Purposely misspelling your child's name

[merkat82]

I still can't decide where I stand on this issue, because I have a name that, despite it being a somewhat common name that's been around for a very long time, people STILL can't figure out how to spell it right even after I tell them repeatedly, and it's definitely because there's at least one alternate spelling out there.

Hell, even people usually don't know how to spell Michael correctly despite it being such a really common guy's name.

[CaleCaesar]

Mine often gets some strange pronunciations, almost all I'll answer to regardless. Most often people pronounce it with a short 'a' when technically it should be a long 'a.' I usually don't get people who unintentionally pronounce the 'e' at the end of my name though.

[retrophile]

My objection to stupid names is not that the kid'll get teased. Kids get teased no matter what. You know how many obscene variations there are on my very normal name? Yeah, I didn't either till I got to junior high.

My objection is that a lot of stupid names are indicative of larger social problems. People displace their class rage/envy by giving their kids posh sounding names (Peyton, Devon, Kellen - those are three actual children in my family, a pair of girl twins and their older brother). Or else white people are so starved for a culture of their own that they find some Welsh or Celtic or Norse-sounding name and bastardize the spelling to make it American-er, or else they're so starved for creativity but lack the tools to express themselves in any way other than making up a weird jumble of letters to call their kid.

So the problem is not that people are giving their kids ridiculous names. It's that they feel like they have to. Instead of naming your daughter "Imunique" (supposedly a real name, not sure if I believe it), why not try to foster the qualities in her that actually make her unique? Well, because if Imunique's mom is a single working-class mother, she might not know how to do that, having had limited opportunities herself.

[Cacille]

I once had a waiter with a unusual name, and here is how he introduced himself: Hi, my name is Wolf, I'll be your server tonight and yes, that's my real name, I was named after my father."

Nope, he didn't resemble a dog in the slightest. So two generations with that name....wow. Poor guy, but that is one hella awesome name though.

[funaladanaly]

My sister's name is Allyson.

I see nothing wrong with this.

I don't either! I think I've even seen that spelling before. Even if I hadn't, I could look at it and tell you her name is pronounced Alison. I like the way that is spelled.

Its what CJ said about parents who give their kids names that aren't spelled correctly and actually indicate a different pronunciation, and then get upset because you say the name how its spelled rather than how they want you to say it.

[Brodertun]

My sister's name is Rosalynn (Roz). She got so angry when Garth Brooks said we interesting names - she must have been about ten at the time, and quickly retorted with, "What do you think Garth is?"

I alsio think though that too often people forget that the odd person out is often the one who never has to clarify the spelling of their name - ie Jon/John, Sara/Sarah, Jaime/Jamie/Jamey, Zac/Zack/Zach, Geof/Jeff, Brandy/Brandi, Carry/Kerri/Kerry/Cari, Merry/Mary....

My own name has 2 accepted, standard, popular spellings and 2 other spellings whose pronunciation difference is so slight most people don't recognize the difference. They aren't creative spellings, either

[EIito]

I suppose I shouldn't get started on this, but there's really something wrong when the hospital staff are curious how I spell "alice". Is it "alys"? NO. Then again, this is the same staff that birthed little JhuaMryriawyn-JuShyhoun and Ke'Ahjahnae' (as if one apostrophe wasn't enough). Oh, how I love my city and its... interesting population. Personally, I think the bigger problem than unique...heh... spellings are names that were seemingly picked by drawing scrabble tiles. I understand the desire to have a name that reflects a person's culture, but at the same time... a little foresight, perhaps? As in wouldn't it be nice if your kid could spell his name before the age of ten?

That being said, the worst misspelling i've seen recently is Nay'Dean. They took a perfectly beautiful female name and turned into something masculine and cumbersome. I really think there's lead in this city's water supply.

Reason #6 for not teaching? Can't deal with the names. Dead serious.

/rantiness.

[Bluegirl]

Well my name is missing one letter due to a mistake on my parents part :lol: But there are so many different ways to spell it anyway that it doesn't really matter. Anyway I love my name it does make me feel unique :D Luckily it is quite pronounceable, I do feel sorry for those people whose names look like they should be said quite differently to how they are actually pronounced.

[Des]

If I ever have a son, I want to name him Xel. It's pronounced "shell." It's a Spanish name. I met a guy from Spain in my Spanish class by that name, and I really liked it.

I have a list of baby names I like, and they're all unique names like that. I foresee a fight with my wife.

[AndAPickle?]

I once had a waiter with a unusual name, and here is how he introduced himself: Hi, my name is Wolf, I'll be your server tonight and yes, that's my real name, I was named after my father."

Nope, he didn't resemble a dog in the slightest. So two generations with that name....wow. Poor guy, but that is one hella awesome name though.

My uncle's name is Wolfgang, and we all call him Wolf. (I wish he was half as cool as that sounds.) And it is a perfectly normal and common name for someone his age who was born in Germany.

[AndAPickle?]

That being said, the worst misspelling i've seen recently is Nay'Dean. They took a perfectly beautiful female name and turned into something masculine and cumbersome. I really think there's lead in this city's water supply.

I went to school with Ka'man, who was forever getting annoyed when people called her "Kay-man" or "Kah-man". And I know what you're thinking, how the hell do you say it then?

"Carmen."

*sigh*

[Brodertun]

I once had a waiter with a unusual name, and here is how he introduced himself: Hi, my name is Wolf, I'll be your server tonight and yes, that's my real name, I was named after my father."

Nope, he didn't resemble a dog in the slightest. So two generations with that name....wow. Poor guy, but that is one hella awesome name though.

My uncle's name is Wolfgang, and we all call him Wolf. (I wish he was half as cool as that sounds.) And it is a perfectly normal and common name for someone his age who was born in Germany.

Funny how soon we forget the fame of people like Peyton Randolph, and Wolfgang Mozart

[thewholehorizon]

I'm alright with a little variation in spellings here and there, but yeah some are just too ridiculous and some it's like "Does the parent not even CARE???"

In middle school there was a girl in my class named Karle (Carly) so of course anytime a new teacher was reading off the roll sheet they'd think it was Karl and everyone would laugh, but fortunately she would laugh at it too.

Haha that actually just reminded me...one day at school during dismissal, me and this other girl Holly were playing with alphabet magnets on this filing cabinet, and we were spelling out our names and I went to spell Karle's but we were out of L's so I said "Okay we're just gonna replace all L's with N's and vice versa" so we had Jelly, Honny, and Karne, and Karne (car-knee) ended up sticking and everyone started calling her that. It sorta began a nickname movement for her because after that it was Beef (carne asada) and it just kept transforming into I can't even remember what all ^^

[funaladanaly]

In middle school there was a girl in my class named Karle (Carly) so of course anytime a new teacher was reading off the roll sheet they'd think it was Karl and everyone would laugh, but fortunately she would laugh at it too.

I was thinking the same thing. If I was a substitute teacher and saw the name: Kaydenc, I would ask aloud - Kaydink?

There would be a reflection of question in my voice, but I bet poor little Kaydenc is going to get a lot of the dink and not so much of the dence (which her parents obviously are - ha, play on words!)

[cijay]

If I ever have a son, I want to name him Xel. It's pronounced "shell." It's a Spanish name. I met a guy from Spain in my Spanish class by that name, and I really liked it.

I have a list of baby names I like, and they're all unique names like that. I foresee a fight with my wife.

'Xel' would be fine. Ethnic names and the like are just fine, just as long as the parents don't get pissy with people because they're calling their kid "Zell" or "Ksell" or misspelling it.

If Xel has a meaning in Spanish, I imagine there are other people with the name, so it's not unique, just different.

[Charlieee]

I love differently names, if they're not too ridiculous (like the Scrabble-letter names). I also like names taken from mythologies. :D :D (Hah, when I read HP6 and saw Fenrir Greyback, I got so happy :lol: )

But they can be kind of awkward, sometimes. Like I just found out that I've been spelling my director's name wrong, because he never corrected me (it's Bryan, not Brian)... :oops: Not that unusual, but now I feel bad. :lol:

And, yeah, subs get it really bad. Like, I live in a town with a lot of Indian students, and the subs have a really hard time, sometimes. :?

[Wolf X Omega]

Living in a country that most people are so ignorant that think that naming their child with an english name is "cult" even if they can barely speak their own language i see that a lot, i think people shouldn't try to name their child to sound unique, give 'em a name they want, give 'em a name they like, or do like the hippies, let them name themselves.

[Parth]

Its what CJ said about parents who give their kids names that aren't spelled correctly and actually indicate a different pronunciation, and then get upset because you say the name how its spelled rather than how they want you to say it.

Heh. Ya know my cousin's name is Niamh.

It pronounced "Neeve". (it's gaelic)

I think my family has a claim to that, 'cause we have Scottish surnames ;)

[Kez]

Carry/Kerri/Kerry/Cari

Except that Carry/Cari and Kerry/Kerri in the Australian accent are completely different pronounciations.

[Brodertun]

Carry/Kerri/Kerry/Cari

Except that Carry/Cari and Kerry/Kerri in the Australian accent are completely different pronounciations.

However, I'm not in Australia, and the only person I know in Australia doesn't have an australian accent

*And I forgot Carrie, the spelling variation i've encountered the most

[cijay]

That's another thing that factors is accent. Everywhere but North America, "Hairy" and "Harry" are two totally separate words, as are Carrie and Kerry, Barry and berry etc etc.

Do the Australians have the same habit as the Kiwis about names ending in "ry" or "rie". Rory becomes Raz, Mary becomes Maz, Barry becomes Baz etc etc.

[deladangerous]

Do the Australians have the same habit as the Kiwis about names ending in "ry" or "rie". Rory becomes Raz, Mary becomes Maz, Barry becomes Baz etc etc.

ohhhh! ....It all makes sense now!

[Kez]

Heh, Dela, I was sure I told you about how nicknames work in Oz.

Cijay - yes, except it's more for any name with /r/ as the second consenant. (I know I spelt that wrong!) - eg Sarah could become Saz, Shanno becomes Shazza. It's also very typical to put an a ending after the z, but I hate the name Keza for me.

[Nugan]

If I ever have children, and I won't, I'm going to give each of them an adjective as a name, so, when they decide to rebel, it'll be easy for them to determine my hopes and expectations for their lives so that they can adamently refuse to live up to them.

[birdnerd]

Shortsighted. My maternal grandmother thought she was being creative, and instead condemned my mother to a lifetime spent correcting the spelling of her name on official paperwork.

I have no intention of having children, but if I did, I would make it a point to give them conventional, conventionally spelled names so they could get on with it already. They can make up their own gimmicky nicknames if they want to. I went through a phase like that once. It lasted, at most, two years. Then I just wanted to have a normal name again and I was immensely grateful that my parents had given me one at birth.

[Brodertun]

Shortsighted. My maternal grandmother thought she was being creative, and instead condemned my mother to a lifetime spent correcting the spelling of her name on official paperwork.

I have no intention of having children, but if I did, I would make it a point to give them conventional, conventionally spelled names so they could get on with it already. They can make up their own gimmicky nicknames if they want to. I went through a phase like that once. It lasted, at most, two years. Then I just wanted to have a normal name again and I was immensely grateful that my parents had given me one at birth.

Speaking from experience, having a conventionally spelled convential name in no way ensures that everyone can spell it (or read it) correctly.

Sure you're probably safe with Bob and Jane, but when you get into the longer names it just doesn't work as well as one would think

[vits3k]

I'm trying to decide whether I prefer Geoffrey to Jeffery.

The second is a corruption of the first, but is more phonetic.

And is, in some schools of thought, more of a "regular guy's" name. Whatever that means, exactly.

* Struggles with the conflict *

By the way, has anyone else noticed that vanishingly few people in the US name their kids Clive or Nigel (which are cool names IMO) ?

[Retasha]

One of my cousins is going through life with the name Jarred, though his parents decided to spell it Jarhed for some reason never fully explained.

I personally prefer creative names, so long as they don't inspire teasing or spelling difficulties. I grew up with a name constantly pronounced wrong, but I really don't mind. It was amusing to end up in a college class with three other Tasha's who all spelled and pronounced their names differently. Made for one confused teacher. :lol:

[Brodertun]

By the way, has anyone else noticed that vanishingly few people in the US name their kids Clive or Nigel (which are cool names IMO) ?

I love those names - in fact I used to have two barn cats named them.

Off topic:

And it was quite interesting but they were both special - No matter what was going on (ie my removing a worm from his cheek while he was crying) Clyve would never scratch or bite me.

And Nigel was born to a mom who wouldn't get within 15 feet of a human and tried to teach her kittens the same - but I was holding him within three days of the first time I saw him. ONce he saw the super loud purring kitten being held and petted, He couldn't resist

[Parth]

From the very first time I heard the name "Clive", I thought it was kind of an ugly name :lol: