I have a common name with alternative spellings, so it’s very much acceptable on my part that my name gets misspelled when I get called by the barista to claim my order. It’s on the rarest occasions they spell my name right though – because I’ve encountered “Isabel/Isabelle/Izabel/Ysabelle/Yzabelle”, etc one too many times. Sometimes I’ve been misheard for different names that aren’t even close to ‘Ysabel’ so when I order, I just stick to my first letter, ‘Y’.
Did you know that it’s actually common for baristas to misspell your name? This is a marketing/publicity strategy purposely done by cafe baristas. It’s very effective! If you want to know other reasons behind so, this article explains so as well!
We’ve gathered 15 circumstances where cafe customers have encountered the weirdest, most hilarious and most peculiar names written and called by baristas. Can you relate? Check them out below!
When the Spanish/Filipino way is applied – nicknames, pronunciation and the extra letters
“Pranky.” – Frankie P.
“They spelled my name with an h. “Jhastine“. Either that or it was just really bad handwriting, haha!” – Justine L.
“I said ‘BANGS’ but he misheard and mispelled it as ‘Bhogz‘, hahaha!” – Cara T.
“I said ‘Austin’, nilagay niya ‘Osten‘.” – Lyris D.
“Chilze.” – Chelsea M.
“Eariel.” – Aerielle A.
“They spelled it “Jeson“, pati pag bigkas ‘Jeson’ … ako na pala tinatawag, di ko alam, hahaha! Ayun inabot nalang sakin kape ko, hehe.” – Jason R.
“Laging “Don” instead of ‘Dawn’. Sometimes I spell it out or kapag tinatamad ako I try pronouncing it more sosyal para magets nila na ‘Dawn’ dapat, pero minsan push talaga yung ‘Don’, haha. Minsan wapakels na ako kung ‘Don’ ilagay. But there are times din naman na they get it right and I feel happy that I don’t have to spell it out or correct them.” – Dawn M.
“They spell J with a y and pronounce j as H. So I’ve had my name written as ‘Yacky‘ even ‘Yecky‘ so we always use Jared which is still wrong because they usually call out ‘Ha-reth’ written ‘Jaret‘ on cup.” – Jackie F.
When the barista is just as hungry as the customer
“one time nilagay sa cup ko “Hunts.” MUKHA BA AKONG PORK AND BEANS HUHU PORK OO PERO WALANG BEANS… :((” – Hans B.
“I told the barista my name was KC and she wrote “Glazy“. I am a donut. :(((” – Kylene C.
When you have a unique name
“Too many to mention! Like this one. [Actually], my nickname is Pei and it ends up like Bea, Bae, or Fay.” – Pierrei Anneliese P.
“HAHHAHA it was in 2013. Nightingale is my 3rd name, so I told the barista that. Then he wrote “Night in Gail“. – Louise M.
“Always!! I stopped trying at times, hahaha. I just use a different name.” – Lerizze D.
“I never expect them to get it right ever, HAHAHAHAHHAHA!” – Czeskah Knicole Eunhyzz M.
When the customer gets “alternative names” for “the greater good”
“Puede intentional misspelling? Sasabihin ko, Gary V. Hehe!” – Levi A.
“Kiesha = Katrina, Kelsey, Karina, Carmina and other names that aren’t even close to my name. One time I think they just gave up so they wrote “K“. Props of having a “complicated” name though, sometimes they just write “Beautiful”. I’m not complaining about that! :P” – Kiesha E.
When the name is so common, the variety of spellings are just as vast
“They put ‘Amelia‘. – Emilia S.
“My name’s spelling isn’t common so yes, its either Nico, Nikko, or Niko, hardly ever Nicko. But when i tell them my name is Chester they never got it wrong. Save for that one time, they wrote Jester.” – Nicko E.
“Common name pero masyadong common din ang mga variations = Hana, Hanna, Hanah, Ana, Anna, Anne.” – Hannah S.
“Rica parati.” – Ricca G.
“I always get a guy’s name like Luis, Lewis, Louis or Lois. I always feel so thankful if one barista gets my name right. Like THANK YOU YOU DON’T THINK THAT I’M A GUY, hahahahaha!”- Louise M.
When the barista just… didn’t get the message
“I even spelled it for the guy.. all I got was a “?” written instead of my name.” – Dikki M.
“Barista: Name na lang sir for the cup? Me: Paulo with a U. Barista
Barista: Paolu. Ü” – Paulo B.
“I said my name is Anne and he wrote, “N“.” – Anne Rhoda C.
When the barista tries to be… punny
“Barista: Name for the order?
Me: It’s Flo.
Barista: So do you go with the…flo?ALL THE TIME.” – Flo D.
When the baristas basically just gave themselves a hard time
“This happens almost every time. :(( “Val” becomes “Van” huhu 3 letters na nga lang..” – Valerie P.
“From super simple na ‘Tin’ to ‘Czhim‘ ‘Kim’ or ‘Chin’.” – Kristin G.
“Menchie.” – Nancy V.
“Jansint.” – Jansen D.
“Me, always!!!!!! They always spell it Marge or Marg!! One time the girl spelled it Mharj (????)” – Marj M.
“I said Sab, they spelled ‘Sum‘. – Sabrina C.
“For some reason, I’ve gotten “Ivan” around 3 times, already.” – Jaime L.
When you hear it from the barista herself
“I used to be a barista for a year, mas okay saamin ung sinispell yung name nila when they order, or some baristas ask if it’s without “H” or with “H” on their names. At some point, we get to know more about that person. Mas maganda kasi pag tama spell and pronounciation ng name when they call out your drinks kasi yung iba natawag na pala yung name iba lang ang pag pronounce kaya akala nya hindi kanya. So tendency, tatagal yung drink sa hand off area. So mas okay kung spell out kay barista yung name, mas okay samin yun.” – Pauline A.
What do you think about this story? Share us your mispelled moments with us too in the comments below!
Disclaimer: WheninManila.com does not own these photos, photos have been used with kind permission from the respective owners.
