I have been bothered by this question for a while now because I believe the correct answer to, “What did you say your name was”, would be, “my name was [xxxxxx]”. If they ask, “What did you say your name is”, I would reply, “my name is [xxxxx]”.
In my understanding using “did” in the sentence refers to the past tense where the 2nd party stated what their name is. Asking what they said their name was would imply that their name has changed and you asking for their previous name.
Is there a reason I’m missing that makes it correct to use “was”? Or is this a case where the word has been misused for so long by such a large percentage of the population that we have to accept it as correct?
“What did you say your name was?” is grammatically and logically correct, because in indirect speech in English, the tense of the verb in the embedded clause is governed by the tense of the verb in the main clause. Since the verb in the main clause is in the past tense, a verb in the embedded clause would normally be in the past tense if it refers to the present.
However, “What did you say your name is?” is also correct, because in indirect speech you have the option of using the present tense when the sentence is reporting a fact that is always true, such as someone’s name or what temperature water boils at, for example.
Therefore, it is grammatically correct to say both, “He said that water froze at 32° Fahrenheit,” and “He said that water freezes at 32° Fahrenheit.” The first is right because “froze” is past as governed by the past tense in the main clause. The second is right because under normal circumstances water always freezes at that temperature.