People with easier-to-pronounce names were more likely to be favoured for political office and for job promotions, according to a study by researchers at the University of Melbourne and NYU Stern. The effect didn’t depend on how long, unusual or foreign-sounding a name was, only on how easy it was to say. The researchers also noted that people simply aren’t aware of the subtle effect names have on their judgments.

Councils say people’s names out loud more than most organisations do, to residents, to colleagues and in front of whole rooms, so they have more chances than most to get it right.

Why this matters more in local government

Councils serve communities that are often more diverse than their own staff directories. In the UK, for example, a 2022 study of 371 councils found that ethnic minorities were underrepresented in council workforces compared with the local population. Census data shows the same variety among residents: in some areas, close to one in five people has a main language other than English. That means the names a council hears every day come from many languages, and the spelling often doesn’t tell you the sound, the tone or where the stress falls.

Most people mispronounce a name because they have no way to check, not because they don’t care. Asking feels awkward, and asking a second or third time feels worse. Therefore people guess, avoid using the name, or they just give up altogether.

Councils have more high-stakes moments than most organisations:

• Ceremonies and civic events: citizenship ceremonies, civic awards, remembrance events
• Elections: candidate and counting-agent names read aloud at declarations
• Registration services: births, deaths, marriages
• Frontline services: housing, social care, customer services, school admissions
• Members and officers: councillors, committee chairs, and new colleagues

There’s no second take at a declaration or a ceremony. Preparing in advance is the only option.

A simple fix: hear it from the person themselves

Saying someone’s name properly is one of the smallest ways to show respect, and one of the easiest to get wrong. Studies point to a link between correct pronunciation and a stronger sense of belonging and psychological safety. Hearing our own name lights up our brains in a way few other words do, and research indicates that hearing it said wrongly can leave people feeling shut out. A slip that looks harmless to the speaker can feel very different to the person on the receiving end.

The most reliable fix is also the simplest: let people say their own names. Guessing from the spelling doesn’t work, and phonetic respellings only get you part of the way. The surest way to get it right will always be hearing it from the person themselves.

This works both ways. When you listen to how someone says their name, you get it right. When you record your own, you give everyone else the same chance. For a council, that applies to residents, staff and elected members alike, and the easiest place to begin is with what you already do.

Where to start

You don’t need a brand new big programme. With a tool like SayMyName, where anyone can search a name to hear it and record their own, a few small steps can make a visible difference:

1. Add it to onboarding. Ask every new starter and newly elected member to record a pronunciation card in their first week.
2. Prepare for ceremonies. Before a citizenship ceremony or awards evening, have the host listen to each name in advance, or ask attendees to record their own.
3. Brief frontline teams. Make name lookup a normal prep step before home visits, appointments, and community meetings.
4. Add it to signatures. One line, one link: “Hear how I say my name.”
5. Lead from the top. When the chief executive and the leader of the council share their cards, it signals that this is normal and welcome.

It supports what you’re already committed to

Most councils already have commitments around inclusion, accessibility, and good customer experience. Correct name pronunciation is a low-cost, low-effort way to put those commitments into everyday practice. It doesn’t need a new policy, a long procurement, or a training course. All it takes is a minute of someone’s time and a link.

It also reaches people who rarely feel the council knows who they are, such as new arrivals, residents whose names are often mangled, and staff who have stopped correcting people.

Try it today

You can search any name on SayMyName right now, and creating a card is free and can be done in less than two minutes. If you’d like to talk about how it could work across a whole council, from democratic services to registrars to HR, get in touch.