"Unusual Spellings of Baby Names Out of Control"

[[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.

[MrsFabuloso]

Personally I don't like creative spelling much. But really if the parent has a reason for it, even just to put their own stamp on thier child, then that's fair enough.
My name is Kellie. I have people spell it wrong all the time and they just assume its Kelly. I don't really care except if it's something important. But because of it, I tired to give my kids simple names, spelt the most common way (or so I thought!) But I have already had 'Lily' spelt in every combination possible and even 'Liam' has been Leem, Leiham, Leam.
Being a child care worker I see every spelling under the sun. At the moment we have so many double and triple names, all spelt differently. One name in particular, we have 5 girls with the same name. Only one spells it in what I would call the 'normal' spelling. It makes it tricky when the parents get upset at us for spelling the names wrongly, and while I can understand it, it's hard to know who's name is spelt which way!!
So I think no matter how you spell your kids names, they are always going to be asked how to spell it!