18-2003, 03:44 PM

Blastenbrei

As some of you probably already know, this is my last name. From what I've been told, it's made up German...and I don't speak with anyone on sperm donor's side of the family, so I have no idea what its true origins are.

Now granted, it's my last name and all, so maybe I'm biased...plus I'm familiar with various pronunciations. But in looking at the name, it doesn't seem too hard to pronounce.

(BLAS-ten-BRI) (long i at the end)

And yet, for 27 years now, this poor last name has been butchered to no end. And I've heard them all...(these will be spelled phonetically): Blastenbree, Blastenbrah, Blastenberry, Blastenbray, Blastenbryer...

When I was a child, it used to irritate the fuck out of me when pronounced incorrectly. And of course, it didn't help that I was taunted a lot as a child either, so it was made about 50 times worse.

When I started working in retail in 1992, the company I worked for had a policy of us thanking customers who used credit cards by saying their last name. (e.g. "Thank you Mr. Smith") And I made it a point to try and say their names correctly (even those crazy Polish ones, with all the c's and z's). What I learned from this was 1) I can actually pronounce names pretty well and 2) Most people are happy if you just attempt to pronounce it.

That second point was an important lesson to me, and I got to the point where I too appreciated someone just trying to say it. Nowadays, I get pissed off if people don't try to say it (like the stupid fucking clerk at Strawbridge's last month that didn't seem to want to be there at all).

I used to think about changing my last name all the time. But after sperm donor and I had our falling out, I thought about it...someone has to give some respectability to the name. And it's unique...much like myself. So, we'll keep it.

wolf · 01-18-2003, 04:48 PM

Guy I know solved that one (actually he had a fairly ordinary, but not totally anonymous like "Smith" last name) by taking his wife's name when they married. He also converted to Judaism, much to his parents consternation. (the whole exercise may well have been calculated to drive his parents nuts, but he has not confessed to such behavior).

He's the only guy I know to have done such a thing, but I do take great joy in asking him things that make him crazy, like "so, I forget again ... what was your maiden name?"

I do agree with you, Syc, that people really like it when you at least try to pronounce a difficult last name.

They become overjoyed when you somehow manage to spell it correctly, too ...

Undertoad · 01-18-2003, 05:32 PM

I used to have a co-worker named Pierantozzi.

He pronounced it "Peer-en-tosey"

But it should be pronounced "Pee-air-ann-toe-chay"

IMO.

warch · 01-19-2003, 12:09 AM

I tried to keep my old name after I got married...But it was pretty important to my spouse's old fashioned family that I take his, and I really didnt object. For a while I tried the three name,hyphenated thing, but who are we kidding, I'm lazy, so the maiden name got dropped. Just yesterday I got a replacement library card. I didnt even notice until I was tossing out the envelope that they sent it to me! the old me. They lopped off the last part. I kinda miss her some times.

elSicomoro · 01-19-2003, 12:20 AM

The whole "take my name" thing used to be a big deal to me. Now, I could care less whether Rho takes my last name or not.

01-19-2003, 09:36 AM

My name is too easy to fuck up, but believe it or not, I still get the occasional idiot that goes "David... Hom? Hom."

"Uh, yeah. It's actually Ham. Like it's spelled."

The name itself is from a city in England where my ancestors emigrated from when they came to the US in the 1600's. I don't know what their names were, but I would have been known as "David of Ham"... which sounds much better, of course, than "David Ham". But the "of" got dropped and here I am.

I have thought about taking Jenni's last name when we get married. (We're not engaged, but it's inevitable. She's way too good to pass up and for some stupid reason actually loves me.) "David Moore". It doesn't sound too bad. The only reason I really care is because my sister is, in our family, "Jenn[i/ie/y] Ham", and I couldn't stand to have another "Jenni Ham". That would just drive me nuts.

I thought Terry's last name was pronounced Blas-ten-bree, which just adds to my perfect record of fucking up the pronunciation of every word whenever I read it online. I thought I had "Shepps" down but it's probably pronounced "Shapps" or "Sheeps" or something. Anyway, when T-$ and I were on the phone the other night, I asked him how it was pronounced and he corrected me. Which means I'll still manage to fuck it all up all the time. Such is the life of David of Ham.

elSicomoro · 01-19-2003, 10:02 AM

Ah, I thought it was one of those "occupational" last names--Smith, Butcher, Ham, etc.

It's kinda funny...if you plug "Blastenbrei" into Google, you'll get me and several of my relatives, but you also get a Dr. Peter Blastenbrei. He is apparently a professor at the University of Mannheim in Germany. I wonder if there is a distant relation there.

Undertoad · 01-19-2003, 10:05 AM

Naw, it's just Shepps.

"Jen Mooreham." There ya go.

elSicomoro · 01-19-2003, 10:14 AM

When Mimi and I were engaged, she was cool with taking my last name, which would have made her Mildred Blastenbrei. We used to joke about that b/c we figured people that just saw the name would figure her to be an old German woman, and then would see her and be rather surprised.

01-19-2003, 10:51 AM

We've joked about that. Joked, because the torment our children would receive pretty much rule it out (not to mention the ridiculousness of the name).

juju · 01-19-2003, 12:40 PM

So, how does one pronounce a long "I"?

elSicomoro · 01-19-2003, 12:54 PM

"eye"

kerosene · 01-19-2003, 01:24 PM

My maiden name was Reifschneider. That's Rife-shni-der (phonetically) that second I being long. It was nice for screening telemarketers. If they couldn't pronounce it, I didn't want to talk to them.

I kind of miss it sometimes. When I married James, I considered hyphenating it and making him share the burden which would have been Reifschneider-Hutt or Hutt-Reifschneider. He didn't appreciate the idea and it probably would have been hell for any offspring. Of course, we could have possibly avoided being called "Jabba" and "Pizza" by those oh so clever folks who think this up on a name like Hutt.

01-19-2003, 01:47 PM

Yeah, with a fun last name like Hutt or Ham or Moore (or any other that's part of common language), you get all sorts of people who think they're so clever.

"Hey David Turkey!"

"Wow, that's really funny. I've never heard that before."

It used to annoy me, but I just kind of let it go and make a mental note - "This is someone who is twelve years old mentally. Let's not develop a relationship with them."

elSicomoro · 01-19-2003, 01:51 PM

People used to do that with my first name...stupid shit like "Terry Bo Berry" or "Terrence Clarence" (even though my first name is just Terry, not Terrence). Fucking retards.

01-18-2003, 03:44 PM	#1
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	What's in a (last) name? Blastenbrei As some of you probably already know, this is my last name. From what I've been told, it's made up German...and I don't speak with anyone on sperm donor's side of the family, so I have no idea what its true origins are. Now granted, it's my last name and all, so maybe I'm biased...plus I'm familiar with various pronunciations. But in looking at the name, it doesn't seem too hard to pronounce. (BLAS-ten-BRI) (long i at the end) And yet, for 27 years now, this poor last name has been butchered to no end. And I've heard them all...(these will be spelled phonetically): Blastenbree, Blastenbrah, Blastenberry, Blastenbray, Blastenbryer... When I was a child, it used to irritate the fuck out of me when pronounced incorrectly. And of course, it didn't help that I was taunted a lot as a child either, so it was made about 50 times worse. When I started working in retail in 1992, the company I worked for had a policy of us thanking customers who used credit cards by saying their last name. (e.g. "Thank you Mr. Smith") And I made it a point to try and say their names correctly (even those crazy Polish ones, with all the c's and z's). What I learned from this was 1) I can actually pronounce names pretty well and 2) Most people are happy if you just attempt to pronounce it. That second point was an important lesson to me, and I got to the point where I too appreciated someone just trying to say it. Nowadays, I get pissed off if people don't try to say it (like the stupid fucking clerk at Strawbridge's last month that didn't seem to want to be there at all). I used to think about changing my last name all the time. But after sperm donor and I had our falling out, I thought about it...someone has to give some respectability to the name. And it's unique...much like myself. So, we'll keep it.

01-18-2003, 04:48 PM	#2
wolf lobber of scimitars Join Date: Jul 2001 Location: Phila Burbs Posts: 20,774	Guy I know solved that one (actually he had a fairly ordinary, but not totally anonymous like "Smith" last name) by taking his wife's name when they married. He also converted to Judaism, much to his parents consternation. (the whole exercise may well have been calculated to drive his parents nuts, but he has not confessed to such behavior). He's the only guy I know to have done such a thing, but I do take great joy in asking him things that make him crazy, like "so, I forget again ... what was your maiden name?" I do agree with you, Syc, that people really like it when you at least try to pronounce a difficult last name. They become overjoyed when you somehow manage to spell it correctly, too ... __________________ wolf eht htiw og "Conspiracies are the norm, not the exception." --G. Edward Griffin The Creature from Jekyll Island High Priestess of the Church of the Whale Penis

01-18-2003, 05:32 PM	#3
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	I used to have a co-worker named Pierantozzi. He pronounced it "Peer-en-tosey" But it should be pronounced "Pee-air-ann-toe-chay" IMO.

01-19-2003, 12:09 AM	#4
warch lurkin old school Join Date: Oct 2001 Location: Minnesota Posts: 2,796	I tried to keep my old name after I got married...But it was pretty important to my spouse's old fashioned family that I take his, and I really didnt object. For a while I tried the three name,hyphenated thing, but who are we kidding, I'm lazy, so the maiden name got dropped. Just yesterday I got a replacement library card. I didnt even notice until I was tossing out the envelope that they sent it to me! the old me. They lopped off the last part. I kinda miss her some times.

01-19-2003, 12:20 AM	#5
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	The whole "take my name" thing used to be a big deal to me. Now, I could care less whether Rho takes my last name or not.

01-19-2003, 09:36 AM	#6
dave Guest Posts: n/a	My name is too easy to fuck up, but believe it or not, I still get the occasional idiot that goes "David... Hom? Hom." "Uh, yeah. It's actually Ham. Like it's spelled." The name itself is from a city in England where my ancestors emigrated from when they came to the US in the 1600's. I don't know what their names were, but I would have been known as "David of Ham"... which sounds much better, of course, than "David Ham". But the "of" got dropped and here I am. I have thought about taking Jenni's last name when we get married. (We're not engaged, but it's inevitable. She's way too good to pass up and for some stupid reason actually loves me.) "David Moore". It doesn't sound too bad. The only reason I really care is because my sister is, in our family, "Jenn[i/ie/y] Ham", and I couldn't stand to have another "Jenni Ham". That would just drive me nuts. I thought Terry's last name was pronounced Blas-ten-bree, which just adds to my perfect record of fucking up the pronunciation of every word whenever I read it online. I thought I had "Shepps" down but it's probably pronounced "Shapps" or "Sheeps" or something. Anyway, when T-$ and I were on the phone the other night, I asked him how it was pronounced and he corrected me. Which means I'll still manage to fuck it all up all the time. Such is the life of David of Ham.

01-19-2003, 10:02 AM	#7
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	Ah, I thought it was one of those "occupational" last names--Smith, Butcher, Ham, etc. It's kinda funny...if you plug "Blastenbrei" into Google, you'll get me and several of my relatives, but you also get a Dr. Peter Blastenbrei. He is apparently a professor at the University of Mannheim in Germany. I wonder if there is a distant relation there.

01-19-2003, 10:05 AM	#8
Undertoad Radical Centrist Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Cottage of Prussia Posts: 31,423	Naw, it's just Shepps. "Jen Mooreham." There ya go.

01-19-2003, 10:14 AM	#9
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	When Mimi and I were engaged, she was cool with taking my last name, which would have made her Mildred Blastenbrei. We used to joke about that b/c we figured people that just saw the name would figure her to be an old German woman, and then would see her and be rather surprised.

01-19-2003, 10:51 AM	#10
dave Guest Posts: n/a	We've joked about that. Joked, because the torment our children would receive pretty much rule it out (not to mention the ridiculousness of the name).

01-19-2003, 12:40 PM	#11
juju no one of consequence Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Arkansas Posts: 2,839	So, how does one pronounce a long "I"?

01-19-2003, 12:54 PM	#12
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	"eye"

01-19-2003, 01:24 PM	#13
kerosene Touring the facilities Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: The plains of Colorado Posts: 3,476	My maiden name was Reifschneider. That's Rife-shni-der (phonetically) that second I being long. It was nice for screening telemarketers. If they couldn't pronounce it, I didn't want to talk to them. I kind of miss it sometimes. When I married James, I considered hyphenating it and making him share the burden which would have been Reifschneider-Hutt or Hutt-Reifschneider. He didn't appreciate the idea and it probably would have been hell for any offspring. Of course, we could have possibly avoided being called "Jabba" and "Pizza" by those oh so clever folks who think this up on a name like Hutt.

01-19-2003, 01:47 PM	#14
dave Guest Posts: n/a	Yeah, with a fun last name like Hutt or Ham or Moore (or any other that's part of common language), you get all sorts of people who think they're so clever. "Hey David Turkey!" "Wow, that's really funny. I've never heard that before." It used to annoy me, but I just kind of let it go and make a mental note - "This is someone who is twelve years old mentally. Let's not develop a relationship with them."

01-19-2003, 01:51 PM	#15
elSicomoro Person who doesn't update the user title Join Date: Jan 2001 Posts: 12,486	People used to do that with my first name...stupid shit like "Terry Bo Berry" or "Terrence Clarence" (even though my first name is just Terry, not Terrence). Fucking retards.

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