Tongue Twisters and Mispronunciations in England

I have known two British Craig's for over a year now. We met in our sport and have been spending time together on a regular basis for over 12 months. So imagine my surprise when a few weeks ago, when discussing one of the Craig's, my housemates corrected my pronunciation.

I was saying "Craig" like Craigslist or Greg with a C.

Apparently it is meant to be "Craig" like Craaaag, a hard A.

I didn't believe them, how could I have possible been mispronouncing multiple people's name for over 365 days?? There is no way that the Craig's and all of my friends would allow me to say someone's name wrong for that long!

So next time I saw a Craig, I asked. "Have I been saying your name wrong?" He looked at me with an...obviously....face and said "Yea you have".

Talk about awkward, I probably turned several shades of red and maroon, then finally sputtered an apology out.

I've tried to correct my pronunciation, but in the American way...I still mostly say Craig like Greg...and I guess the Craigs and I will have to learn to deal with it.

Still it was not a proud moment for me :/