Say My Name
Your name, in your own voice.
- Years
- 2023–
- Platforms
- Web
- Languages
- 11
- My Role
- All of it: the idea, the design, the website, the audio processing and the server
- Status
- Live, with free pilots for Texas schools starting January 2027
The Problem
“Granny.” “Grain.” “Can’t I just use your middle name?” That’s what my wife, Gráinne, has heard her whole life.
People with uncommon names get mispronounced at job interviews, on the first day of school, at work and on stage. The other person has only ever seen the name written down, and has no easy way to hear it before they meet.
What I Built
- A recorder on the home page: type your name, record it in about 10 seconds and play it back, with no account needed to try it.
- One link to share, like saymyname.how/GN-1175, that fits in an email signature, a resume or a speaker bio. Listeners can slow it down to three-quarter speed.
- Each saved recording is cleaned up: background noise and the ums and ahs are removed, so the name sounds clear.
- Sign-in with an emailed link or a 6-digit code, with no password to create or remember.
- Free for personal use, with an optional personal link like saymyname.how/Jane-Doe for a one-time $5.
- Pages for children under 16 stay out of the name search and off search engines, and their names are stored encrypted.
Say My Name for Schools
A version for Texas schools and districts. A school uploads its roster, and each family is invited by email, in their own language, to record their child’s name. Teachers hear every name before the first day. At graduation, a Ceremony Player plays each graduate’s name in their family’s own voice as they cross the stage, and it works with the Wi-Fi off. The district owns the data, pages stay private to the campus, and there are no ads.
Where It Is Now
Say My Name is live at saymyname.how in 11 languages. I rebuilt it in 2026 with a new design, sign-up that starts with recording, and sign-in by email. Free school pilots start in January 2027.
What It Means for Your Project
Say My Name began as a family frustration and grew into something schools can use, with the privacy work that comes with handling children’s information. If your organization serves families, students or the public and needs something simple to use, accessible and careful with people’s information, I can build it, and keep it running.