Campbell says names that sound ethnic can be appealing to large companies seeking to create a diverse employee base.
“In the corporate world, you see every different name and every ethnicity—diversity is a really big asset,” Campbell said. “You’re going to see a lot of more of that.”
But those tricky names can also be a bit of a stumbling block, says Collamer, who previously worked as a human resources director.
“I can remember sometimes getting resumes and being impressed with their backgrounds, but you go to pick up the phone and you don’t know how to pronounce their name and it’s very awkward,” Collamer recalls. “I don’t think it’s ever a deal-breaker, but it creates sort of an uncomfortable situation initially.”
Collamer suggests signing your cover letter with a nickname if you have one to ease the initial phone call.
Of course, having an ethnic name in corporate America also requires some patience with people who constantly mispronounce it. Urvaksh Karkaria, a journalist working in Atlanta who hails from Mumbai, India, deals with this on a daily basis.
“Nine out of ten times they get it wrong,” he said. “People usually ask where I’m from and then they ask, “‘How do you say it again?’”
Sometimes, he says, it can be an advantage.
“It’s an uncommon name, so people often remember part of it or at least they remember that I’m the guy with the weird name,” he said. “If someone says they spoke to Bob there could be could be five different Bobs, but hopefully there is only one Urvaksh.”
