Your Worship, it’s Elaine Goussiatiner. Last name spelt G-O-U-S-S-I-A-T-I-N-E-R. First initial, E. I’m a temporary articled student of _____, appearing as agent for ____ and ____.

I’m three months into my temporary summer articles (the odd-sounding job title of a summer law student) and I’ve stated some iteration of the above approximately 325 times for the court record so far.

Each file called from the court list = saying this same introduction. Introducing myself takes approximately 20 seconds each time. That’s nearly two hours spent mostly just spelling my last name. That may not sound like a long time, but it sure has felt like it.

Sometimes I spell my last name as quickly as possible because I feel like I’m taking up too much time.

Other times I spell it especially slowly because I use the extra second or two to glance at my notes and remember what I’m about to say next. 

Either way, this time has also nudged me to pause and reflect on names in general in a way I hadn’t before. 

“Goussiatiner” is often assumed to be French thanks to some questionable translation choices made by the Russian consulate. It’s actually a Russian Jewish last name. It means one who was a resident of the Jewish town of Gusyatin. Now known (in English) as Husyatyn, a town which still exists in modern Ukraine.

Goussiatiner in Cyrillic is “гусятинер”. That’s best phonetically translated to be like “Gusyetinyer”. Not exactly the “Goose-a-tinner” pronunciation I go with today to simplify it.

Founded in 1559, Gusyatin was a small Jewish town with a population of about 4000 at its height. It was occupied by Germany in 1941 when all the Jews were deported to Kopyczynce and Probuzna where they were either killed, sent to a work camp or a concentration camp in Belzec. My grandparents had moved to Moscow by then, but my great-grandparents and the rest of my father’s family remained. I don’t know what became of them.

My grandmother went on to work as a criminal defence lawyer and then judge in Moscow.

I didn’t get to meet her but sometimes I wonder if she had to spell her last name for the record too. I wonder if she ever felt like rushing through it.

Sometimes I joke about how lawyers in Russia wouldn’t even have any court time left over if everyone had to slowly spell their names for the record. 

I’ve met people who have changed their last names to be more accessible. I can relate and have considered it.

My last name doesn’t fit neatly (or at all) on a placard outside a law office.

It doesn’t come easily to court clerks or judges when they’re put on the spot to refer to me quickly. I often feel for them in their pause. Sometimes I feel an impulse to fix the moment for them as if something is wrong.

In the past when someone would ask my last name, particularly on the phone, I would skip the pronunciation and go straight to spelling. I’d often go with “G-O-U-S-S, the really long one” to save time. When they’d then try to pronounce it, I’d quickly agree with any attempt halfway through, just to spare us both the correction and explanation.

After reflecting on it this summer, I’ve stopped doing that.

I take my time pronouncing it.

I spell it slowly.

I explain its origins.

(Sometimes still with an additional unfunny joke – “It’s not exactly a popular time in history to be either of those hey, Russian or Jewish!”

I totally get it when you read a last name and your brain just nope’s out halfway through. When the discomfort of how badly you assume you’re mispronouncing it makes you stumble over even trying. Of course, I experience this too.

I appreciate every time someone does give it a try, though. My favourites are those who just confidently pronounce it the way they assume it must be (or is close enough) and move on without skipping a beat.

I love those people.

I try my best to be one of those people, followed by double-checking how it’s pronounced with the person at a convenient time.

I don’t think a last name should always sound like it has a question mark at the end.

Suddenly being referred to by my last name at work has been a weird adjustment. And maybe I’ll always feel weird about it.

As I figure that out, I’m grateful for every time a judge has asked me to spell my last name or pronounce it again, sometimes multiple times, because they didn’t get it the first time. And for those who make a point to refer to me by name. Also, special props to that one clerk in Victoria SC Chambers who has even memorized how to spell it off by heart and nails the pronunciation every time. You rule.

P.S. – I’m still never offended by anyone mispronouncing my last name and I appreciate you trying. & TL;DR: I say it’s pronounced: “Goose-a-tinner”. 🙂