How Do You Pronounce My Name?

Since I have a lot of new blog friends over the last year, I was thinking I should repost this.  Then just this past week, one of them asked me this very question.  So here is a repost from 2006, with a few changes.

A few months ago, one of my friends here asked me how to pronounce my name.  Still it didn't occur to me that I should tell everyone else.  I'm not sure why.  You would think after spending my whole life being called everything you can imagine, I wouldn't just assume that my friends here would know what my name is.  So for the ones of you who have never heard of the famous etiquette expert, Letitia Baldridge, I'll clue you in.  I guess phonetically, it would be----

Luh-Ti-sha  (any of you that know me have any better pronunciations?)  Don't drag out the "uh" sound too much though.  I'm southern, but not *that* southern!  Just run it all together.  The "i" in the Tisha part is pronounced short "i" like in "igloo".  My whole life, one of my grandmother's pronounced that "i" like "ee"  --Luh-Teesha.  Don't like that one! 

Growing up, my family and friends called me Tish or Tisha.  My family still does.  Part of this update is that I recently joined Facebook, and it has been really funny getting used to many of my old school friends calling me Tish again!  Fun, though.  Of course, there were the weird and annoying variations like Tishee that some family members came up with.  A few guy friends in high school decided I was Mortisha (Adams Family) in order to tease me.  One even called me Tush.  LOL.

It's interesting that I've always gone by my full name since being an adult.  I'm good with either.  You can call me Letitia or Tisha---and my friend, Sheila, can call me Tish! 

The name Letitia comes from the Latin laetitia, which means "joy".

So there you have it.  Now my question is--what have YOU been calling me in your head all this time as you read my comments?! : )

Letitia

(that's Luh-Tisha!)