Call me Milo

When deciding on a name for our little boy, we thought about a lot of things. We wanted a name that wasn't common but wasn't weird. We wanted a name that was simple but had meaning for us -- Milo is a variation of the S.O.'s father and grandfather's name. I wanted a name that he didn't have to constantly spell out for people or correct their pronunciation (as I did with my maiden name).

I thought we did a pretty good job meeting those criteria, so imagine my surprise when twice in the past week, someone asked about the pronunciation of Milo. The first time it happened, I thought it was just a fluke. The girl at VillaKids asked, "Is it Meelo [she pronounced it with a long e] or Milo [with a long i]?"

The second time it happened, it was an older lady I've known for a while but have only corresponded with by email for several months. She's only seen Milo's name in print. "Are you pronouncing Meelo or Milo?" she asked when I saw her over the weekend.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that Milo's name wasn't as cut and dried as I'd thought.

For the record, it is Milo with a long i.

My maternal grandmother was Nina, pronounced with a long i rather than a long e. So I should have known that some people might look at his name and think "Meelo."

Tell me, have I doomed my little boy to a life of correcting the pronunciation of his name?

Sometimes I just call him "Cutie Pie."