Know Us and Our Names - NameShouts' Team Series

We talk a lot about other people's names, but what about our own names? Here's the name, and its story, of our team members in 2016. We're excited to show you the minds behind NameShouts!

Social Media Manager: XIAO OU (SHEE-AU OH)

This is Xiao Ou, our Social Media Co-Manager.She loves documentaries and enjoys sad songs.She adores languages and is allergic to incorrect grammar.Her friends love her but call her Queen Kong.she can't do anything but to love them all the same.

Xiao Ou, in Mandarin Chinese, means "morning Europe," and is pronounced as "shee-au-oh". It is a tricky name to pronounce, and not many can get the "x" sound right.She said, if she had a dollar every time someone mispronounced her name, then she'd make it to the Forbes.

Social Media Co-Manager: SAIF (SEF)

He has been waiting for a certain musician to release an album all day.He likes to play video games and spend copious amounts of time on the Internet. He also loves being cold, which explains why he chose to come to Montreal.

Saif means "Sword" in Arabic, and Cheval means "Horse" in French. No one is entirely certain on the origin story of Cheval, seeing as Saif is actually Pakistani.Saif is glad to be working for NameShouts, because telling people his name is "like Seth but with an 'F'" is tiring. He is excited to help people pronounce other names right!

Operations Head: CHAITY (CHOI-TEEH)

She overseas the Operations side of NameShouts.Her name is pronounced “Choi--teeh”. Chaity is derived from the bengali word "Choitro" and means either a gentle spring breeze or a flower blossoming during spring. She was given the name Chaity, because she was born on the month of "Choitro".

The word "Chaity" is widely used in Bengali poetry and music.Maybe, because Bengalis are eternal hopefuls, and Spring is a symbol of colour, warmth and life.Learn to pronounce Chaity in bengali:https://www.nameshouts.com/names/bengali/pronounce-chaity

Marketing & Strategy Head: LAVIVA (LAH-VEE-VAH)

This is Laviva. She oversees the Marketing and Strategy side of NameShouts.Although there is some confusion regarding the origin of her name, it seems that Spanish is the winner! In Spanish, La Viva means the living. She doesn't speak the language yet but will start as soon as she is fluent in French.One funny story about her name - One day, when she was 14 years old, her father came to her and announced, "I'm thinking of changing the spelling of your name to Labiba since it is more common in Bangladesh. No one pronounces your name correctly since the letter 'V' doesn't exist in Bengali.

She is glad that she refused to change her name, because it is one of the easiest conversation starters when she meets new people.

Founder and Head Developer: NAUREEN (NAW-REEN)

Meet Naureen. She is the Founder and Head Developer for NameShouts.Naureen’s name is derived from the Arabic word “Noor,” and means “Bright Light.”You would think a name like “Naureen” would be easy to pronounce, but growing up her teachers often ended up butchering her name. They called her “nooh-reen,” which she found mortifying.

Like many other programmers, Naureen is a caffeine addict who likes coding in cafes.Outside of NameShouts, her hobbies include people-watching, finding parallels between Game of Thrones and real life, and failing to understand string theory. She also bakes yummy cupcakes on days when she feels very bored.