EVERYBODY asks me that when I tell them how it's spelled (even Starbuck's baristas), but nobody on here has asked, actually, you're the first Nicole!
I pronounce it like "Ann" with an 'a' at the end. I actually don't mind if people pronounce it the other way if they want, I'll respond to either. I used to work at a small music store (only about 25 people) and I had a fabulous coworker named Verna. She was in her mid-late seventies, about 4 feet high, stubborn and sassy as hell. Very authoritative, no nonsense grandmother type, but still really sweet, I adored her! She decided that she was going to pronounce my name "Ahna," even after she asked me how I pronounced it (end of discussion). It didn't bother me and after living as long as she did I figured she could call me anything she liked. What's funny is that she was the only one who called me that for a year, and then one day everyone started saying my name that way, after pronouncing it the other way for over a year! It was seriously, overnight. I never figured out why that happened, either.
Anyway, that's my name pronouncing story. There's a name spelling story too, since it's spelled the hispanic way but I have absolutely no hispanic heritage at all, but I won't bore you with that one, also!
I love that you were a writing tutor--I bet you were really good! There's a writing tutor I work with named Mary, and I think she's great. She helped me finish the crossword puzzle today (it was sort of slow in the lab).
