> I don't quite get it, but people often call me Doug. The really weird thing is when it happens when they only know me by "Donald". I can kind of understand confusing "Doug" and "Don"... Also, it is very weird when the person who mixes it up is a professional headhunter who has my name in about six different places via Monster.com, my resume, a letter of permission, me email address, my name at the end of an email... Plus, she has already sent me one email in which she correctly called me "Donald" at the beginning.
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> I can certainly understand being called Dave when I get hired at the same time as another new employee whose name is Dave. Mixing the two new guys up when they are known as "Don" and "Dave" makes sense. (That was at my last job.)
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> Does anyone else here have any stories about having their name mangled or changed completely? If not, I may have to tell the story of the day I was known as "Dowell" because I had a cold.
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> Don "You'd think I was going around posting to Forums under the wrong name or something" Monkey

Well, Dan, with over 40 replies to that question, you don't need to hear from me. But will that stop me? Nooooo.

I get really tired of being called "Harold."
Just because it has the same first and last letter as my name, is no excuse. There are people who have called me that for neary 50 years. Some are my wife's relatives who will sit there in a room full of people who call me Howard, and they continue to use Harold. Sometimes I correct them and say that I am Homer or Herbert, but the message doesn't get through. They can get my last name (Murrill) right, but never my first name. Only strangers call me Harold Merrill.

I think I told this story on this forum a long time ago, but it's worth repeating:
When I was in elementary school, it was the custom on the first day of school for teachers to call the roll from a list provide by the principal. When my name came up, it was always wrong, usually both first and last name. Being a stubborn kid, I refused to answer. Then when they finished, they would ask if there was anyone whose name had not been called. I would then raise my hand. They would ask me my name which I would pronounce very carefully in a loud voice. They would look down the list, say, "Here it is, Harold Merrill." It happened almost every year. Some of them would call me that for weeks before realizing that my name on my papers, in large block letters, was different from the one on the class roll.

I think getting your name right isn't too much to ask of people.
Howard