Recently, I moved to the UK due to the war in Ukraine and have noticed that people here struggle to spell my name correctly. As a result, I would like to ask for suggestions on alternative versions of the name Vitalii that are easier to pronounce. Thank you in advance for your replies.

  • SomeoneElse@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    ·
    1 year ago

    Is it spelt Вітaлій or Віталію in Ukrainian? I don’t think I’d have any problem pronouncing or spelling your name in it’s romanized form, but I did complete the duolingo Ukrainian course so I have a little bit of familiarity with the language.

    You’ve probably noticed the different ways Зеленский is spelt in English; Zelenskyy, zelensky, zelenskiy… Й doesn’t translate seamlessly to English and ий is even harder. I’d say Zelensky is the easiest to read/spell for English people. On that basis I’d go with Vitaly for strangers.

    I can’t see why your English friends and co-workers can’t get used to Vitalii though. It’s really not that hard. But then I have a very common first name of French origin and a common Irish surname. It’s extremely rare for someone to pronounce my name correctly 🤷🏼‍♀️

    Радий знайомству Віталій. Слава Україні!