How should I treat people who cannot spell my name on LinkedIn?

Question

I'm registered on LinkedIn and I get invitations often. 6 out of 10 people who try to write down my name fail to spell it correctly. Sometimes it annoys me and I feel like writing a letter to them (although I've never done it) with someting like this:

"How should I expect professional behavior from someone who cannot read?"

Should I tell them that they spelled my name wrong or is this not something that is important?

Edit: My real name is on my profile: Adam Arold. They usually spell Arnold. Even if I look at my name like a complete stranger I can see the difference.

Answer 1

I frequently have people spelling my name wrong (it's Rachel, not Rachael), and I just be sure I have my name spelled correctly in the signature of every piece of correspondence I send them, even if it's something like a one-line reply.

In most cases, if the person cares enough about continuing corresponding with me, they'll notice and correct themselves after a few messages.

In the few cases this doesn't happen and I actually care enough to point it out to them, I'll comment about it when discussing something else, such as adding it in the end of a message in parenthesis so as to not make a big deal out of it. I also try not to be too accusatory in what I say, so I'll often mention it's a common mistake, or correct them with a smiley face to show there's no hard feelings about it.

(Also, I know it's a minor thing but my name is spelled as Rachel with only one A, and not the more common spelling of Rachael) :)

And if I never have a reason to talk with them, its probably because they're not important enough for me to bother worrying about the fact they spelled my name wrong in the first place, so I just let it slide

Answer 2

Do you know these people personally? Are these people (or you) "open networkers", adding people to your connections without actually knowing them?

If they aren't people that you know personally, and being connected to them isn't going to have any obvious benefits to you, I would suggest simply ignoring these requests. If they cannot spell your name properly when it's on the screen right in front of them, I would question their interest in forming a mutually beneficial relationship.

Answer 3

The reason people misspell your name isn't because they can't read, and it isn't because they're unprofessional. The fact is, you have an odd name, and it's unexpected.

People get used to patterns:

I was on my motorcycle commuting to work the other day, and the city just got finished repairing and reopening a bridge that had been closed for a year and a half. The 3 way stop that they temporarily setup was back to a main thoroughfare with a single stop sign at a road that terminates at a "T" at the main road. A lady in a big blue SUV almost hit me because she expected me to stop when making my left. I had right of way, but a week ago I would have had to stop. It's not that she was dumb, although I was a bit pissed off, and it's not that she can't read. I almost made the same mistake a few times when I thought a car was going to stop but instead went right by. For a year and a half, anyone and everyone who regularly commuted through this area had to stop, and just like that, the city removed the stop signs without warning, leading to mass confusion by people who allegedly know the roads.

Patterns in words:

Edit: My real name is on my profile: Adam Arold. They usually spell Arnold. Even if I look at my name like a complete stranger I can see the difference.

Huh? How can you possibly look at your name like a complete stranger? Did you just recently change your name a month ago to Adam Arold, or could your fasinating, mind-boggling ability to recognize the spelling of your name stem from the fact that it's been your name for the last 26 freaking years! ;)

The fact is, people get used to patterns, and when 99.999% of the people whose names look like Arold are actually Arnold, well you can't expect people to scrutinize something this close each and every time. We'd never get anything done because we'd be constantly looking to make sure Webster didn't decide that today is the day we start spelling "the" as "teh".

Aside from the "body memory" involved in doing any activity, consider that there's also a bit of psychology involved when reading words:

Source: Learn English - Can you read this?:

I cnduo't bvleiee taht I culod aulaclty uesdtannrd waht I was rdnaieg. Unisg the icndeblire pweor of the hmuan mnid, aocdcrnig to rseecrah at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mttaer in waht oderr the lterets in a wrod are, the olny irpoamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rhgit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whoutit a pboerlm. Tihs is bucseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey ltteer by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Aaznmig, huh? Yaeh and I awlyas tghhuot slelinpg was ipmorantt! See if yuor fdreins can raed tihs too.

the fact is that Arold and Arnold look so close that the human mind simply interprets it based on past knowledge of what it's seen before.

In short, it's a bit arrogant of you to think that someone is unprofessional just because you happen to have an extremely rare name that most people don't expect to see.

Lastly, I'd urge caution about sending your proposed letter to potential employers. I doubt that making them feel stupid will prove your worth to them as a future employee; instead, consider something like this:

Hello there! I just wanted to let you know I have an odd name. It's actually "Arold", not "Arnold". It's a common misspelling. By the way, I see you have an opening up for a X. Check my profile out, I think you'll like it!"

In conclusion, use this to your advantage!

Answer 4

I agree that getting someones name right, and other details, is important, and a mark of respect.

That said, this is going to happen to you frequently - it does to me too - and you can choose to allow it to define your professional relationships in a positive or negative way.

Consider - the sender is not big on attention to detail, which means if your response focusses on this, in their eyes you will be labelled as intolerant and pedantic.

By highlighting their errors, you will not gain any respect, no matter how politely you do so.

In practice, your original response was in no way polite, so they will probably add "short tempered" and "aggressive" to their mental list of your personality traits.

If it is a recruiter contacting you, then this information - their impression of you - will be placed into their files and notes. If its a company, this might go into their database.

I have found that a slightly unusual name is a huge bonus. It makes you stand out amongst the other applications, contacts and team members. I've found that most people who get my name wrong at first, either correct after a while, or even apologise, as the relationship grows.

I'm prepared to accept the occassional careless error as the price for this advantage.

Answer 5

Since most of us live under some form of Moniker, I have to ask is your name a unique name? Or at least unique to the United States? I have to ask since the majority of the people that use Linkedin are from the US.

Also, if the person isn't American, or from your country of residence, sometimes a spelling of a name is not as easy as you may assume.

My name is Matthew, people misspell it all the time, Mathew is common, I don't get frustrated, I just correct the person, and off we go with a communique.

I can understand if these are unsolicited, and normally people you'd normally never talk to, but sometimes a level of tolerance should be expected. Especially with the internet environment.

With the onset of short type, and the younger generations not actually knowing how to spell but using spellcheck as a crutch, you may need to accept this as the norm now.

If you don't you may lose contact that would otherwise be valuable to you later on in life, or in your current situation...

So to recap, you politely respond back and say something like, "I know it may have been a mistake, but my name is spelled **, thanks."

Also, remember sometimes biting your tongue may be your best bet.

Again, they could also be an African Prince telling you that you won a hundred million dollars too, so the option to what you want to do is really up to you.

Answer 6

Making sure you address someone by their proper name, either in voice or text, is of course a mark of respect of a fellow human being that should be expected in all interpersonal communication.

However, don't fly off the handle. Most of these mistakes, especially in initial stages of conversation, are perfectly innocent.

In particular, technology can often be more hindrance than help. I'm sure you have seen the merry mishaps that occur when a computer "decides" that when you typed one thing you really meant another. "Spell-as-you-go" aka "auto-correct" is probably the single greatest barrier to communication in the modern world, and most of us who care about saying what we mean turn these tools off. Case in point; "Arold" -> "Arnold" is a totally understandable abuse of auto-correct (in fact as I type this, Chrome has "Arold" underlined in red, with the first suggestion being "Arnold").

Both my wife and I constantly deal with this in casual communication. For my part, I'm often the victim of the grade-school rule, "I before E except after C"; "Keith" is from Gaelic, on which the "I before E" rule has absolutely no bearing (the rule is based on the major parents of Old English, Proto-Germanic and Proto-French). My wife's name is Darci (yet another red-tag by Chrome there), and that is constantly misspelled "Darcy", and we've also seen complete outliers like "Darcey", "Darsy" and similar.

You have two solutions. First, you can ignore it. Yes it's annoying, but it's also small stuff; of the 90 people who will transpose I and E in my name today, I will never speak to 80 of them ever again. Many times, the written form of your name is simply something for someone to call out when it's your turn (your lunch is ready, or the doctor will see you now, or whatever you might be waiting for at the time).

In professional communication, try a three-strikes rule (three messages from the other person with the misspelling, with replies from you containing your correct name in the signature line) before politely pointing out the error. If they ignore the correction, or take offense, walk away. You may have wanted the job, but you do deserve the respect of having your name spelled out correctly, even if it may cause a minor inconvenience.

In solicitation that borders on unwanted (you may be mildly interested, but the misspelling is a turn-off) then you don't need three strikes; if you want to respond at all, point out their error in your first response; again, if they ignore it or take umbrage at being corrected, walk away. Obviously spam's spam; completely ignore it whether they bothered to spell your name right or not.

Answer 7

Come on Arnold, it's not that big of a deal! (haha, don't hate me.)

How should I treat people who cannot spell my name on LinkedIn?

Scenario A: You are looking for a new job and really need one = your last name is now Arnold.

Scenario B: They are looking for you to hire them = Easiest action - ignore them. If it bugs you then why put up with them, wait for someone that get's it right!

Scenario C: Just tell them they spelled your last name wrong.

Scenario D: You just got back from the pub and log into LinkedIn - just tell them to f off and that they are worthless because they can't spell (this stuff really happens - there is an app to stop you from typing drunk by the way)

However, to be fair, that is a easy one to mess-up. It does look easy to make it Arnold, which is very familir - as Arold I have never heard of.

However, in conclusion, you should change your name to Arnold only because Google thinks it should be Arnold, and Google is supreme law (after Facebook):

(I'm going to send you an invitation on LinkedIn now.)