Nomenclature

I've been thinking about my name lately.

I'm a little bit over it, to be frank. I never used to think it was that complicated, but lately I've started to notice how often I need to repeat myself when I say it, or how often I trip over the keys while typing it out, or how it's just stupid when you think about how someone from a Non-English-Speaking-Background would pronounce it.

My surname in particular is a bit of a problem. B R Y A N. Pronounced br-EYE-an. Learning Estonian and German (and dabbling in other language I'm not supposed to be learning) has lead me to believe that a name with a Y in it is just asking for trouble - especially if it's pronounced like EYE. I've been thinking for some time that I might try to go with either my middle name or my Grandmother's maiden name when I move to Estonia, just to make things easier on the people around me. My cousin switched to Alas for professional purposes when he moved to Estonia. Partly because "Dullroy" is even worse than "Bryan".

As for my first name? I'm just a little over the number of syllables in it. Two is getting to be too many - especially with the R in the middle of it. Do you know how many ways you can pronounce the letter R? Of course you do, I've rabbited on about it endlessly. Quite frankly, I don't think I could be bothered trilling it properly so that people would understand how to spell it based on my pronunciation.

I used to be called "Shazz" a fair amount in high school, which is easier on the tongue. I've often wondered, though, if I could get away with calling myself "Shan" (as in Sh-ah-n) - like the Irish "Sian", but without the crazy Celtic spelling. I've accidentally typed it that way a few times (or as "Sharn"), and every now and then when I get over-tired and a bit lazy I've caught myself saying it that way.

I think it would be good to have a name that sounds more-or-less right when you slur it incoherently. Having a name that requires annunciation is just old, man. I'm, like, totally over it.