"Your name is so hard to pronounce."

Why is this racist?

The dismissive attitude of not trying to pronounce a name correctly perpetuates racist attitudes and suggests that that person doesn’t belong and that their name isn’t worth learning.

When people encounter a name that is “beyond the white names that have been deemed norm,” it’s easy for them to assume that the name is challenging to say. Even if unintentional, mispronouncing names can other someone (make them feel excluded / make them feel like they do not belong). Names are deeply personal, powerful and very basic parts of who we are. Being dismissive, passive aggressive, unwilling to learn or refusing to pronounce a name correctly perpetuates racist attitudes and suggest that a person with an “unusual name” isn’t worth very basic levels of respect. Just because a name may seem unfamiliar or unfamiliar-sounding, doesn’t mean it’s any harder to say than any other word with unusual phonetics common in everyday life. Regardless of whether or not a name is objectively simple, short, and easy to pronounce or the opposite, it is common for people to claim it’s too difficult to say if it belongs to a person of colour.

In a BBC Article about name pronunciations, Xian Zhao, a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Toronto whose research focuses on name pronunciations, states that mispronouncing names “is a form of implicit discrimination. It sends a message that you are minimal…You are not important in this environment.” Basically, someone who is unwilling to learn the correct pronunciation of a name, or repeatedly mispronouncing names they deem too “hard” or foreign to them, is signalling to the person with that name that they aren’t worth very basic levels of respect. 

A few high profile examples of mispronounced names include a US Senator Perdue purposely mispronouncing and mocking Kamala Harris’ name in 2020 and organizers of the Ovation Awards mispronouncing the name of an Asian American nominee and using the wrong photo of the actor in 2021.

A 2012 study called “Teachers, Please Learn Our Names: racial microaggression in the k-12 classrooms” concluded that the mispronunciation of names of students of colour is a form of racial microaggression.

Additionally, assuming someone’s name is “too hard” because it may come from a different culture or ethnicity only perpetuates racist attitudes towards these groups.

Did you know: people with white sounding names are 74% more likely to get a call for a job interview versus those with a non-white sounding name? 

Studies show those who “whiten” the names on their resumes were twice as likely to get call-backs for an interview, compared to those who left ethnic details intact. That’s just one example of racial bias behind names.

Ultimately, our mindset and attitude surrounding peoples names is what’s most important. If you’re unsure, ask! There’s also no shortage of phonetic resources online to help today. As school is set to begin, teachers especially should take great care in pronouncing their students names correctly—we know name-based teasing and anxiety around mispronounced names, whitewashing of names, is prevalent in school settings. Putting in the effort of correctly pronouncing a name—regardless of that person’s race—is the least we can do for them.

When we try to whitewash names or we don’t take the time to ask someone how to correctly pronounce their name—and learn that pronunciation—we are creating a less inclusive environment, causing harm to those individuals, and perpetuating the racist notion that certain names (white sounding names) are superior than others.

Next time you encounter a name you’re not sure how to pronounce—ask the person. Let them know you want to get it right. Practice. Respect people’s names.