My name has been a source of pride and sometimes shameful.

👉🏽I have had my name repeatedly mispronounced: They are pronounced Geee…..vaaa (following the sounds of words), when it is just a “G and va”.

👉🏽I have had and still until today my name repeatedly misspelled: It’s spelled as a “J” instead of “G”, especially in the Asian culture. I sometimes have to quickly jump in to say, it’s a “G”.

👉🏽I have had people who said, I thought you were a male because of your name.

Despite that, I had a new acquaintance who said otherwise …..

“I like your name, it’s truly Indian but also sounds easy to spell globally. When you say “Geeva” there is a lot of intensity being felt”.  ❤️

Addressing a person by their given name incorrectly is not just a matter of being rude or not being polite. It’s also a diversity and inclusion issue, it suggests that you’re choosing your own linguistic comfort over your identity.

The better way is to ask:

⭐️ I want to make sure that I say your name correctly. Could you please pronounce your name for me? If you didn’t catch it the first time, politely ask them one more time.

⭐️ You have a very unique name; how do I pronounce it or how is it spelled?

Remember, when somebody gave a name to their child – it came with a lot of planning and choosing a perfect name, with big dreams and hope.

Let’s show some #respect!

#civility