Tough Names Test Graduation Announcers

After years of hard work in high school or college, graduates and their parents look forward to hearing their names read aloud during the graduation ceremony. For some, that's a lot to ask.

Imagine having to read this name in front of thousands of people: Bich Ngqc Nguyen. Or Urarat Buranakongkatree.

That's what Dr. Chris Roberts and Harvie Nachlinger were facing for the University of South Carolina's graduation ceremony Friday afternoon. They're both journalism professors who end up reading aloud about 1,300 names each during the course of three ceremonies.

They got a list back in April with all the graduates' names. They divided the list, then went through the names looking for ones that would be difficult to pronounce.

Roberts explains, "My graduate assistant will go through the USC phone directory, which is online, look up the email addresses for each of the students who I've identified as having a troublesome name. We will send email to those students; give them a web address with a unique ID that only they would know based on the email that we send to them."

The students are then supposed to give a pronunciation guide for their name on the web site so the professors can compile a list. If a student doesn't respond with a pronunciation, "We do the best we can," Roberts says.

For example, Xiaoyi Zhang has written next to it sheow-YEE (rhymes with meow) zhANG (rhymes with gong).

And Bich Ngqc Nguyen? It's pronounced Bic Nuh-OC Nwin.

The announcers have to be thorough, though, because sometimes even names that don't look like they'd be difficult are pronounced differently than they appear.

For example, one graduate's middle name is Glenna. Looks simple enough. Except it's not pronounced Glen-uh, it's pronounced Glen-nay.

Roberts points to another one on his list. "Give me that last name," he says, pointing to Mauney. It's not Maw-nee? No. It's pronounced Moo-nee.

To make things even more difficult, Roberts and Nachlinger have to memorize those pronunciations. As each student comes up to walk across the stage, he hands them a card with his name and any honor that's to be read. Roberts and Nachlinger read one name about every three seconds, so they don't have time to get the card, look at the name and find it on a pronunciation guide.

So they do mess up sometimes.

"The students will, some of them will let you know because they're walking right past you. And I can give them a frowny face. If it's really bad I can stop and say, 'Correction' and try to get it right. But I do the best I can and have to move on," Roberts says.