So my son’s name is Basem (pronounced Bah-sim -as in BAd SIMple). We are Arab American an decided to go with an arabic name to go with our/his heritage.
Now we are constantly getting Baseem :eek: (people tend to extend the ‘e’ sound) why on earth i dont know!. Im thinking about altering the spelling to either Bassem (which i dont like the double s) or Basim (afraid he’ll get called Bazim like [name_m]Basil[/name_m] 
).
What do you guys think? Is it really that hard to pronounce for Americans? Should i keep it as is and have him correct people, since they might mispronounced even if we change the spelling?
fyi- his name has a beautiful meaning, it means to smile 
Honestly, I would leave it. You are going to have pronunciation problems with any of those spellings. It’s a name most people are not familiar with. I would have automatically said Bass uhm or Base uhm. I would just politely correct the prn.
Bass-uhm is correct, thanks i realize it is an unfamiliar name.
I would not change it either. People mispronounce my name, [name_f]Jade[/name_f]. And it’s pretty dang simple and getting more popular. I think the other spellings could be just as easily mispronounced. It happens, politely correct people. Most of the time they are embarrassed and apologize.
I agree, I would keep the spelling. I probably would mispronounce it also initially, but it is an easy fix and once I had been corrected I would be able to say it the correct way. [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t be shy about correcting people; I have worked with kids and seen the oddest names, many of which I could never possibly guess correctly without some help. It is a beautiful name with a lovely meaning - stick to it.
Marhaban! My name is Kassem (from [name_m]Qasim[/name_m]) and I have been called “[name_u]KAY[/name_u]-sum”, “Kuh-SEEM”, [name_u]Kay[/name_u]-SEEM and even “kuh-SAYM”. Seeing that my name is only 1 letter away from your son’s, I am absolutely positive he will have the pronunciation problems that I have. But all it take is some practice for the others once they meet him. However, most (non-arab) people just call me “[name_u]Kass[/name_u]” for short, I am a sure that your son will be called '[name_m]Bas[/name_m]" also. I think it depends if you would want that or not.
To be honest, I have considered changing my name to [name_m]Martin[/name_m] and make Kassem my middle name to better blend in, but that’s because I live in rural [name_m]New[/name_m] [name_f]England[/name_f] with very few other Arabs around me.
Please please keep it! It’s a strong beautiful name and you can politely correct people if they mispronounce it. My name is mispronounced all the time or mistaken for another name, and it’s fairly common and definitely familiar to most people in the Western World - sometimes, I have to tell the same people more than once.
[name_f]Every[/name_f] once in a while, it is because certain names can be hard for people with different accents to pronounce, but mostly I think this kind of reaction is a reflection on their attitudes more than a reflection on the name in question. I can guarantee you that anyone who is so rude or self-involved that they completely ignore your guidance on how to pronounce your son’s name probably does the same thing to many others, not just you, and not because your son’s name is Arabic. Keep it!
Agreed, keep the spelling you love and that means most to you. People mispronounce familiar names too, and I don’t think there’s a different way of spelling Basem that will make absolutely everyone pronounce it correctly.
Thanks everyone, I guess i’ll keep the spelling and have him be ok with teaching ppl how to say his name.
@Kassemj - thanks for foreshadowing my son’s future lol, luckily we live in a diverse city with all sorts of names! Also im not sure if you’re familiar with Kassem G (he’s on youtube- still goes by Kassem!).