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Why Do People Have Difficulty With My First Name?

I’m always surprised when people think I’m a dude.

Danell teNyenhuis Black
4 min readFeb 23, 2021
What’s your name? | Credit: JoyImage | iStock (under license)

Where’s my order?

A few days ago, I picked up an order I had placed at Jersey Mike’s. I love using apps for transactions like this, especially during Covid. And, I have ordered from this particular shop several times before without incident.

I pulled into a parking space and left my phone in the charger since I expected it to be a quick stop. I could see that the shop had three take-out orders ready to be picked up. I told the cashier I was there to pick up an online order.

The cashier asked for my name, and I told her Danell (pronounced Duh nell). She looked at the bags and said they didn’t have an order for that name. She asked me if it could be under another name, and I said, Black. She didn’t find it using that name either.

I told her I would go get my phone to double-check that the order went through. I headed out to the car.

What’s in a name?

I have always thought I had a relatively simple name. Six letters with no extra vowels thrown in. I learned early in my school career that it was an unusual pronunciation and spelling.

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Danell teNyenhuis Black
Danell teNyenhuis Black

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