I've been aware for many years that my name is not something people hear every day. And because of this, I decided to keep a mental checklist of the most common and exciting names people have come up with instead of asking me what mine is again, as well as responding to anything that sounds similar. Keep in mind that some of these incidents happened at Chick-fil-a because my voice has a lower tone and I'm naturally quiet. But I'm sure I'm not the only one who has had this problem.

Starting with the most common mess up, a lot of people have called me Audrey. And I understand why. Audrey is the famous, sporty cousin to Audra. Am I categorizing my name as the nerd or outcast? No. But you hear Audrey a lot more, and even see it on nicknacks, unlike my experience of being disappointed at gift shops.Therefore, it's my number one.

The next has happened at least five times, and I'm not sure how, but different people have come up with Audrea. Maybe they heard the 'a' at the end, and it clicked. If this was a semi-common name, I might understand, but I've never heard the name before. So, upon hearing this a second time, I figured someone had this name, and I just never went to school with someone with it. And every time I hear it now, I respond anyway.

Then there is the fact I've been called Ann. Not only is it shorter than my name, but it sounds nothing like it. As much as I love going to Chick-fil-a, this one was a shocker. I had to do a double-take before realizing that they were referencing to me. And after acting like it didn't matter, even though I was confused, this one immediately made my list.

The last one is I've seen on my friend's phones, apparently put in the day we exchanged numbers: Adura. According to one of my female friends, she never thought about changing it. And I don't insist either. I know it is on more than one of their phones. I've probably done the same to others when I took their pronunciation and used that to spell their names out. So, honestly, I can't be upset.

This slight issue is something I'll have to face my entire life, even if I hold adults to a higher standard than kids with what I go by. If my cousin could say it when she was barely school age, it's probably not that hard of a name. But that's my personal opinion, isn't it? Everyone has issues with their name in some way, and that will be a trend for the rest of time. I just have to live with it.