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Purposely misspelling your child's name


funaladanaly

Purposely misspelling a child's name is:  

  1. 1.

    • Unique and sets the child apart in a positive way
      3
    • Shortsighted. The child will face a lifetime of corrections and possibly ridicule
      24
    • Ignorant. I'd refer to the child by the proper phonetical spelling, even if it sounded as stupid as the "correct" spelling looks.
      3
    • Ignorant on the parent's part.
      7
    • I don't particularly care.
      14


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funaladanaly

I am curious as to your alls input on purposely misspelling a child's name to make it "unique." My cousin named his child Kaydenc.

Mkay, now at first glance, how would you all pronounce it? My first thought was to say it out phonetically - (Kay-Dink).

If you call the kid Kay-Dink though, my cousin will get upset. He will correct the pronounciation as Kay-Dence. The most common spelling of this name is Cadence, but I could possibly understand Kaydence to try to do the unique thing, especially since they call her Kaye. (Why they just didn't name her Kaye is beyond me).

However, I think that purposely misspelling your child's name makes you look like an ignorant idiot. Its setting the kid up for a lifetime of pronounciation correction, as well as ridicule. Even family members snicker to each other in private how she's really Kaydink, though we never say it in front of my cousin or especially the child.

I think kids will though when she goes to school.

So what do you all think? Purposely misspelling your kid's name - Ignorant or Unique?

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I prefer standard spellings.

However, I find it's also possible to live with the alternate spellings.

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I would say shortsighted but not maliciously so.

Of course, ultimately the child will have the option of correcting it themself if it is TOO offensive to them.

Some might grow to like having an unusually spelled name and some might not.

My sister was saddled with an odd name but she has managed OK with it. Her solution was to use a much more recognizeable nickname in almost all areas of her life except as her legal signature. It might possibly have some value as a forgery-deterrent too, who knows?

-GB

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I find it really hard to know how to say the name. So practically the correct spelling seems ot make more sense.

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I find it really hard to know how to say the name. So practically the correct spelling seems ot make more sense.

i agree. if you want to spell it differently, don't butcher it so it doesn't even look like a WORD.

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Bloddyredcommie

Unique does not always equal good. as a matter a fact, there are often reasons why somthing is uniuqe. Recording fingernails on chalkboards and selling it as music is uniuqe as well as stupid.

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Hallucigenia

"Kaydenc" is a bad one, but as long as unique names are pronounceable, I actually kind of like them. I think that, for example, "Kaydence" would have been a fine name. The issue isn't the uniqueness, but the fact that nobody will be able to say it right the first time.

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funaladanaly
I think that, for example, "Kaydence" would have been a fine name. The issue isn't the uniqueness, but the fact that nobody will be able to say it right the first time.

I don't think anyone would be complaining if they added the last e. Its a new way to spell the word, and that's fine. I think I have issue with people misspelling names so they are phonetically incorrect and then insisting you not say it how it is spelled, but rather how they want you to pronounce the name.

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I do feel strongly that the names should follow "standard" English rules for phonetics :?

Of course, even with those, you could spell "Philip" as "Gholop"....

BTW, I would like to see "Zarabeth" added to the pool of girls' names.

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I'm a rather practical guy suffering from a for English speakers unpronouncable 1st and not updated to current spelling standarts lastname.

If I had kids, I'd give them a yellable 1st and maybe a slightly unique middle name. - I would try to pick something internationally pronouncable. And sure, people should have a idea how to spell at least first and last name, so no French accents or unique German or Polish letters included...

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jewel_box554

Some names actually look pretty cool when they're spelled wrong. If the name is mispelled obnoxiously for the sole purpose of making the kid stand out and seem more unique than their peers, then I think that's incredibly stupid, not to mention a lame call for attention.

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I have a somewhat unusual first name, which is often misspelled by people.

But it's a "standard" name, spelled in the traditional manner.

* Tries to figure out whom he can sue over this, in his oppressed victimhood *

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I have the correct spelling for my name, but you wouldn't believe how many people try to pronnounce the e on the end as an a sound. That's like reading Mike, as Micah.

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I think odd spellings are pointless. It isn't cool or interesting, it only causes trouble. :?

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Poor Kaydenc.

It will either be Kay-dink or "Hey dense Kay dense" at school.

Of course, I can't think of any totally safe names at the moment.

-GB

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Well...it's a bit frustrating for the first little while...everyone asking me what CJ stands for...which isn't as annoying as them trying to GUESS what it stands for! Then at the end they don't believe me anyway.

Now I'm used to it though.

The one thing that I can't get over is that parents purposely screw up the spelling then get annoyed because not everyone can figure it out or they start calling the kid Kay-dink. If you wanted an un-messable name then you might have called your kid Bob.

I agree, there ARE no safe names.

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I cannot believe nobody's linked to this yet.

As much as I hate my stuffy, stodgy, boring name, I'm oh so grateful my parents didn't name me Ylyzybyth.

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I cannot believe nobody's linked to this yet.

As much as I hate my stuffy, stodgy, boring name, I'm oh so grateful my parents didn't name me Ylyzybyth.

I had no trouble at all reading that name - assumint its Elizabeth

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I cannot believe nobody's linked to this yet.

As much as I hate my stuffy, stodgy, boring name, I'm oh so grateful my parents didn't name me Ylyzybyth.

I had no trouble at all reading that name - assumint its Elizabeth

Actually it's Susan. :P

Just because a name "works" phonetically doesn't mean it's a good idea to saddle a kid with that spelling. It's very hard to take someone named Mykynzy or Mykayla seriously. A little girl with a name full of Y's might be cute, sure, but when she's a district attorney?

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I agree. If they're going to make things up, make it flow. But then you think about it, many spellings are bastardisations of older, ethnic names.

Dillon - as opposed to Dylan, Reece/Reese as opposed to Rhys.

Another thing I don't like is samie-namies, esp. on twins. Tim and Jim, Todd and Rod etc.

My friend's family has two baby boys in it right now. The boys are cousins. The first one born got called Caleb (I love biblical names!). The second, well, his parents liked the name, too so to differentiate between the two, they called him the same name but spelled it "Kaylub".

I didn't have a hard time reading Ylyzybyth either but it'll be a classic case of 'don't bitch to me if nobody can spell your kid's name.'

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Yeah, misspelling is good in small doses. Like.... Elisa = Elysa.

And, there are some people who really really don't think about what their child is going to be referred to when they're forty. Some names are cute, sure. When they're four.

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I actually had a waitress a few weeks ago and her name (no shit) is Princess Lea.

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My sister's name is Allyson.

I see nothing wrong with this.

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jewel_box554
I cannot believe nobody's linked to this yet.

As much as I hate my stuffy, stodgy, boring name, I'm oh so grateful my parents didn't name me Ylyzybyth.

*cringes at typos, faulty reasoning, and severely out-of-order priorities* It's scary that these people are reproducing! :shock: I had no idea that getting pregnant dramatically reduced a woman's brain cell count...

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AndAPickle?
I cannot believe nobody's linked to this yet.

As much as I hate my stuffy, stodgy, boring name, I'm oh so grateful my parents didn't name me Ylyzybyth.

*sigh* Give me strength!

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smellincoffee

I don't really like names with alternative spellings, but am biased due to the fact that I have to specify that I'm "Stephen with a PH" every time I tell someone my name...else they'd go with the "modern" spelling. Some alternative spellings are great; I like Aimee, for instance. But some "unique" changes aren't very intuitive. If I was a female named Kaydenc, I'd find a courthouse when I turned 18.

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deladangerous

I've got a name that I have to spell out for people frequently enough. That's cool, though, because the alternate, more 'common' spellings of it are kinda ugly-lookin' to me. and everyone I've ever known who's had my phonetic name but spelled it differently has been kinda evil.

People can go overboard with spellings sometimes, I guess. Kaydenc is kind of lame (especially since 'Cadence' is neat when it's spelled correctly), Ylyzbyth is bizarre... but in looking through that 'bad baby names' website, so many of those names are actually really cool. At least they're being creative-- and it seems that the people commenting on the names have a pretty narrow concept of what's normal and acceptable.

They also seem to get really defensive when people call 'em on it. Meh.

Thing is, I know a few people with highly uncommon names that seem like the kind of thing people would suggest on that website-- and although they may not have liked the names so much when they were younger, nowadays I swear every time I introduce them to others or refer to them in conversation, people always got somethin' to say about how great those names are. And they're memorable, at that. So basically... odds are that it's not going to SCAR THEM FOR LIFE if they have something other than a wallpaper name like Matt or Katie or whatever.

Another thing I don't like is samie-namies, esp. on twins. Tim and Jim, Todd and Rod etc.

This makes me smile, thinking of how I know a guy who wants to have triplets and name them Crash, Smash and Flash. I kinda really hope that happens for him, because that would just be ....classic.

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Hallucigenia

I agree with Dela. :)

I actually had a waitress a few weeks ago and her name (no shit) is Princess Lea.

Are you sure that was her real name? I noticed a waitress at Denny's recently whose nametag said Princess something else. It could be cutesyness on the restaurant's part rather than somebody actually naming their kid Princess.

Anyway, I had a friend as a kid whose name was Anneke. Now, that's a very normal, traditional name, but only if you live in the Netherlands. So nobody knew how to spell it or pronounce it. And you know what - big flippin' deal. She explained how to do it, made a few jokes about the misspellings (one was "Oinky"), and got on with her life. She's a perfectly normal well-adjusted girl.

And even people with normal boring names can get teased or whatever about them. John, for instance, is another word for "toilet". *waits for chorus of eww, where are the parents' brain cells?*

No name is perfect. Let's save our indignation for stuff that deserves it more.

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They also seem to get really defensive when people call 'em on it. Meh.

Thing is, I know a few people with highly uncommon names that seem like the kind of thing people would suggest on that website-- and although they may not have liked the names so much when they were younger, nowadays I swear every time I introduce them to others or refer to them in conversation, people always got somethin' to say about how great those names are. And they're memorable, at that. So basically... odds are that it's not going to SCAR THEM FOR LIFE if they have something other than a wallpaper name like Matt or Katie or whatever.

That's pretty much it. I don't really care anymore and don't get exasperated until someone really doesn't let it go. When I'm writing, it's not as hard for them to believe. "Cijay" looks wierd but they'll buy it as a name. When spoken, that's when the "Really? Like, your name is honestly just CJ?" comes in. But I don't get annoyed anymore and I'm quite used to people misspelling it. If it were that bad I'd just be using my middle name.

Are you sure that was her real name? I noticed a waitress at Denny's recently whose nametag said Princess something else. It could be cutesyness on the restaurant's part rather than somebody actually naming their kid Princess.

Possible. It was Red Robin so it'd figure that they might do something like that. The look of annoyance when my friend asked her about it and the knowledge that some stupid parents in 1977 might have done that to their kid (and the fact that she was about 30) makes me say 'no' but she could be a good actress and have planted the name on herself.

And even people with normal boring names can get teased or whatever about them. John, for instance, is another word for "toilet". *waits for chorus of eww, where are the parents' brain cells?*

Exactly. No name is safe and if it's so bad, it really isn't hard to change a name. But by the time they're old enough to make that decision, they've pretty much grown up with the name.

Reminds me of the joke about the guy applying for the name change and the lawyer asked why. The guy says "My name is Joe Shithead. You now what it's like going around with a name like Joe Shithead?" The lawyer agrees and asks what he wanted to change it to and the guy says "Frank Shithead."

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