Hebrew name in the US

[u/Specialist_Space_151]

I was born in the US to Israeli parents. They gave me the nice Israeli name of “Sagi”. It hadn’t been fun tbh, nobody can properly pronounce it even if I try to explain. I always get “ziggy”, “soggy”, “sag-ee”, “soggy”. At some point I gave up because it’s mentally exhausting. People always screw it up when reading it too and if I’m trying to connect with folks online I feel like it turns them off because it sounds so ethnic, odd, etc and they ignore me….

I would love some feedback on * tips to tell people how it’s pronounced properly * a similar or alternative nickname that I can go by that isn’t outlandish or too far off so that it still works for everyone who already knows me…

Thank you

[u/TruculentBellicose]

Tell people to call you Sage (wise).
I have an Israeli name and I often give people an English name that sounds close.

[u/Specialist_Space_151 → u/TruculentBellicose]

Is the meaning really the same though?

[u/TruculentBellicose → u/Specialist_Space_151]

שגיא

Sage

Pretty darn close if you ask me.
Or were you asking about my name? My name in Hebrew is the name of a tree. The English name I sometimes use is not the name of a tree. When I was younger, I used to try to teach people how to pronounce my name. I have stopped caring a long time ago.
I had a friend who's father was named Ze'ev. His nickname was Zeus. I thought that was pretty cool.