"Unusual Spellings of Baby Names Out of Control"

[DaintreeDream]

I'm not a fan of creative spelling at all.

I hate seeing an unnecessary added letter in names, eg: our boys name is going to be Mason, I hate it when people add in a 'Y' for instance, Mayson... I personally do not see the point! Just means that he would be spelling his name out all his life for the sake of having a 'Y' in his name.

I have spent my life pronouncing and spelling my name to people and really it is not that weird, so I decided that when I chose names for my children they would be names that whether or not popular, when said the person would be able to recognise and spell it and when written it is recognised and readable.

[Taurean]

Totally agree with the poll - it has gotten out of hand.

I think it bothers me most as when you say a lot of these creatively spelt names, they sound identical to the traditional spelling so I don't see the point in adding/switching letters in an attempt to make the name original. It still sounds the same but the parents and child just have to correct everyone when it comes to spelling it for the rest of their lives. I just don't get it.

[Phteven]

Jayne is a tradition spelling personally I don't regard it as being an unusual spelling, it's just a variant, lot's of names have a number of spellings all of which are normal. Jhaiyn on the other hand, hmmmm.
We tried to chose names that are pretty simple and spellings that are fairly phonetic, I didn't want my children to have to tell people how to pronounce their name or how to spell it. It gets so tedious always having to help people out.

[Laranna]

I tend to agree with the poll and I'm not a fan of creative spelling of normal names. Although I do like the unusual names, it irks me seeing a lovely name all messed up with silly spelling.

I thought my name (Lynette) would be easy to spell, but I am always spelling it out for people as I get so many variations of it. Even if I just call myself Lyn, I get variations on that too! DF has even tougher time. He's a Mathieu which is the French spelling of Matthew. Even when you spell it out for people they still stick a 'w' on the end. It's like they can't get their head around it! LOL

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I ruddy HATE creative spellings. Adding in Ys and Zs and Xs to look "cool". Fair enough if it's a spelling from a country that you can call your own... but not just randomly! (I have a Welsh name and I AM NOT WELSH! It was also popular in the late 60s/early 70s so people are shocked at how young I look... I'm about a decade younger than my name, I don't just LOOK young, I AM young!) I do like Irish names but DH's Mum's parents were both Irish so we can just about get away with that - or could if DH liked them!

I hate having to constantly correct the pronounciation and the spelling. I hate having people think my last name has a Y in it because my first name does... NO. Yes, I can spell my last name... I can spell my first name too. Just you who thinks that comment is amusing.

Having said that, children with "normal" spelling suffer. Liebling gets two As in his name rather than A then E. His middle names get it too. I don't understand - we picked three very normal names! The first two names, when combined with the last name, are breweries. Why is there this problem? Because other parents made it a problem for us.

[Jellyfish]

Don't they say Imogen originated from a misspelling? Guess those of us who use it are a bit screwed either way then

[paradise lost]

Nelle -

Ruaridh's, Siobhan's, Muireall's and Iain's

Rory, Shavaun (which i realised i typo'd when first typing it, lol), Muriel, Ian.

Because its a way to make your child unique, putting your stamp on them for life...that child is part of you and their name is one of the most important and most valuable thing you can give them bar life its self.

I have to say, i totally disagree with that. I know 4 Olivia's and every one of them is an incredibly unique individual. Two of my very good friends have the same name, are utterly different and i NEVER get them mixed up in my head or otherwise. When i was at Uni i worked on a welcome desk and practically every man i met from the middle east had a name that was some variation on Mohammed, but they were all very different people. I think a sense of individuality goes way way beyond a name and that, although the name is the 2nd Very Important Parenting Job (after getting them earthside as healthy as possible) of a new parent, in the course of years it pales, as the birth does, in terms of importance. My mother gave me the most popular girls name of the time when i was born, because, she said, she felt it could fit in anywhere. On paper i could be a lawyer or a lapdancer. In person i am as unique as anyone else. As has been said by one more eloquent than me "what's in a name, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". JMO

Bx

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I have to disagree with Maz and Skye too - Liebling isn't the same as all the other people out there with his name and his spelling. He's HIMSELF.

I have an uncommon name but that just made me cross that my parents can't spell. It is fairly common in my family - Zaidie also originated from a spelling mistake, but a few women in my family have it now. As a child, you don't want to be different. You want to fit in. And teachers calling you "Crane" because they can't pronounce your first name properly isn't what I call fun and exciting.

As an adult you want to be different - but by then you realise that you're more than just a name, you're YOU. OK so some people do change their name, but more people change from odd name to normal name than from normal name to "no-one has a hope in hell of spelling this" name. A lot of people change "Jaymz" to "James" or "Seaufeighya" to "Sophia": they have the same name, but none of the spelling hassles. I do know a Jaymz but thankfully not a Seaufeighya.

[~clover~]

I know a Jaymz too.

I guess we are all different. I grew up with a long Irish last name & my first name & always had to spell both. My brother & sister are Wade & Sahra (not Sarah). They got Wayne & Sarah all the time, but none of us hate our names. (I wasn't a fan of mine, but, honestly...Skye's just a magnet for teasing!)

It does mean alot to me that DD's name is different.

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

Maz, I'm sooooo pleased I told my parents BEFORE I changed my name now! I didn't realise that other people were so attached to names they gave away: one reason I changed my name because the daughter I probably will never have was going to have Zaidie - as she's not going to appear any time soon, or ever, I figured why wait and give it away when I want it myself!

DS's name represents a LOT of family history (we're generally better at spelling boys' names than girls') but it wouldn't upset me if he changed it: yes, I picked it and gave it to him but he can do as he wishes with it now; it is his.

[maz]

They all sound the same on the playground... you're going to hear it more than you see it, so why do people want names to look different? I mean Jessica is going to be sound the same as Jessyka in the end. I don't get it.

Because its a way to make your child unique, putting your stamp on them for life...that child is part of you and their name is one of the most important and most valuable thing you can give them bar life its self.

I have to say, i totally disagree with that. I know 4 Olivia's and every one of them is an incredibly unique individual.

A name is not just something spoke. As some have stated in here, a name can represent generations of a family, a nationality, a passion.

A name can by no means represent an individual...saying that name out loud may sound the same even if spelt different, yet its the way its spelt that means the earth to the parents, a priceless gift etched into history.

[[M]umma[M]ia]

like my name... its spelt HOLLYE... y the "e"u ask??? i dont bloody know. Im so sick of spelling it to people, over and over. I give up most of the time and just let them spell and pronounce it how they like.

so yes, in some sense it can get a little out of control.

[Phteven]

I always thought you were Holly E...
Is it pronounced the same as Holly?

[[M]umma[M]ia]

yep, pronouced the same. Nah my middle name starts with an 'A' and my last name with a "d"

[paradise lost]

What about unisex names with different spellings to denote gender. I get confused by people changing spellings there...

I am ok with Francis/Frances, Leslie/Lesley but what about Lee/Leigh? I know male and female Leighs. Also Robin/Robyn and Charlie/Charley/Charleigh....any idea? I always used to think there were maybe universal rules i wasn't party to lol!

Bx

[Anila]

Most of those names were said for a LONG LONG time before they were written down. So really the spelling, even the oldest "traditional" spelling, is completely arbitrary - it's just what the first person to write the name down thought it should look like which is why there are variations between countries of origin even when the name sounds the same, and for all we know they could have been adding or omitting letters for the sake of fashion too.

i agree with that, who says that the traditional spelling is the right one, maybe someone didnt like the creative spelling so they changed it?

I am Lisa, and I get asked how to spell my name, my gf is Leesa (she is 10 yrs older than me) and she gets asked how to spell her name, but both names are the same, so i really dont think it matters what ur name is, someone is gonna aske u how to spell it one day!

[paradise lost]

It's funny, people ask me to spell my name, Rebecca, which is spelled in the totally standard way. I always kind of wished they'd called me Rebekah to reflect my Jewish extraction...

Bx

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I didn't see any offence, Maz. It's something I have wanted to do since the age of about 14 (all my school books have it on them!) so I thought at Easter "I've wanted this name half my life... why wait any longer? Silly graduation present for next year when I want my proper name on my certificate." So I spoke to Mum and changed my name! Dad laughed at me but his mum was really thrilled as it was her mum's middle name. I should have gotten Mum to do it for me age 14 (she said she would have) then less hassle with changing it on FAR more things now. It's not strength, it's realising I want that name and am never going to get a chance to use it unless I use it on myself!

Bec, I went to school with a female Lee. And Robin is unisex, but Robyn is female. At the moment. But look at The Pickwick Papers - Tracy's a boy! The rules change a lot.

I still say the traditional "Sophia" would never have been "Seaufeighya" - because most people go for the easiest spelling. Adding in extra letters, changing letters to make it more "cool"... I don't get that at all. It just makes life difficult for the child, from my experience.

Like names ending in ea - is that an "eee" sound or an "ear" sound: Bailea I figure is probably the eee sound but Lea would be - which one actually, Lee or Lear?

ETA - I always thought Jorja was from the Spanish: I know they spell George as Jorge, same pronounciation. Which would be pronounced "yorg" (hard G sound) by a Scandinavian.