No, it's not pronounced Olaf!Freepik
A woman has shared her frustration about people never getting her popular Irish name correct, with some people even calling her Olaf.
Irish names can be difficult for people to pronounce, both here in Ireland and abroad, but if you live in Ireland, there are certain names that you will just know how to pronounce automatically because they are so common.
This is something that many Irish parents consider when naming their babies. However, there are so many beautiful Irish names that many don’t let pronunciation or spelling turn them off a moniker.
A woman with one of these common Irish names shared her frustration online about people getting her name wrong, even when it is right there in an email.
Now, it is understandable that people who do not speak Irish get native names wrong; it is another language after all. However, when you are writing it, and it is written for you to reference, then getting it wrong is inexcusable.
TikToker Orlaith Mary shared a video on the social media platform of multiple emails she had received with her name misspelt. Over the video is a soundbite that says: “The spelling of my name is in my email.”
As we know, the name Orlaith is pronounced or-lah and most Irish people who have an understanding of the language who see the name will automatically be able to pronounce it. Plus, if you are of a certain age, you probably have a friend or two with the moniker.
But this isn’t the case for the people that Orlaith has been interacting with, who called her Olaf and Olaith, among other incorrect names.
@orlaith.mary It’s almost like it’s another language 🤔 #irishname #irish #work #workmeme #ireland #iykyk #uk #northernireland #officeprobs #emailprobs #namespeltwrong #trending #corporate #corporatelife #corporategirlies #corporatetiktok #corporatehumor ♬ The spelling of my name is in THE EMAIL - Cleverly Chloé
"It’s almost like it’s another language,” she captioned the video. Many people joked along in the comments, and others shared their own experiences of their names being mispronounced.
“A customer called me ‘Or Laugh’ last week, it’s literally intentional,” one said while another added: “Orlaiths rise, we must start a revolution.”
Others really took issue with the ‘Olaf’ with someone saying that they “didn’t even try."
“Olaf is OUTRAGEOUS, they didn’t even try.”
According to RollerCoaster, the name Orlaith is not only difficult to pronounce and spell, it also has a dubious meaning: ‘vomit’. However, it is more commonly cited as meaning ‘golden princess,’ which we much prefer.
*This article was originally published on EveryMum.ie.