It's spelled L-A-R-I-S-A

When people hear my name for the first time, they frequently tell me how beautiful it is. I always smile appreciatively and tell them that I can't take credit for it--it was all my mom's idea :-)

As with most beautiful things though (i.e. a rose), there is a thorny side too. 95% of all people do not say my name correctly, and I would guess 100% don't spell it correctly. Having had my name my entire life, I'm not sure what is so hard about pronouncing it and spelling it. As a teenager, I was vigilant about correcting everyone, but since I have become an adult, I'm much more lenient. I would suspect that most people around me call me "Larissa", rhyming it with Melissa. It's always funny to see people's faces when they say my name wrong and are corrected by another friend of mine who says it correctly.

This used to be my spiel about my name (to try and help people remember it). It's Larisa, like Teresa, but it starts with an "L". You will want to say it like Melissa, with two "s"'s, however, it's spelled with only one S. Therefore, it's Larisa. There are two of the same letter in the name, but they are "a"'s. LArisA. Two A's, but only one "s".

Inevitably, after I had told people this whole deal, they would come up and call me Larissa. Even now, when I sign my name at the end of an email, people address the reply email to Larissa. People who have known me for 20+ years are beginning to go back to spelling my name Larissa.

I can only imagine what people would say if their name was treated so loosely. Tom, for Tim. Janice, for Janet. Ethan, for Nathan.

Come on, people. What does it take to get it right?