Meh-kel-tee:
We tried to spell it phonetically.. LOL
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Meh-kel-tee:
We tried to spell it phonetically.. LOL
I'm not into unusual spellings myself but I don't think it's out of control. I think for a while there it was very popular but lately we seem to be seeing a huge swing back to "old fashioned" names which are now becoming popular again.
I am not a fan of made up spellings, but I do like going back in history for varients of a name. I have to admit yes, I do think it is getting out of control and have thought that for ages.
I find the internet is not a good place for looking up spellings of a name, especially the baby name sites that allow member to update meanings/history etc, some are just plain wrong. I just would not trust some of them with the background of names, well saying that I did not even trust most baby name books. I found the Prenguin Dictionary of first names and found it met my needs for historical accuracy.
I have to say that I'm surprised at the poll results - seeing aas the practce seems so common ATM, though that could just be the audience of the paper too.
BW I've only got 3 letters too, no middle name and people still seem to want to put their own creative spin on it, like being creative is so prevalent that everyone must have one....not me.
I am not against different spellings of names, as many of them do have a meaning behind them (take Maz's and Sarah's children just as examples). They may seem creative, but when you get the history, it seems the modern way, or our language are the creative versions.
Suppose my biggest frustration is people spelling or pronouncing a name wrong after being told the correct way. I worked with an Irish girl named Niamh (pronounced Neeve in case you didn't know). The amount of people who called her "Nim" after seeing it spelt or emailed 'Neeve' after hearing the pronounciation even after being corrected was unbelievable..
My DD's name is Kimberley, however even after 19 months of me correcting the inlaws they insist on spelling in Kimberly. I also have a friend who spells it Kymberley and both these annoy me to the end of the earth cause they know better! I am ok with both these spellings, but not for my DD cause it isn't her name!
I dont realy care how people spell their kids name its totally up to them. I do prefer traditional spelling.
Owning a bakery we see heaps of different spelling and poor Dh has to write it on the cakes! He stresses o much cause if he gets it wrong its ruined. So he has to keep checking as he spells it! So I suppose thats kinda annoying?
My issue with unusual spelling is this - there are a lot of snobs out there who are going to think if you have an unusual spelling to your name, they can assume a whole lot of things about you as a person (from the viewpoint of socio-economic status, education levels, etc).
I have a thing for odd numbers,(ocd a little) so all my childrens first names add up to odd numbers, for this reason i have altered the spelling of two names, but they are still realistic spellings and not way out there, and i wasnt trying to be "creative" either.:
Also meant to add that I have an interest in numerology and can kind of understand making small changes so that a child is given a name with a number combination that is more fortuitous.
I do have to spell out the names occasionally, because there are quite a few diffent ways to spell them. That being said, i also found the spelling for them in a baby book, so someone before me, has also thought of that spelling.
Rory - thats probably very accurate. Unfortunately. My poor kids.. bwahahaha
Just for the record though - we slightly changed the original spelling of Aricyn (original spelling is Aricin - its scandinavian) because we didn't like the way it looked.
And Mehkelti - well yeah we did sorta make that up. LOL
I know what you mean Rory... and tend to agree.
Regarding the newspaper readership (Herald Sun) I too am surprised that it's 91% against the current trends... demographics would indicate to me that the average Sun reader is probably more likely to be part of the "out of control" group. Hope this doesn't miff any Sun fans.
It would be interesting to see how The Age or The Australian readership polled. My guess is that their more conservative readers would be even closer to 100% in saying "Yes".
The Sun is good for sport... that's why I read it mainly... DH brings home both the Sun and The Age daily.
its funny coz i like unusual spelling but my son has a very traditional name james but only because he was named after someone i really like vyolett (maz :))as a spelling coz it looks pretty and its still spelt like its said and i also like jaxon which is a bit out there i think the issue is the frustration ppl have when they have to constantly spell their name for ppl hence the poll results
Do you want to add another to the mix?! I know of someone who named their bub McKayla...:
Same here lol.:
Hehe Sam, I was nearly going to be a Sam and always thought that would have made life easier, but I guess it might not have after all PMSL!
There is not one single child's name on here that I can't look at, and not know how to say it - even Maz and Arimeh's children's names ;) , and I bet that the poll probably wasn't referring so much to unusual names, but just the total randomness of replacing letters just so it looks different.
Mel- Thats what I figured, but wasn't sure if it was foreign so might have different innotations.
Trill-. It's true, even with my common name Sarah I still get asked by the Gloria Jeans people with or without an H EVERY time, (which I find funny in itself because they're calling my name out not spelling it out for everyone, duh)
And my husband Lloyd, there is only 1 way to spell Lloyd, and yet most people spell it Llyod which isn't even phonetical so what the??? Or my Oma spells it Loid - Bwa ha ha ha! I think we figure we just see the lighter side of it all, some people will always get it wrong regardless of whether it's unusual spelling or not. (In saying that I would think it was weird if I came across a Sxarah, spelt with a silent x)
Slightly off the subject but my brother named his second son . . . wait for it . . SINBAD. I'd take almost any name with a silent X or Z over that any day.
.:
There is not one single child's name on here that I can't look at, and not know how to say it - even Maz and Arimeh's children's names , and I bet that the poll probably wasn't referring so much to unusual names, but just the total randomness of replacing letters just so it looks different
:yeahthat:
woah! Sinbad is seriously a fantastic name. I love it!!
We took a letter off the end of DD's name which then makes it a combo of the first two letters from mine and DH's names. we are always being asked how to spell and pronounce it. Most times I give up and tell them DH's name then write out the first 2 letters, then my name and the first two letters from it..
People think that I made up the spelling of Emilia. But it is jsut the Italian version of Emily. They say do you pronounce it Ah-meal-iah. It is actually pronounced exactly as spelt, but I am not too fussed if people pronounce it slightly wrong. I jsut wonder if she will hate me when she is older for having to spell it all the time. Interestingly enough I still get asked howt o spell James!
My grandma has always been a shocker for my name - I have childhood letters from her with every conceivable combination of 'n's and 'f's.
What annoys me about unusual spellings is that we deliberately chose the most common way to spell our DD's name and I'm constantly questioned as to whether it has a 'y' or an 'ie' anyway!
Jen - I never used to be questioned about the y - ie thing, only in recent years...
:
:o :ROFL: just hope it doesnt happen to me
our neighbours named their girl twin Emilia and I really like it, especially because Amelia has gotten so popular of late, it's still a way to have the same sounding name but still different.
LOL dee, I have to spell dd's name all the time.. i mean seriously how hard is AVA?! It's not even the asking how Jayde is spelt cause her name is hyphenated.. it's ava they have a problem with :dunno::
That being said - I gave DS a "normal" name - Lachlan and 3 times in the last week I have had to correct people's spelling of that too .....
I really like Sinbad. :D
Ahhh I don't care really. All my kids are going to be known as Your Honour, Doctor or Professor anyway, so who cares what their first name is. :rofl:
Spot on Trill.:
ETA: and ROFL Nelle!
Also: how do you pronounce Sinbad... :redface: is it phonetic? Or like Siobian and tricky?
The world would be a very boring place if we all had the same name. I think all these name changes, variations come with people wanting their child to have their own identity in this crazy world.
I personally changed the spelling of DD's name from the traditional Irish way which is Aisling. I was worried that no one would be able to pronounce her name correctly as that is not even phonetically close to it. So we spelt it Ashlyn. I do get annoyed when people say to me "oh did you combine 2 names together?" ummm no, it is actually a name!!
A few times I used to get offended when someone would ask me what DD's name is and would then go 'oh' (like they hated it) when I told them but now I dont give a toss. We love it, we hope she will love it and that is what matters.
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.
BW
He He, we mostly enjoyed ribbing my brother whenever he'd say what he was going to name him we'd all go "Arrrrrrrrrgh" like pirates. Sinbad does suit him, he's half-Tongan and the darkest of the 3 boys so looks like he can carry a more unusual name - that and he's massive already at 1 so woe to any kid who mocks him in the playground, he'll take them down :lol:
PS - so yeah, it's phonetic, Sinbad . . .like the pirate.
I don't get it either! I prefer traditional spellings but I also like uncommon names.
Off topic but Bath, I loooooove your new avvy!!
Ta Heaven! I just logged back on after doing a spot of housework and noticed it myself!
Actually to be really pedantic it's Sinbad the Sailor. As-Sindibād al-Baḥri was a sailor not a pirate. From Basrah.:
Most Westerners are familiar with him from translations of The Thousand and One Nights where he has been included in the tales of Scheherazade but historically the Tales of Sinbad were not part of the Thousand and One Nights.
Arrrrrrrr, but pirates be so much more awesome, arrrrrrrrrr.
Love it!!!!:
We spelt our girls names phonectically (sp?) so that our relatives o/s can pronounce them. Some very common names in English have a legimate alternative spelling in another language. Just because "we" in Australia don't recognise the spelling doesn't mean it doesn't exist...For example Emilia is a perfectly "normal" name in Poland and so is Monika (Monica)
Love it Nelle:
Slightly off topic but when considering names I have been going through the following process :redface:
* <name I like> mmm that is a nice name
* how would I spell <name>
* mmm how does Doctor <name> surname sound... oh, what about <name> surname, esq etc etc etc
yes I must be a loon :redface:
Ok, back on topic
we too have spelt the winkies names as they sound in the hope that people will be able to say it without too much heart ache... but that hasn't stoped people saying Jayden, or Mickala ( sorry I cant spell it correctlly :lol: which I know will annoy most of you ) and with poor bubba girl nobody ever gets her name... I mostly introduce the winkies with there names and when I get that blank look I will say for now you can just call them Zay May and Kai... But once people get used to saying the winkies names it rolls of the touge as easily as Jane.... or at least I think they do...
Haha, my only 'test' is where I screech the name to see just HOW bad it will sound when I'm calling for them. :p
I haven't read all the posts in this one yet, I will go back over them, but 'unusual' spelling is kind of a bugbear of mine. Purely because I have spent my entire life correcting and having to spell out my name for people, and it's not even that odd!! (It's two hyphenated names and the last one can be 'traditionally' spelled at least three different ways, so people always get stuck with it - I ended up dropping the second name as soon as I got to high school and became confident enough to tell teachers that the name printed on the roll was not the name I preferred to go by. Even my parents now refer to me as 'Donna' rather than 'Donna-Lee'.)
I love 'exotic' names, don't get me wrong - there are so many beautiful names out there and how boring would life be if we were all Toms, Janes and Sarahs? My annoyance is with a 'normal' name, taken and twisted and having letters added and taken away, until it barely resembles the original name. Mum and dad might think it's 'unique', 'individual' and will give their child a sense of originality, but speaking from experience, it just makes life bleeding difficult and becomes a burden.
That said, each to their own. I'm sure there are people out there who think 'Hayley Nicole' and 'Emily Paige' are boring and old-fashioned and would be better if I'd 'livened them up' by spelling them 'Heyleigh' and 'Emmie-Lea', but I just feel like it makes life a lot easier to have traditional spellings and if it saves them the misery and taunting I went through as a kid (and the constant irritation of having to correct important documents as an adult), then I'm happy.
My 'trick' to choosing baby names is to imagine it on an elderly person, a preschooler, and at the top of a resume from the perspective of a conservative (usually middle-aged male) employer. If it fits all three, it's a keeper. If not... back to the drawing board lol.
I grew up in Scotland and am surrounded by Ruaridh's, Sionbhan's, Muireall's and Iain's. The vast majority of the Scottish population have zero knowledge of gaelic, only around 1% of us are fluent speakers who actually use the language. You get used to seeing the spellings though.
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 do sometimes think it's being taken a bit far, given, as BW said, the name sounds exactly the same spoken but if it makes people happy to give random spellings then that's fairly harmlss as craziness goes (remember little Aryan Nation?). I know a bryahn (brian), a meekaila (michaela), a sharlottah (charlotte - german pron.), a kaytea (katy). But then at least those ARE names. Does anyone remember the judge allowing a girl in America to change her name because her parents had called her, on her BIRTH certificate, "Tallulah-Does-The-Hula-In-Hawaii"?
DD's name is rare but traditionally spelled and very common amonst 80-year old women and still, no one can spell it. I think the world is so big now, people come into contact with so many variations on spellings that no-one even tries to think anymore, they just automatically ask "and how are you spelling that?"
Bx