The ABC's of Inclusive Language: N is for Names
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Names are central to inclusive language.
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1. A few years ago, I had to interview someone in London named Ciaran. I was pretty sure I would need help pronouncing it correctly.
So I looked up “how to pronounce Ciaran” and compared a few videos and baby name entries. Because I’m a linguist, I could use the IPA to write his name phonetically, but otherwise I would have written “KEE-rin.”
When he hopped on Zoom, I said, “Hi, you’re Ciaran, right? I’m Suzanne, nice to meet you.”
He broke out into a huge smile. And then the next five minutes were spent with him asking me how I knew how to say his name right, thanking me for taking the time, and telling me horror stories involving his name. Only after this outpouring of emotion and stories could I get to my interview questions.
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2. A woman named Tina was the only Black person in her office, and for a year straight, her colleagues had been saying her name wrong – calling her Tiana, Tiara, or Tia. After a year of politely correcting them, she’d had enough. And she asked Reddit if she should just start calling them wrong names as well. Like if Charles called her Tiana, calling him Chad in response.
It may seem small to mispronounce a name. But imagine how Tina felt after a year of her teammates repeatedly saying her name wrong, even after being corrected. The message was clear: you’re not important enough for me to put in any effort. You don’t matter enough for me to be careful. You’re different, so I’m going to highlight that with an “exotic” name like Tiana, not a “normal” name like Tina.
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3. A senior manager told me about how his team used to have just one Latine man, Miguel, until Miguel left for another company. A few months later, he hired Antonio, who also had Mexican parents.
And people on his team, especially the ones working in satellite offices, kept on calling the new hire, Antonio, the name of their old teammate, Miguel.
The manager was horrified. And he could see how upset Antonio was that his colleagues called him Miguel. Because it showed they didn’t even know who he was. And it suggested that all Mexican men were interchangeable.
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Misnaming violates several inclusive language principles: accurately reflect reality, don’t disrespect someone, don’t marginalize someone, don’t erase people.
What can you do?
1. Take the time to learn how to pronounce someone’s name correctly.
2. If you see someone’s name being consistently mispronounced, step in and make a correction. “Actually, it’s Tina, not Tiana.”
3. If you see someone being consistently misnamed and mistaken for “the other one,” run interference and make corrections. Consider pointing out how biased it is that two people from an underrepresented group are seen as unimportant and interchangeable.
Making sure people feel seen, heard, and important? That’s inclusive language.
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