Ess Ay Are Ay WITHOUT AN H at gmail dot com

August 22, 2016 8:11 PM

How do I get an email address I don't have to spell?

I have a sensible email address which consists of my first and last name at gmail. The problem is that both my first and last name are unconventionally spelled. I've been spelling my name out over the phone or to new coworkers, creative contacts, etc for going on 15 years now. And I'm sick and tired of it!

Even if I were to get my own site and host my own email, just my first name at whatever domain would need to be spelled out.

How do I make it so I never have to spell out my email address ever again?

Caveats:

- Should be professional enough to be on my resume, business cards, etc.

- Should be free or essentially free.

- Should not require a lot of tech savvy.

- Should be easy to say over the phone.

Ideally I'm looking for a creative approach to coming up with a new gmail account, not something that's going to require hours to set up.

posted by Sara C. to Computers & Internet (38 answers total)

Best answer: Two to three word phrase?

[e-mail]
Piemaker@
Itsybitsyspider@
Orangehat@
Fastrunner@

Probably none of these work unless you are a baker, but maybe a two word phrase related to tour job?

Realestatemogul@
Etc
posted by aetg at 8:15 PM on August 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

Initials plus some kind of job title / role? So: s[x][e-mail]?
posted by holgate at 8:17 PM on August 22, 2016

[e-mail]
in[e-mail]
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 8:17 PM on August 22, 2016

Even if I were to get my own site and host my own email, just my first name at whatever domain would need to be spelled out.

If you have a domain, you can set it up so that anything@yourdomain goes to the same email address. Or anything with some exceptions, since a lot of spam comes to info@ or webmaster@ (or did the last time I used my domain for email). At the very least, you could have sara@ and sarah@ going the same place.

If you want to keep it in gmail and short (though I do like the common word string thing too), initials+numbers is usually a winner. Stay away from o/0 and i/I/l and it's hard to get too wrong.
posted by supercres at 8:17 PM on August 22, 2016 [5 favorites]

Try getting both Sara.verbs@ and Sarah.verbs@. Easier with your own domain, although then you have to come up with the domain...
posted by matildatakesovertheworld at 8:18 PM on August 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

Meant to add, and then forward one to the other and only check one.
posted by matildatakesovertheworld at 8:19 PM on August 22, 2016

Keep in mind, if you do go with initials, you will be probably be doing the "S as in Sam, T as in Tango" thing, which you may or may not find just as annoying as spelling out your name.
posted by ELind at 8:21 PM on August 22, 2016 [4 favorites]

If you are going to have your own domain, just have [e-mail] as your primary, then have [e-mail], [e-mail], [e-mail], and any other permutation you've seen just forward to [e-mail]. Don't bother fighting the world over it. With most/any decent domain/email service, you can even set up a wildcard email address, so any email sent to [e-mail] can be forwarded to [e-mail]. You will get more spam with the wildcard address though.
posted by Mr. Big Business at 8:22 PM on August 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

initials+numbers is usually a winner

It's memorable, but numbers in an email is sometimes perceived as unprofessional, going back to the days of [e-mail]...

It's definitely easier with your own domain, but wildcard addresses are a bad idea, and many (serious) email hosts don't allow them these days. Just create aliases for every possible variant.
posted by holgate at 8:23 PM on August 22, 2016 [4 favorites]

Best answer: If I wanted the path of least resistance I would go with a two word combo with words that only have one spelling and reasonably only one pronunciation*, bonus if the words somehow make sense to each other. If you're going to go with your own domain this is much easier, because grilledcheese@ or cherrytree@ or brickred@ and stuff that makes sense is going to be long gone on gmail or whatever.

But, I mean, there is always someone somewhere who's going to be like "cherryfree???" or can't spell cheese. The struggle will never completely end.
posted by Lyn Never at 8:40 PM on August 22, 2016 [6 favorites]

I assume the gmail account with an "h" and without an "e" is taken, but if it is not, take that and forward it all to your real spelling at gmail.

Essentially, you would need to get 4 email addresses. Both ways to spell Sara with both ways to spell your last name.

I have a similar issue. Think Steven v Stephen. I have come to the conclusion that some people are just dumb, don't care or don't listen. I guarantee that if you got ABC at gmail.com there would be questions and mistakes.

I think your best bet to cut down on the spelling is to get something that describes your profession as noted above. TVProducer88@ type of thing.
posted by AugustWest at 8:44 PM on August 22, 2016

I don't know if it's possible. My email address is super easy to spell and I have a few sockpuppet emails that are also easy to spell... but still I have to spell them every time.
posted by pseudostrabismus at 9:03 PM on August 22, 2016 [3 favorites]

Similar name (ahem), and I have lastname first initial middle initial. Like smithje. Is that available anywhere?
posted by 8603 at 9:03 PM on August 22, 2016

I think it's impossible. Even if you got, like, [e-mail] there's going to be some addlepated ninny out there who thinks you spell that [e-mail].
posted by the marble index at 9:14 PM on August 22, 2016

Response by poster: I appreciate that there will always be SOME spelling to confirm, but right now my go to email shpiel is "my email address is Sara, like my first name, Es Ay Are Ay WITHOUT AN H, dot, Lastname, like my last name, spelled El Ay Es Tee En Ay Em Ee, WITH AN E, at gmail." And about half of people get it wrong anyway.

Clarifying that I did in fact say Cherry Tree or Pepper Jelly or what have you would be easier.
posted by Sara C. at 9:21 PM on August 22, 2016

All things considered, my husband chose his stage name (which is basically the name everyone calls him, including me, now) by the single-spelling single-pronunciation criteria plus it had to be unique to him when googled, and it is a silly name but the checks get spelled right every time.
posted by Lyn Never at 9:35 PM on August 22, 2016

My vote's to pay the $12 a year for a domain name that represents who you are. Then setup something dead simple like [e-mail]. The domain costs money, but you can get free email on your own domain at zoho.com (it's no gmail, but it does the job for the price)
posted by cgg at 9:49 PM on August 22, 2016 [1 favorite]

1. Get your own domain name using the two/three word system suggested above.

2. Set up [e-mail] to forward to [e-mail]. You'll easily be able to say "[e-mail]" over the phone.

3. Then you can follow up on emails with your "real" email address, [e-mail].

Note: "[e-mail]" and "[e-mail]" will always look more profesh than "[e-mail]."
posted by ejs at 9:50 PM on August 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

FWIW, I would not consider an email address like "orangehat" or "redhotcupcake" to be professional in my line of work (politics). It might be suitable in others.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:50 PM on August 22, 2016 [8 favorites]

> Try getting both Sara.verbs@ and Sarah.verbs@

As someone with both "sara" and "." in her e-mail address, I recommend against that. Don't have punctuation in the first part of your address.
posted by The corpse in the library at 10:23 PM on August 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

If you're A Creative then you can probably get away with a lot more. If you have a pen name, use that! "egypt like the country, at, urn ash dot com, like an urn full of ashes" is super easy for me to say and pretty reliable.

If all you ever go by is your Oddly-Spelt Full Name then you're pretty much out of this route. Unless you feel like adopting a new pen name effective immediately.
posted by egypturnash at 10:25 PM on August 22, 2016

> I appreciate that there will always be SOME spelling to confirm, but right now my go to email shpiel is "my email address is Sara, like my first name, Es Ay Are Ay WITHOUT AN H, dot, Lastname, like my last name, spelled El Ay Es Tee En Ay Em Ee, WITH AN E, at gmail." And about half of people get it wrong anyway.

Yes, those of us with conventionally-spelled names (or in my case, a conventional first name and a slightly unconventionally-spelled last name) have literally the EXACT SAME problem. All of it. Yes. The same. This is not a winnable war. Just get used to spelling or find a concise pithy way to explain.
posted by desuetude at 10:31 PM on August 22, 2016 [5 favorites]

On gmail, the dot doesn't matter.
posted by dame at 10:32 PM on August 22, 2016 [2 favorites]

Also as a Sarah with a long last name & my name as my email, I usually am only giving it once they've seen my name, and so I just say it's my name @ gmail and that usually goes over well.

(PS: I'm now convinced you're actually Sara Crewe.)
posted by dame at 10:35 PM on August 22, 2016 [7 favorites]

If you get your own site, just do [e-mail]
posted by fritillary at 11:36 PM on August 22, 2016

The problem is that both my first and last name are unconventionally spelled.

I'm confused by this, as a fellow unusually-named person who has never got away from an introduction without an affirmation on the pronunciation and a few questions on the first or the last or both. Surely the people you want to have your e-mail are also people you want to have your name?

Thanks, I am 99.9% sure, to a creep, kia.mennie was taken by the time I got Gmail. I followed some Canadian government dept's formatting and became mennie.kia@gmail. I nearly never need to spell this out, because the person on the receiving end has already heard 'K...eye...ay... Em...eee...double N as in Nancy...' When I get to the point of giving out my e-mail, they know they will be a moron if they have to ask if I have a different spelling for my name vs my e-mail, and, overwhelmingly, I am not asked. Like Lyn Never's husband, I'd assume.

Unless you are in the business of selling cinnamon cupcakes or cherry trees I don't think the short phrase idea will work very well for the 'professional' part. If I was looking for an estate agent and came across realestatemogul@ I would chortle at what I would perceive as insecurity and as unprofessionalism and go on to the next person. TVProducer88@ sounds less horrible for some reason, but still unprofessional and insecure -- I don't think there are good options for most fields that don't involve letting your own name or your own business name stand on its own merits.
posted by kmennie at 12:19 AM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

Random aside, since it sounds like your main question is mostly answered.

And about half of people get it wrong anyway.

My name is hard to spell, but one of my family members discovered that people's ability to spell it over the phone went up dramatically if we paused at different spots. So instead of telling people our name is "ABC DEF GHI," we now spell it "AB C DE FGH I." I'm not sure that'd help, but if you haven't, you could try spelling it for people "SA RA@LAST E" to see if that helps.
posted by salvia at 1:25 AM on August 23, 2016 [7 favorites]

I'm confused by this, as a fellow unusually-named person who has never got away from an introduction without an affirmation on the pronunciation and a few questions on the first or the last or both. Surely the people you want to have your e-mail are also people you want to have your name?

I give my email to plenty of people in person, where they have had no need to learn how I spell my name.
posted by the agents of KAOS at 1:30 AM on August 23, 2016 [1 favorite]

I agree with your own domain, but I suggest a three-syllable word or word combo (e.g., "redjacket") rather than a three-word combination. The three syllables, it seems, makes it easier to grasp in oral interactions.
posted by megatherium at 4:39 AM on August 23, 2016

Best answer: Initials and numbers? Like sl246? Then at least the spelling is the answer. This is how my workplace does email addresses, and unless your uncommon spelling is the first letter, "S as in Sarah, L as in Lastname, # #" is at least fewer syllables, and in my experience folks almost never get it wrong.
posted by tchemgrrl at 7:29 AM on August 23, 2016

I suggest getting a domain name that you like (which does not need to be your real name), and redirecting sarah@, sara@, me@, and whatever other addresses you want to be able to use to your canonical address. Do not set up a catch-all address, as that will catch all the spam.

Also, I should point out that I have a very easy-to-spell name, and I still need to confirm the spelling.
posted by adamrice at 7:43 AM on August 23, 2016

I have a common first name that can be shortened or not, and spelled two different ways. I have a last name that can be spelled two different ways. And for some reason, if I look someone dead in the eyes and say "with two [consonants]" people still spell it wrong.

I set up email forwarders for all of the variations people could make spelling my name and including or not including a dot and they all dump out to my one true email.
posted by DirtyOldTown at 7:43 AM on August 23, 2016

I go by my middle name socially -- Michele, one L -- in part because my first and last names are both uncommon and routinely butchered. People who only know me online, thus only ever see my name in writing, will still sometimes refer to me as Michelle in online discussions.

I had fantasies this would shut down the thirty minute long conversations IRL about my name where people butcher it, I say nothing, they realize they are butchering it because it sounds unfeminine in their native tongue so they have feminized it unintentionally and they start profusely apologizing, whereupon I assure them I am not offended as I have German relatives who pronounce it that way...etc ad nauseum. All it did was change the content of those thirty minute conversations to stuff like "But your first name is beautiful etc ad nauseum." "Yes, but it is impossible to order a pizza with it."

Having said that, if possible, go with something short to reduce the aggravation, like [e-mail]. If possible, keep the custom domain short too: [e-mail]
posted by Michele in California at 10:40 AM on August 23, 2016

When a phone connection is especially bad, or I don't trust the other person to get it right, I take another route. I simply say that I'll send them an email so they have all my contact info. The can reply to the email, and life is easier for everyone.
posted by hydra77 at 10:57 AM on August 23, 2016 [3 favorites]

Another problem in this is that you can't continue to use Gmail with your own domain unless you pay for a Google Apps account (I was lucky enough to get mine before you had to pay for such an account, and I'm grandfathered in).

If you don't want to set up a website, you can still get your own domain and choose another email provider. I use Fastmail, where I pay $40 a year (this is for a completely different domain name, of course, more professionally oriented). I have my Gmail grab mail every hour or so from that account, and Gmail will let me reply to with that account's email address as well.
posted by lhauser at 7:54 PM on August 23, 2016

Let me be a voice of dissent on using numbers in your email address. I hate dealing with email addresses with numbers in them, as either I must write them down (and subsequently forget where I wrote it) or forget the exact numbers (was it 46 or 64?). Also agree that numbers feel less professional to me; I'd much rather confirm the uncommon spelling of a name (which is something I'd probably have to do anyway) than try to deal with numbers if I can avoid it.

Definitely agree with the advice to pony up for a domain name and email service provider if it really bothers you though.
posted by Aleyn at 10:22 PM on August 23, 2016

I like salvia's advice for dramatic pauses during the spelling. My surname is one letter off from a common English word (downard -> downward) and so when I spell it, I go D O W, pause, N A, pause, R D. It seems to help if I don't give them a space to stuff in that second, unwanted W.
posted by sldownard at 12:45 AM on August 24, 2016

That reminds me of a trick I learned from my brother. I have a last name that sounds like a common word but is spelled differently. Whenever I need to spell it out, though, I never say my name out loud first, because people get an idea of how it should be spelled once they hear it. I just start spelling my name, letter by letter. So if my last name were Pharr, instead of saying (the equivalent of) "Far" and then spelling it out, I'd begin by spelling it out: "P-H-A-R-R."

Because my last name is very short (just three letters), people often expect me to keep going because they don't know how long it's going to be! But I just say "that's it!" after I get to the last letter if they seem unsure. And sometimes people ask how it's pronounced when I get done. At that point, I am happy to tell them.
posted by Conrad Cornelius o'Donald o'Dell at 9:57 PM on August 30, 2016