Hello all -
I need opinions. I am 25 years old, and my parents named me Nina when I was born. Only problem is, they intended for it to be pronounced as 9-uh, not Neenuh. As you can imagine, this has provided me with a great deal of turmoil surrounding my name for my lifetime thus far. I have constantly been called "Neen-uh", even after I correct people. My family and friends have always called me 9-uh, but I basically answer to Neenuh in all other instances and rarely correct people when they call me by that pronunciation.
Recently, I began dating a person who, for whatever reason, got the pronunciation of "Neen-uh" stuck in his head and calls me by that although I have explained to him that it is not how anyone else in my life pronounces it. His friends and family all think my name is Neenuh, not Ny-nuh. This wasn't a big deal at first, but I am starting to feel a bit of identity crisis and can see this being a problem down the road (like, when he meets my friends and family and busts out the mispronunciation. I'm not sure they will appreciate that - especially my parents).
I have considered giving up on my first name entirely and starting to go by my middle name, which is Lorraine. Unfortunately, I like that name even less, but at least people would know how to say it. I thought maybe I could give it a different spelling, like Lorayne? However, my sister's name is Lauren, and it seems like Lorraine and Lauren be wayyy to similar. So, I'm at a loss. I hate my name and I don't know how to handle it.
What would others do in my situation?