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Enforced? No, however, I do think it's a reasonable expectation that those close to you would respect you enough to pronounce your name the way you prefer. It's okay to remind people although I'd only worry about the people who are in my life day in/day out. For example, my dh and I named our dd Anna with the flat American pronunciation. Unknown to us, her kindergarten teacher pronounced it AH-nah because her bff's name was pronounced that way. Soon, everyone at school followed suit. The following school year, people were still pronouncing the name the same way and she was as well. At the end of that school year, she began asking family to use her preferred pronunciation. So she does introduce herself that way and will remind people on a social level of the pronunciation, however, the people she really cares about (family, friends) all say AH-nah. It really isn't a big deal in our family and in our experience, once strangers or new acquaintances realize the pronunciation, they honestly will make the effort.

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Re: Alicia, I really love the Spanish pronunciation yet there are several different pronunciations and it puts me off the name because no one pronunciation seems dominant where I'm from.

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Re: Elena, I'd say at least 98% of the time that people pronounce it the way they pronounce your aunt's name. The other few percent I get ELL-en-nah. That's funny that I get that more than your aunt whose name really IS ELL-en-nah. :-)

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Re: Nadine, I do prefer your pronunciation but can understand why people would instinctively say nay-DEEN because that's mainly what we've all heard. If this were me, I'd still introduce her the way I prefer. Throughout your dd's life, the important people will get it, believe me, and many others will make the effort.

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"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." -- Martin Luther King, Jr.

This message was edited 8/20/2016, 6:13 PM