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You are here: Home / How-to / How to teach Siri your nickname or any name! Customize Siri

How to teach Siri your nickname or any name! Customize Siri

By SK 2 comments Last updated January 28, 2020

You can personalize Siri to call you anything. For instance, if you want Siri to call you “daddy” or “awesome” and even “beautiful,” it’s easy to set Siri to do just that!

All you have to do is set up that nickname or preferred name in your contact info–it’s really that easy!

And for those of you with names that Siri has trouble pronouncing, this tip is for you too.

Contents

    • Related articles
  • How to teach Siri to call you by your nickname or name preference
  • Word of warning!
    • Important information about nicknames
    • How to delete a nickname Siri uses
    • How to turn off Prefer Nicknames
  • Get Siri to pronounce your name or someone else’s name
    • Or you can tell Siri that “you’re pronouncing (insert the name) wrong!”
  • Why doesn’t Siri or any of my apps use last names?
    • But what if you have a lot of co-workers, friends, or family with the same first name? Or want last names to show?
    • You can also simply turn off Short Name
    • Do you see incorrect letters and numbers instead of the contact’s names?
    • Related Posts:

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  • How to use Siri Shortcuts for iOS

How to teach Siri to call you by your nickname or name preference

  1. Tap the Contacts app on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch
  2. Find My Card–it should show up at the top
  3. Tap your card
  4. Choose Edit

    edit your contact card, my card, in contacts app iPad
    Tap your contact card and choose Edit to add a nickname or another name alias
  5. Scroll and the way down and choose ‘add field’
  6. Select Phonetic First (Middle or Last) Name, Nickname, Pronunciation First (or Last), or another category

    options to add field in contacts app iOS
    Select what type of additional name or information you provide in the contacts app add field option
  7. Scroll back up to your name information
  8. Type in whatever you want Siri to call you under Phonetic first name or whatever category you chose in step 6

    add nickname into your contact card
    Type in your nickname or preferred name into the additional field
  9. If Siri mispronounces your name, enter the letter(s), you think that best represents the sounds of your first or last name
  10. Tap Done to save

Then ask Siri a question and see if it answers with your new name!

Word of warning!

Important information about nicknames

When you share your contact card with anyone, iOS includes your nickname.

And that nickname is often the name that shows up in your iMessages, AirDrop, FaceTime calls, emails sent using the Mail App, other people’s Contacts app, and many other communications you send out. nickname showing up as name after adding nickname field

If you or more importantly your friends and colleagues, have Prefer Nicknames on in the Contacts App AND you set-up a nickname using the nickname field, everyone sees your nickname instead of your actual name.

And guess what? 

Prefer Nicknames is usually on!

That’s why it’s best to add a nickname or preferred name using the add field Phonetic First Name (or similar) instead of adding the field Nickname or changing your actual first name (or last) in your contacts card.

So if you want to keep your nickname to yourself, stick with adding a Phonetic first name (or another category other than nickname.)

You may not want the world to know how you prefer Siri to call you! Just a thought.

How to delete a nickname Siri uses

  • Launch the Contacts app then tap Edit
  • Tap your nickname
  • Change or delete by tapping on the nickname (or another name) and choosing the x to remove it!

    how to delete a nickname or other name from contacts app iOS
    Tap the “x” to remove any nickname or preferred name from the contacts app
  • Tap Done

How to turn off Prefer Nicknames

  • Open Settings
  • Choose Contacts
  • Tap Short Name
  • Toggle off Prefer Nicknames

    turn off prefer nicknames in contacts app iOS
    Turn off your iPhone using nicknames in the contacts app

Just remember that this impacts your device only–so you won’t see nicknames for your contacts.

But if you set-up a nickname and others have Prefer Nicknames on, they see your nickname instead of your actual first and last name–and you have no control over that other than deleting your nickname!

Get Siri to pronounce your name or someone else’s name

There are a few methods to get Siri to pronounce your name correctly. You can use the way above and spell out how your name sounds using the options for phonetic or pronunciation first, middle, or last names.

Or you can tell Siri that “you’re pronouncing (insert the name) wrong!”

  1. Activate Siri via “Hey Siri” or pressing the Side/Home button
  2. Ask Siri open the contact card for the person’s name Siri mispronounces

    have siri open a contact card
    Get Siri to open the contact card of a name Siri mispronounces
  3. Respond with “that’s not how you pronounce (insert the name)“
  4. Siri asks how you how to pronounce the name correctly

    train siri to pronounce a name
    Let Siri know it’s pronouncing a name wrong
  5. Slowly pronounce the name correctly
  6. Siri provides options based on your correct pronunciation
  7. Play and choose one of the options
  8. If none of the options are correct, press Tell Siri again and repeat steps 4-7 until it’s right

    select a pronunciation option or choose to tell siri again
    Siri shows you pronunciation options, or you can try again using Tell Siri again

Do this process for any mispronounced names, including first names, last names, even nicknames!

Why doesn’t Siri or any of my apps use last names?

iOS by default turns on the feature Short Name and sets the first name only as the default. This feature allows more names to appear on-screen when needed.

iOS’ Short Name settings apply to Apple apps like Mail, Messages, FaceTime, Phone, and even some third-party apps.

But what if you have a lot of co-workers, friends, or family with the same first name? Or want last names to show?

The good news is it’s easy to customize this feature

  • Go to Settings > Contacts
  • Tap Short Name
  • From the list select your preferred options, like First Name and Last Initial

    short name options for iOS contacts app
    Choose your preferred short name style options

You can also simply turn off Short Name

When Short Name is off, your native Apple apps show first and last names as listed in your Contacts app.

Any third-party apps that use iOS’ name shortening also add both first and last names to your contacts.

Do you see incorrect letters and numbers instead of the contact’s names?

This problem often happens on Exchange accounts.

Turn off Prefer Nicknames by going to Settings > Contacts > Short Name > Prefer Nicknames.

sudz - apple
SK( Managing Editor )

Obsessed with tech since the early arrival of A/UX on Apple, Sudz (SK) is responsible for the editorial direction of AppleToolBox. He is based out of Los Angeles, CA.

Sudz specializes in covering all things macOS, having reviewed dozens of OS X and macOS developments over the years.

In a former life, Sudz worked helping Fortune 100 companies with their technology and business transformation aspirations.

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Reader Interactions

Write a Comment Cancel reply

Show 2 Comments

  1. Paige Sluder says

    January 27, 2020 at 2:54 PM

    Thank you so much I wanted to add a nickname for me and also my sister I knew they use to have it all the time like 2 years ago.

    But they did an update and it went away I was trying to look for it for a while but I just gave up today I thought about it again and I saw this one I tried one before and I thought this one wouldn’t work.

    But actually it totally works I am so happy!

    Thank you so much for helping me out and everyone else!

    Reply
  2. Kavita Mevada says

    April 4, 2019 at 4:36 AM

    Thanks for providing such a nice information.

    Reply

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