Charles (Chuck) Kensinger

Are you as fortunate as I and have an easy name to pronounce? Or do people sometimes fail to correct it because it is so simple? If you open your eyes and are familiar with the English language. I have been called Kissinger, Kingsinger, even Kaiser. It is of Germanic origin but that is stretching it a little much.

At a speech tournament in High School, I wrote my name on the blackboard for the Judge. I also had my school code and speaker number written there. We used only our last names. My name showed Kensinger. I used the appropriate spacing and only used capital on the first letter. After three preliminary rounds, our speech coach came to me and asked why I had not given my speech in the second round.

Another student from our school had spoken after me and was in the room for my speech. He or she confirmed that I had been in the correct room and gave my speech after the person listed before me. Mrs. Wiggins returned to the counting room and returned with the information that the Judge had recorded my name as Singer on the ballot. When questioned he replied that he thought my first name was Ken.

My Dad and his older brother Raymond worked together for around thirty years. Dad was a truck driver and Raymond was the dock superintendent. When I was in my twenties and working in sales, I called on the company. My Dad had taken disability, but Raymond was still there.

As I was talking to the truck mechanic, I mentioned that Ken was my uncle. I knew this man had been a friend of my Dad. He looked at me and asked who my father was. Raymond also had an older brother. I replied, “Evan”. “I don’t know him” was the reply. When I mentioned Dad had driven one of their trucks for almost thirty years. he looked at me quizzically and said, “Oh, you mean little brother.”

I have had similar problems with my first name. I receive letters for Chas Kensinger from time to time. Chas is an abbreviation for Charles. I prefer to be called Chuck and have used that name since entering college. A new employee at the company I worked for answered the phone and proceeded to tell the person on the line that Charles did not work there. He received an earful from my mother because she did not like my using Chuck. “You do have a Charles there and you call him Chuck which is not his name.” I apologized for her outburst and was told he did not know Chuck was a nickname for Charles.

I met myself while I was working that job. A gentleman named Charles Kinsinger came in and when I wrote up the ticket for the items, he was buying I asked how to spell his last name. He told me and I took out my business card and handed it to him and told him he was the guy that made people spell my name wrong.

If your name is more difficult than Jones or Smith, I sympathize with you. The more syllables the more difficult it is to spell and pronounce.

©Copyright 2022 by Charles Kensinger