Seems a lot of people don’t know how to pronounce my Christian name: Janet.
To me it seems obvious – but apparently it’s not, judging by the number of people who’ve mispronounced it over the years.
The easiest way for me to explain is to say that Janet rhymes with “planet” and also “granite”. As in:
- Janet has a head of granite;
- Janet is from another planet.
And yes, I might have heard both just a few times back in my school days.
If you’re really stuck, just think of the famous song “Dammit Janet” from the Rocky Horror Picture Show (a cult classic which I’ve actually never seen).
The Reality of Being Janet
However, most people mispronounce it as Janette, putting the emphasis on the final syllable, so that Janet sounds like “Annette”, except with a “J” in front of it.
I get called “Janette” regularly, and to be honest, it really doesn’t bother me; I’m not precious about it at all. Over the years I’ve encountered some weird and wonderful pronunciations of names that are quite common for middle aged women, like these:
- Karens, who insist on being called Car-en;
- Susans, who prefer to be addressed as Suzanne;
- Maries, who refuse to answer to anything except Maa-ree;
- Annas, who want to be Ahhh-na;
- Simones, who loathe being called Si–moan, and want to be called Si-mon;
- and even an Andrea who wanted to be known as the more posh sounding On-drey-a.
In fact, it was only recently that I actually corrected somebody’s pronunciation of my name, for the first time ever … and let’s just say it didn’t go so well!
Janet or Janette?!
I was the guest speaker at an event, and chatting to the MC beforehand, I noticed she called me “Janette”. Seeing as how she would be introducing me, I thought I should probably set her straight, so I told her as gently as I could, “Actually, it’s Janet”.
Poor love, she desperately wanted to get it right but when it came time to introduce me she mucked up the first mention, and called me “Janette”, and then got so flustered that she kept mixing up Janet and Janette throughout!
I felt so sorry for her, I resolved there and then never to correct the pronunciation of my name again.
Janet or Janette – it’s all the same to me …
Do people often mispronounce your name – and do you usually correct them?!
Karen says
I think I might be able to commiserate – I am a Karen who often gets Kaaah-ren, Kieren, Karon or even that one day that I was called Kevin!! My surname makes it a double whammy – Le Roux which gets all sorts of interesting interpretations! I am like you in that I rarely correct people, and I have learned to respond to anything as long as it is polite:)
Janet Camilleri says
Oh I’m with you on the surname woes too Karen. Camilleri certainly gets some interesting pronunciations – like calamari, LOL.
Susan Maclay says
Ha ha , Janet you are hilarious. My name is Susan, I don’t have problems with the pronunciation but the spelling, why do people insist on plonking a “Z” right in the middle of it when it is spelt the traditional way with an S?
I think Janet {and yes, I pronounce it correctly} is a lovely name and many years ago I named my bride doll —— JANET. Janet Brown. Love it.
Janet Camilleri says
Nawww what can I say except that you have great taste in names Susan x
Denise says
Hi, my name is not Dennis, it’s Denise!
Janet Camilleri says
Ouch!! That *would* get annoying Denise.
Lise says
Hi Janet, I can relate as well. My name is Lise, which is French Canadian and I have a lot of virtual English speaking friends, so I don’t hear them call my name until I get on skype with someone…I mostly get called Liz. It’s easy to pronounce, just think of ‘ease’ and add an L at the beginning 🙂
Janet Camilleri says
I must confess I’m not sure how to pronounce your name but in my head Lise rhymes with fleece? Is that right?
Sammie @ The Annoyed Thyroid says
I think it’s an Australian thing with the variation on the pronunciation of names. Being a pom it gets me so confused. Lucky I’m called Sam so no one really gets to stuff that up! I knew you’d be a Janet (as in planet) because Janette (as in Annette) has a totes different spelling! I think you did the MC a favour, I’d much rather be called out on my pron, than repeatedly saying their name wrong!
Janet Camilleri says
Not much chance of mispronouncing “Sam” … but do you often get people think you are a male rather than a female??!
Leanne | www.crestingthehill.com.au says
My mum wanted to pronounce my name as Lee-arne – really??!! What was she thinking? Fortunately it never happened and nobody has trouble with Leanne. I do have a friend named Sharon who changed to Shah-ron when she was in her 30’s – very confusing for everyone. Her new husband calls her Shah – just weird! I must say I’m amazed at Janet being mis-pronounced.