My name is Tarang / तरंग. It means "wave" or the "sound of ocean waves".

For most of my life, people have pronounced my name the "Aussie" way. I even introduce myself that way because no-one tried to say it right. But I I always prefer it when my name is pronounced correctly.

I have noticed more people recently ask me how to pronounce my name properly, which is definitely not the way most people think to say it in Australia. That means a lot to me.

I have always found it odd that people in Australia could learn to say names with multiple syllables and difficult pronunciations when they came from Europe or predominantly white nations. But somehow, South Asian names were seen as being “too hard”.

Every member of my family has an Anglicised version of their actual name - a shortened “Western” name for the benefit of white Australians. And yet, the longest name in my family has six letters and three syllables.

But “fancy” names from other places seem to come naturally to English speakers. It makes little sense when one considers that names for South Asians often come from Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages in the world.

There’s a lot more to a name than you may think or realise. If you’re unsure how to say someone’s name - ask them. And then learn to say it properly. After all, foreigners learnt your language and say your name properly. It costs nothing for you to afford them the same respect.