Recently, I moved to the UK due to the war in Ukraine and have noticed that people here struggle to spell my name correctly. As a result, I would like to ask for suggestions on alternative versions of the name Vitalii that are easier to pronounce. Thank you in advance for your replies.
Is it spelt Вітaлій or Віталію in Ukrainian? I don’t think I’d have any problem pronouncing or spelling your name in it’s romanized form, but I did complete the duolingo Ukrainian course so I have a little bit of familiarity with the language.
You’ve probably noticed the different ways Зеленский is spelt in English; Zelenskyy, zelensky, zelenskiy… Й doesn’t translate seamlessly to English and ий is even harder. I’d say Zelensky is the easiest to read/spell for English people. On that basis I’d go with Vitaly for strangers.
I can’t see why your English friends and co-workers can’t get used to Vitalii though. It’s really not that hard. But then I have a very common first name of French origin and a common Irish surname. It’s extremely rare for someone to pronounce my name correctly 🤷🏼♀️
Радий знайомству Віталій. Слава Україні!