The Collection

If the dumb-sounding name is the root of the problem, then you have to change it to fully “avoid that feeling”. Rewording the dialogue/description isn’t something that can help this situation because it’s not the issue. That said, there may be some form of work-around like…

(Also, you give no mention of the narrative style of this story so I have to give some broad advice that may or may not apply)

Is it possible to give him a nickname? That would likely take away the reasons that you have for giving him the name, but if it’s a huge deal for him (especially if in a bad way) then why would he choose to go by that name anyway? Why would other characters choose to call him that if they know it’s an issue?

Is it possible that you’re over-tagging the dialogue, using the name too much in narration, and/or using the name too much in speech? The name will still make parts sound dumb, but it would be read fewer times. Over-tagging looks like this:

“Did you get lunch yet?” Jake said.

“No,” Pierre said. “I wanted to finish the data dump first.”

“How long should that take?” Jake said. “Because I’m starving and that new burger place finally opened up.”

“Wait really?” Pierre said.

“Yeah, I even have a coupon,” Jake said.

That can very easily be de-tagged to just introduce the speakers and let the conversation flow (typically you’d want to re-tag after about 5 lines of dialogue to make sure the reader can stay on track):

“Did you get lunch yet?” Jake said.

“No,” Pierre said. “I wanted to finish the data dump first.”

“How long should that take? Because I’m starving and that new burger place finally opened up.”

“Wait really?”

“Yeah, I even have a coupon.”

You could also be using the name too much in narration, which looks like this:

Jake walked by the burger restaurant every morning on his way to work, then every evening on his way back. The opening soon sign teased Jake. Jake had promised his colleague that they’d eat there when the place had its grand opening, but delay after delay had Jake feeling like it was never going to happen.

Replace some of those direct names with “he” (of the appropriate pronoun) and it’s much cleaner to read. (That entire mini paragraph isn’t good writing in general, but I had to find a way to over-use the name so sorry for the poor example quality.)

Jake walked by the burger restaurant every morning on his way to work, then every evening on his way back. The opening soon sign teased him. He’d promised his colleague that they’d eat there when the place had its grand opening, but delay after delay had him feeling like it was never going to happen. 

There are some times where you have to use a name though. Two “he”s in the same scene need to be distinguished and it’s usually better to slightly over-name than to cause confusion over who’s being referred to.

In natural dialogue, it’s actually somewhat rare that names are used. If you’re writing speech and names keep coming up when the character is in the scene, that’s likely a very odd way for people to talk. Names are usually used to get someone’s attention or to make a point, not just dropped in during every address. It’s perfectly normal for characters to not commonly say the name of others, unless it’s in direct reference that wouldn’t be clear otherwise.

Most drastic option: Switch to first person narration (if you aren’t using it already). It’s fully possible to never use the narrator’s name that way, but if it matters then you can drop it in occasionally with some dialogue or narrative introspection.

Those are the best ways I can think to work with your problem, but in all honesty a dumb-sounding name (no matter the reason for it) is going to make a lot of things unintentionally funny. When the center of the issue is the name (as opposed to the potential problem of you overusing it in dialogue or narration), the best option is always to change it– even if it’s important to the story. It’s very easy for newer writers to get stuck on keeping things when there is an issue, so ask yourself if the importance of that specific name matters so much that risking silly writing is worth it. Why does it have to sound dumb when it can means something dumb? Can it be a “dumb” word from a made up language (or a real one– but then you should be careful with bilingual readers). I’m sure there’s a way to re-work your story to avoid the problem altogether.

You may also consider the possibility that readers can get used to the name. This is a gray area of interpretation that highly depends on what the name is, but there are some cases where readers can get desensitized over time. Generally the line is somewhere in the realm of “odd” names rather than “dumb sounding” ones though.

Good luck with your work!