I feel your pain, Fay. Mine's Ellen and besides getting the Helen and Allen, I get Eileen and Elaine frequently. It really doesn't bother me, I learned very young to speak up quickly to correct it after someone thought they heard me say Cherry Warren for Ellen Morin and wrote it that way on a name tag. Not that I didn't think Cherry wasn't a cute name, but it wasn't me.

Do you pronounce it differently from Nicola?

Nope - same name. Nicola, Nichola, Nicolla - there were people with all these spellings in my class at High School.

Nickle. Uh.

I do favour the abbreviation Nic.

But not Nicky. The English language lacks terminology of sufficient force to do justice to the strength of my emotion on this point. NOT Nicky. Or Nikki. Or Nicki. Or any variation thereof. Nic. Yes. Or Nichola. Or Hey You, or Bitch, or Whatzername, or what you will. But not, oh a thousand times not, Nicky.

shudders.

I'm very relieved to see that I pronounce your real name correctly, Fay. It's a lovely name. I'm boggled, though, at the people who have tried to correct you and ita on the spelling of your own names. Buh? I mean, even if it were some outlandish and bizarre collection of sounds that appeared to be an utter mispronunciation, it still wouldn't matter -- you're the owner of the name, however you say it is the way it's said, at least to you. How hard is that for the humans to grasp?

Apropos of nothing, I remember a girl from my high school named Fritha Nicoletta Schermerhorn. Her full name flows beautifully and sounds very pretty, but Lordy, she must be exhausted by now with the endless re-spelling and pronunciation correction, poor thing.

Nope - same name. Nicola, Nichola, Nicolla - there were people with all these spellings in my class at High School.

I've never encountered your spelling, but I did go to school with at least three girls named Nicola. Hadn't occurred to me that it was less than common outside the Commonwealth. I think they went by Nicky if they abbreviated.

Honestly, I never abbreviate someone's name if I haven't seen them accept the abbreviation from someone else, and even then only if I consider myself on the same social footing as the person who used it.

I think forced nicknames are arrogant and contemptible, and will therefore never call someone something they've asked me not to call them, even in jest.

I can understand not being able to pronoce you name properly if someone just read it. - but once you learn how to pronouce it, the americans ought to rember it. and I think Nic suits you, in a whole different way than Fay suits you.

ION, my cat will not shut up. I can not make it stop raining , but he wants me to, NOW.

and , I did not have to go in for jury duty. this is good.

But not Nicky. The English language lacks terminology of sufficient force to do justice to the strength of my emotion on this point.

I feel the same way about Stephie. My father, and sometimes my mother may use it. THAT'S IT.

My parents deliberately gave us un-nickable names.

I thought I did that with K-Bug and CJ (un-nickable names), and yet....

my sister's name is Jenny. not jennifer. she has corrected a lot of people.

I do favour the abbreviation Nic.

Me too. Some friends started calling me Nic in high school and it just sort of stuck.

But not Nicky. The English language lacks terminology of sufficient force to do justice to the strength of my emotion on this point. NOT Nicky. Or Nikki. Or Nicki. Or any variation thereof. Nic. Yes. Or Nichola. Or Hey You, or Bitch, or Whatzername, or what you will. But not, oh a thousand times not, Nicky.

What she said. Except for the Nichola part. I was call Cola for about a year but, thankfully, that one didn't stick.