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Hello Ladies and Gents!

This has been bothering me for the last couple of years. When I was 16-17y old I had a problem with explaining my US/UK friends how to pronounce my surname - "Wieczorek". After few failed attempts I decided I should look it up in dictionary and find the translation.

The word "Wieczorek" im my language (polish) means the diminutivation of word "Evening". It's not said if it's "Soiree" kind of evening or not - it's the word just by itself. And it doesn't sound like diminutive, actually it sounds pretty hard.

So my question is: is it ok to use the word "Soiree"? I mean, does it sounds ok? Have You ever heard this surname in english spoken countries?

(Ofc I'm not talking about using it officially ;) )

Regards, Paul

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    I'm not sure many people in the US would be able to pronounce it any better than "Wieczorek".
    – Hot Licks
    Apr 23, 2016 at 13:05
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    I'm voting to close this question as off-topic because it's about foreign proper nouns, not English
    – FumbleFingers
    Apr 23, 2016 at 13:13
  • My suggestion. Don't worry about it. Keep your name as is. Not everyone will pronounce your name correctly at first try. It's okay.
    – NVZ ♦
    Apr 23, 2016 at 13:42
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    The dictionaries I consulted suggest that the surname Wieczorek should be understood not as "little evening" but as "little evening creature", viz a flittermouse. If you want to pun on your name I suggest you introduce yourself by saying "I'm Batman".
    – StoneyB on hiatus
    Apr 23, 2016 at 14:03
  • Certainly if you simply want a nickname then "Woz" would be readily accepted, as would "Wiz" (or "Whiz"). And you might even want to consider "Wize".
    – Hot Licks
    Apr 23, 2016 at 21:04

1 Answer 1

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'Soiree' sounds unnatural. Don't change your name. There are others with your last name, like a professor at Stanford University, and a politician in New Hampshire. Just be proud of your name. I'm proud of mine, and mine isn't so easy either.

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  • Cathy, thank You for the answer. I didn't want to literally change my surname, just need to use some kind of alternative in domain name for example because I really doubt anyone would remember how to write "Wieczorek" in adress bar if they don't have my business card. I'm really proud of my name because of the things my dad done :)
    – psoiree
    Apr 24, 2016 at 11:45
  • @psoiree You could shorten it to Wiec - what do you think? That's pronounceable.
    – Cathy Gartaganis
    Apr 24, 2016 at 11:48

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