I’m slowly updating my website. As part of those updates, I’ve included an article previously published on Shebytches on my Q&A page. Rest assured, I didn’t just post the column out of laziness. People are always asking me why I’m obsessed with the spelling of my last name. Yes, they email me at least twice a decade about this. So it made sense to include the post on my website.
Short Answer: Because it’s my name and I want it spelled right!
Long Answer: Can be read here.
Is your name constantly misspelled? Does it drive you nuts? Do you go to extra effort not to misspell someone else’s name, because you know how it feels? Or, like me, are you guilty of misspelling others’ names, too? (Granted, names that are a lot harder to spell than Procter. Like Damschroder).
My real name is simple enough to spell, but people I’ve known for YEARS still spell it wrong. So when I published, I took a pen name. Do you know it’s even harder for people to spell than my real name? They keep wanting to add an extra “E”–I’ve gone rounds with one of my publishers who insists on spelling it wrong! Yeesh.
I hate it when people spell my name Eddie. Eddie is a short “e,” not a long “e.” Don’t they remember their basic spelling lessons? Besides, though Edie isn’t a common name, it is out there.
Now that I got that out of my system, I know there are much worse things to get upset about. Anyway, I empathize with you.
MJ, every time I spell your name, I think, keep that damn E out!!! Fredrick. Not Frederick. It actually looks better with one E, but Frederick is the first name spelling, no? I think that’s the confusiong. People go with familiarity, like spelling Procter like Proctor because that’s the more common spelling (those two O’s remind me of owl eyes. I really, really despise them, LOL).
Edie, I can’t for the life of me figure out why people would spell your name like Eddie when it’s clear to brainiac me that Eddie is a man’s name and Edie is a woman’s name. Especially after the character Edie on Desperate Housewives made the name more “usual.”
But then I’m old enough to remember Edie Gourmet (not sure of spelling on that last name!) performing on the Carol Burnett show a few times a season. So Edie to me has always been the spelling. I had a great aunt Edith, so I tend to think of Edie as the short form of Edith, and you don’t pronounce Edith “Ed-ith.” You pronounce it “Ee-dith.”
In a way, all three of us are victims of the E. Well, I’m a victim of a missing E… But all three of us have names with E’s that get mispelled. Fredrick, Edie, Procter. I wonder if it’s a theme?
Would this be a bad time to mention that the word “proctologist” just popped into my head?
Maybe we should just call you CPK and leave it at that.
LOL, Avery. Yet another reason to spell Procter with an E.
Cindy, you cracked me up about a dozen times! Thanks for name-checking me. That was the first crack-up! 🙂 And your rant is just brilliant.
So funny about all of you having e problems. Mine is, too, though they always try to ADD an E to Damschroder (as Schroeder is the more common spelling of that part of the name). Even my best friends have done it in acknowledgments in their books.
It’s even funnier when people try to pronounce it. It’s exactly like it looks, but no one wants to “curse.” LOL
Natalie, I always have to remind myself NOT to put that extra E in your name. You know by now how fond I am of E’s. I want to fit them in wherever I can!