My Name

Here's a typical phone conversation for me:

Other person: "And your last name, please?"

Me: "Townsend" pronounced as clearly as I can with emphasis on the final "D."

OP: "Tompson?"

Me: "No, Townsend. The word 'town' and the word 'send' together."

OP: "Could you spell that for me, please?"

Me: "T-o-w-n-s-e-n-d."

OP: "So that's P-o-w-?"

No: "No, T, as in Tom."

OP: "Oh, T-o-w-n-s-c-n-d?"

And so it goes.

According to U.S.
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I'm sure there are people who have a hard time with their names, too. Probably a harder time. But, to me, "Townsend" isn't that hard. Why don't people understand it?

Once I stayed at a bed and breakfast in Port Townsend, Washington. When I made the reservation, the woman asked "what's your last name?" and I said, "Townsend" and she said "cool." That was one of the few times I didn't have problems with someone understanding my name.

And don't get me started about trying to tell people my domain name at the end of my email: "sevantownsend" I spell it phonetically: "S as in Sam, E as in echo, V as in Victor..."

Do you have problems with people understanding your name? Let me know in the comments below.