What's in a name?

As many of you know, my name gets mis-pronounced all the time. I've had to deal with it and correct people ever since I was a young lass. I understand it is confusing so I try to work with people and help them out! : ) The thing that bothers me, however, is when people say to me, "Ughh, why does it matter? 'ANN-drea' is the same as 'On-dri-ah', just get over it".

Seriously?!? This got me thinking about the importance of names. I personally love my name, and get frustrated when people mispronounce it. It's unique, I've never met anyone else who pronounces it the same way I do. (That is, of course, besides Andrea from 90210). I've never been a person who likes kids that much and one of my apprehensions about even the thought of children is the name decision. I'm sure this seems silly to some of you, but think about it...the name you chose for a children will stick with them for the rest of their lives. That is the association people will have with your offspring. You don't want to pick a super common name, yet you don't want to pick a name too out there or the child will spend the rest of their live correcting people. Talk about pressure!

The thing that puzzles me about my name is this...I understand when it is written it looks like "Ann-drea". However, when I meet people for the first time and verbally tell them what my name is, what is the excuse for the mispronouncing? Maybe I'm being too hard on people but I don't think my name and the traditional Andrea sound alike at all. "Ann-drea" has a very harsh sound associated with it and I personally dislike that.

Maybe I'm making a huge deal out of nothing but listen to me when I say it STINKS having to correct people your entire life...especially when you actually enjoy your name! The next time someone asks you, "What's in a name" the answer should be this...A LOT!