Did you spell your DC's names normally?

[LinRTX]

I have 4 --two have traditional names and spellings. One's name is unusual but spelled in a very common way -- her name is ALWAYS mispronounced! If you would just look at it, there is no other way to say it. My 4th has a common name, but an unusual spelling. It is misspelled quite a bit, but I have never heard it mispronounced. It is spelled phonetically, however.

[Spryte]

With our second son, we stuck to Alexander, and not Aleksandr, as my husband proposed.

 

May I simply say, "Good move!" I know a young adult who was given the alternative, Russian spelling - and it has been thorn in his side all his life. You can pass that info along to your DH. :)

 

After seeing that experience, we stuck with traditional spellings for our kiddos.

[BarbecueMom]

DS3 has an oddly popular name that has several spellings. We picked it out long before the Gosselin sextuplets started living on camera, but we don't spell it the same way. It's still a valid spelling and very obvious how to pronounce.

 

DS2's name is very traditional and normal, although the man at the playground with his granddaughter yesterday kept calling him "Jason". It's not Jason, not even close!

[nono]

Well, they don't have any European-rooted ones at all. :tongue_smilie: But their first names are spelled properly for the language from which they originate.

 

And, well the Chinese names are a wreck, esp. because dh's last name is pre-Pinyin, my dd's is in Pinyin, and my ds's is in Wade-Giles. I've seen a few :001_huh: from Chinese folks who see the names written phonetically. (In Chinese characters, they're fine.)

[beaners]

My name (Kayleigh) was unusual when I was in school, but I can't introduce myself to anyone now without hearing that they have a niece or granddaughter with the same name. Most people can't spell it. My brother's first name is very uncommon. It's almost always heard as a last name. Funny enough, this brother can't even spell my name on birthday cards.

 

When my husband and I were considering names for our children, my guiding principle was: Can my grandfather say it and spell it? He passed away before our third was born, but I think we will stick to the rule with all of our future children too.

[Trresh]

Our youngest is named Ashlyn. I wanted to spell it Aislin (Irish/Gaelic spelling) but I knew the trouble it would cause.

 

Even though I chose the easier spelling, my MIL spelled it Ashland the first 5 years of DD's life.

[eloquacious]

 

After years of correcting documents, embroidery, and the like, I no longer make a stink, but pass over "mispellings" without raising an eyebrow. (Unless it is a legal document).

 

Ha! My most recent passport has me listed as Jo Anne instead of JoAnne. I opted not to change it right away because we were in a hurry and needed to travel (I had already paid the rush charge, and I would have had to pay for rush shipping again, though not the actual passport) and then discovered that there is a 1-year limit on getting it corrected for free.

 

 

And the K/C issue will come up if we have a girl. I always wanted a Katharina, (I'm German-born, though I have an American name because my mother had been an exchange student in the U.S. and wanted to name me after her exchange sister, Joanie Anne) but that's just weird anyway in the U.S. so I'll likely have to go with Katherine with a K. Even that will no doubt cause trouble, but not too much, I hope.

[thescrappyhomeschooler]

The spelling of my name was a huge problem in my school days. (And Michele was my middle name to make things even more interesting.) In college when I declared my love for linguistics, I began to be annoyed by being a "one-L-Michele." It's a french feminine; it should have 2.

 

After years of correcting documents, embroidery, and the like, I no longer make a stink, but pass over "mispellings" without raising an eyebrow. (Unless it is a legal document).

 

Same here. And to top off having a first name that everyone misspells, my middle name is also Michele, with one L. My last name was also commonly misspelled. I just gave up.

[eloquacious]

"No! My husband bought that hen. It's not my hen, it's on my step-hen."

 

:lol::lol::lol:

[Spock]

My children all have Spanish names, two of which are spelled the same in English or Spanish. My daughter's name is Rebeca (one "c", as in Spanish), but is often misspelled with the American 2 "c" variant). My oldest is named Josue' (which translates to Joshua, but he prefers his actual name). He has no little trouble with Spanish speakers (except the tendency to call him Jose' instead), but English speakers all have to be taught to say/spell his name.

 

Our last name has to be spelled for English speakers anyway, so it doesn't make a big difference.

 

I don't like invented spellings of standard names, but of course the people choosing those spellings didn't ask me, and don't care what I think anyway.

[Desert Rat]

I did. With my oldest, I wish I had used a K instead of a C in Jacob. My name is spelled weird so I wanted the boys to have easy to spell names. I like my name, BTW, it's just been difficult. Even longtime friends don't get it right.

[Spock]

but it is not hard to read or pronounce. It is Cadence, although we mostly call her Cady. People are always trying to call her Candace, which never occurred to me or I might not have done it. I have a real aversion to children being named after foods....

 

We have a neighbor child with that name.

[DawnM]

Yes, my boys have the traditional spellings of their names.

 

Now, my boys' names aren't in the top 100 most common names....one is even near 1000, but they are the traditional spelling.

 

My husband's name is the NUMBER ONE most common name for males in the country! In fact, his mother must have looked at the most common names for all her kids because they are all in the top 10.

 

http://www.namestatistics.com/

Edited October 13, 2011 by DawnM

[eloquacious]

Incidentally, we didn't realize just how much more common Nikolai is to Nikolay until we did a google ngrams search. We saw a TED talk on ngrams, and it was super interesting.

 

If you find yourself wondering about your own DC's names, I recommend a search. We did Nikolai vs. Nikolay and got this. And of course, I had to run one on my own name, too. ;)

 

Incidentally, the ethnic name thing is a challenge. I can't tell you how often I've wished to be called Johanna. I mean, really, I am a German born in Germany, and I can't tell you how many awful mispronunciations I got from my teachers. No one really pronounced it correctly until my 12/13th grade English teacher. ;) Even those years that I was educated in the U.S. were troublesome because of my odd spelling, but I got the most grief in Germany where I was the kid with the "ethnic" name.

 

That being said, in the U.S. it might weird people out, as Nikolay does. Nicholas they know what to do with. Heck, they are called Nick and Alex by everyone including the guy at Great Clips, not Kolya and Sasha. ;)

Edited October 13, 2011 by eloquacious
Forgot to add the images. ;)

[Ellie]

Absolutely. An unusual spelling for a name that most people recognize is an albatross around the poor child's neck. :-(

[SailorMom]

Yes - Alex and Kyle. Plain, easy, and no one asks how they are spelled.

[eloquacious]

This is funny, to me at least. My brother's middle name is Joseph, after my grandfather Josef, but made more palatable for the U.S. (My brother, unlike me, was born in the U.S. and lived there all but four years of his life.) My mother was sad to have to change the spelling, but there it is. Many years later around the time of my grandfather's 80th birthday, they had cause to look up some documents and discovered, much to their surprise, that his birth certificate had him listed as Joseph with the ph. They can't for the life of them figure out why, but he's known himself as Josef all his life, and he didn't want to change it now. ;)

[KristinaBreece]

This is funny, to me at least. My brother's middle name is Joseph, after my grandfather Josef, but made more palatable for the U.S. (My brother, unlike me, was born in the U.S. and lived there all but four years of his life.) My mother was sad to have to change the spelling, but there it is. Many years later around the time of my grandfather's 80th birthday, they had cause to look up some documents and discovered, much to their surprise, that his birth certificate had him listed as Joseph with the ph. They can't for the life of them figure out why, but he's known himself as Josef all his life, and he didn't want to change it now. ;)

 

That is funny.

 

My great grandmother was always called Elizabeth, or Trixie. When she was 65, she had to find her birth certificate for something. On her birth certificate, her name is listed as Aurora. :001_huh: Her marriage license and social security card (she was issued hers as an adult) all had her listed as Elizabeth.

[melissad2]

Traditionalist here :D. I have a Tyler and a Jacob, and people ask me all the time how I spell Jacob :confused:. I guess some people spell it with a k....like Jakob. I just don't want my kids to go through life having to spell their names for everyone. Although uncommon spellings have become so common that people expect you to have a strange spelling sometimes. If my third is a girl she will be Emily Katherine or Emily Josephine if it's a boy he will by Dylan Austin.

[Veritaserum]

We used traditional spellings, but we do have issues with our third dd's name. We used the Spanish spelling. People mispronounce it if they read it or they misspell it if they hear it. (Her name is Eva, sounds mostly like Ava to Americans).

[twoforjoy]

Incidentally, we didn't realize just how much more common Nikolai is to Nikolay until we did a google ngrams search. We saw a TED talk on ngrams, and it was super interesting.

 

We didn't realize that Teresa was much more common than Theresa until after we named DD. But we mostly picked the name because, while it was a family name and we like to use family names, we loved Tess and could use that as her nickname. That's what everybody calls her right now.

[nukeswife]

I gave my kids traditional spelling, the hardest was when my 3rd was born and the nurse said "Oh Lucas great name, is that with a 'c' or a 'k'" I just blanked, because it never even crossed my mind. We stuck with the c, since to dh and I that seemed the most common.

 

My oldest gets bugged because people like to add an "e" on the end, his name is Everett (pronounced EV-ret) but they try to add that e and call him EV-er-ette. He loves his name though and prefers to just be called Ev (short e sound although some have called him Eve when they see his nickname spelled)

 

My dd is Annika Clare and although we love her name it gets spelled or said wrong all the time. Most people that see her name call her Uh-NEE-kuh , but her name is pronounced AH-nih-kuh (third sound of a, short i in the middle, schwa on the end) She hates when people put that long e sound in the middle. We tend to call her Anna (Ah-nuh) for short but people get that wrong if they see it spelled they go with An-uh, I just feel sorry for the person that ventures to call her Annie, because then she really gets mad and usually gives them a piece of her mind.

[Susann]

I personally do not like creative spellings. However,our oldest dd name is spelled Madelyn (Mad-a-lynn) instead of Madeleine/Madeline. When she was born and I'd write Madeleine/Madeline half the time people would say Mad-a-line like the book. So, we changed the spelling. I register people for cards at our library. I can't count the number of times I've looked at a name and had no clue how to pronounce it & then felt sorry for the person!

[Parrothead]

I don't like uncommon spellings. I know parents are trying to be cute or original but it does not come across that way.

[mommaduck]

It's going to hurt those children when they grow up. You can't ignore the fact that certain assumptions will be made about people whose names are "kre8tyvly" spelled. Right or wrong, if I have the choice between seeing two doctors in my town and one is named Dr. Ayden Rayne Williams while the other is Dr. John Thomas Ford, I don't think I'd hesitate to choose the latter.

 

Just to make the necessary disclaimer, I'm not making a statement against non-anglosaxon names. Foreign names are a wholly different matter than what's being discussed here. Actually, both times I've undergone surgery (the first time was a life-saving 13 hour procedure; the second was simply Lasik eye surgery) I saw doctors who were Indian immigrants to this country.

Ayden is a legitimate variation, just as Aidan and Aiden are. The closest Anglo spelling is Aodhán. I nearly went with that spelling, but decided to be kind to those around me.

 

There are times where it's the Traditional spelling that is odd. I have an Elisabeth. It simply depends upon where you are at.

[Tap]

ds17: there are two accepted spellings of his name. One is a common biblical spelling, one is less common (the original Hebrew spelling). We used the Hebrew spelling. It is not a Kre8tv spelling, and we occasionally run into others who use the spelling as well.

 

dd12: her first name is spelled traditionally. Due to her first name being long and very feminine, we gave her a short gender-neutral middle name. We used a less common masculine spelling, just in case she went into a profession that she wanted a name that wasn't as feminine as her first name, she would have an option. It is not a Kre8tv spelling either. She goes by her middle name now, and likes the spelling being unique.

 

dd4: the name we gave her is the common spelling of a common name. It isn't used a lot, but since there was a TV character with the name a couple o years ago, I expect to see a few more people with the name as she grows up.

[k2bdeutmeyer]

Hmmm.....interesting question. I would venture to guess that "Malea" is not the traditional way....I'm thinking Maleah would be the most common, but I'm honestly not sure?!? Shaylyn's name might be more common as "Shaylynn", but again, I'm not sure.

 

Easton's name is spelled the traditional way.

[Dana]

I don't know. In preschool and kindergarten, the vast majority of my son's classmates had traditionally-spelled names (not necessarily traditional names, but names that were spelled the way you'd expect). Same with my students (college freshman). There's always a few who have really creatively-spelled names, but most don't.

 

I think perhaps we see the trend more online than in real life. Some of the name ideas I've seen people throw around on pregnancy/parenting boards look nothing like any name I've ever encountered in real life.

 

I think it may also depend on your part of the country.

 

I teach at a cc (have for past 15 years) and I've seen a lot of strangely spelled names. I'd say the majority are "normal" but in recent years there are more names with strange letters inserted. Although the worst name I had was in my first year teaching (won't post in case it's ever googled but that one had parents who really could have used phonics!)

[BarbecueMom]

It's going to hurt those children when they grow up. You can't ignore the fact that certain assumptions will be made about people whose names are "kre8tyvly" spelled. Right or wrong, if I have the choice between seeing two doctors in my town and one is named Dr. Ayden Rayne Williams while the other is Dr. John Thomas Ford, I don't think I'd hesitate to choose the latter.

 

Just to make the necessary disclaimer, I'm not making a statement against non-anglosaxon names. Foreign names are a wholly different matter than what's being discussed here. Actually, both times I've undergone surgery (the first time was a life-saving 13 hour procedure; the second was simply Lasik eye surgery) I saw doctors who were Indian immigrants to this country.

 

My son's name is the first one, spelled differently but not creatively. His first and middle names together mean "little fire called by God", and he has the same initials as his dad and grandpa and great-grandpa and uncles, without repeating those names or the many other "A" names in our family. It was chosen for special reasons, not to be different, and he's free to go by his middle name if he wants.

 

And going by name alone, I'd choose a "Dr. Ayden" over a "Dr. John" because Doctor Johns is a lingerie and s*x toy shop in our area.

[Parrothead]

Hmmm.....interesting question. I would venture to guess that "Malea" is not the traditional way....I'm thinking Maleah would be the most common, but I'm honestly not sure?!? Shaylyn's name might be more common as "Shaylynn", but again, I'm not sure.

 

Easton's name is spelled the traditional way.

How do you pronounce your second child's name? I can't decide if the first sylable is "Ma" like "Ma and Pa Kettle" or if it is with a long "a" as in "May."

 

If I say it with a short "a" I want to throw an "r" in there and say Marley. But that is just me.

[sparrow]

Traditional. My son's very old name has double letters that seem to confuse people. They know something is double, but often choose the wrong letter :001_smile:.

 

In my daughter's case she has no double letters, but folks are ALWAYS spelling it that way. I've since found out we chose the more typical UK spelling (big surprise coming from this anglophile :D). The americanized version of her name is more common with double letters.

[Miss Peregrine]

How do you pronounce your second child's name? I can't decide if the first sylable is "Ma" like "Ma and Pa Kettle" or if it is with a long "a" as in "May."

 

If I say it with a short "a" I want to throw an "r" in there and say Marley. But that is just me.

 

Not Kristin, but I would pronounce it, "muh-lee-uh"

[k2bdeutmeyer]

How do you pronounce your second child's name? I can't decide if the first sylable is "Ma" like "Ma and Pa Kettle" or if it is with a long "a" as in "May."

 

If I say it with a short "a" I want to throw an "r" in there and say Marley. But that is just me.

 

mah-lee-uh....same as the president's daughter, but I think her name is spelled "Malia".

[DianeW88]

Traditionally. Because creative spelling makes me :glare:. No one will ever spell your child's name the way you think they should. And personally, I can't imagine ALWAYS having to correct the way people are spelling my name. Talk about tedious. I get some of that with "Diane", because there are two legitimate spellings for that same (and others have added to the mix...Dyan, anyone?). However, my son's name is "Zachary" (and that's how we spell it), and his friend's name is the same, but spelled "Zakkery". Seriously? :001_huh: Why?

[eaglei]

ds17: there are two accepted spellings of his name. One is a common biblical spelling, one is less common (the original Hebrew spelling). We used the Hebrew spelling. It is not a Kre8tv spelling, and we occasionally run into others who use the spelling as well.

 

I could almost have written this. Two accepted spellings; we chose the less common Biblical, Hebrew spelling (only one letter differs from the more common spelling - it is not Kre8tv), and we occasionally meet others who have used the same spelling.

[Parrothead]

mah-lee-uh....same as the president's daughter, but I think her name is spelled "Malia".

:lol: I don't know that I've ever heard the president's daughter's name. I don't pay much attention to his family.

 

Thanks for clarifying. I'm not at all good with names.

[k2bdeutmeyer]

:lol: I don't know that I've ever heard the president's daughter's name. I don't pay much attention to his family.

 

Thanks for clarifying. I'm not at all good with names.

 

No problem! I probably wouldn't have known that was her name either if it hadn't jumped out at me, because it is the same as DD's. I actually got the name from a lady I used to work with. Her name was "Melea" though.

[Parrothead]

Traditionally. Because creative spelling makes me :glare:. No one will ever spell your child's name the way you think they should. And personally, I can't imagine ALWAYS having to correct the way people are spelling my name. Talk about tedious. I get some of that with "Diane", because there are two legitimate spellings for that same (and others have added to the mix...Dyan, anyone?). However, my son's name is "Zachary" (and that's how we spell it), and his friend's name is the same, but spelled "Zakkery". Seriously? :001_huh: Why?

I think having those ks in there make his name look girlish. If ever I were going to name a girl Zachary I'd want to differentiate it from the boy spelling by spelling it Zakkery.

[gardenmom5]

yes, we have normal spelllings. I have a "normal" spelling of my name (and I know of at least four "standard" ways of spelling it), but I still have to spell it 70% of the time when I need to give my name to someone - believe me, it get's old. (I've had clerks/whatever looking up my name for things, and can't find it because someone spelled it wrong. you know, Rx/hotel-reservations - those aren't trivial things.)

 

My brother gave his daughter a well known english name, but uses a spanish pronunciation - and would get mad if people didn't pronounce it correctly. (well, then you shouldn't have SPELLED it that way!)

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Dd 13's middle name is Noelle so I guess that's not the normal- I just didn't want the Christmas spelling of Noel for her middle name.

 

Dd4th Has a unique name but apparently its more common than I thought. I don't know if its spelled weird or not but I didn't like any of the variation spellings- her name is Taryn

 

Ds 7 has a commonly spelled name that you just don't hear alot. I have heard 4 elderly people named his name though after he was born- I had never heard his name before, his name is Brock

 

Ds5 I really wish I would have changed the spelling of his name. I guess I did spell his oddly and I regret it now, but I didn't know it was odd, it was the first way I ever saw it spelled and the way I usually saw it spelled (in book, now real life) His name is Jayce (sounds like vase but with a J) Everybody calls him the female name Jaycee (Jay- see) Oh well. I actually considered changing the spelling but I don't know. On his hospital card in the Hospital they spelled it Joyce :glare: Sorry, my son is NOT Joyce. So his name is my big spelling mistake

[KristinaBreece]

dd12: her first name is spelled traditionally. Due to her first name being long and very feminine, we gave her a short gender-neutral middle name. We used a less common masculine spelling, just in case she went into a profession that she wanted a name that wasn't as feminine as her first name, she would have an option. It is not a Kre8tv spelling either. She goes by her middle name now, and likes the spelling being unique.

 

So she's not like the girl in Bandslam?

 

"I'm Sa5m. The 5 is silent." :tongue_smilie:

 

Dd 13's middle name is Noelle so I guess that's not the normal- I just didn't want the Christmas spelling of Noel for her middle name.

 

Dd4th Has a unique name but apparently its more common than I thought. I don't know if its spelled weird or not but I didn't like any of the variation spellings- her name is Taryn

 

Ds 7 has a commonly spelled name that you just don't hear alot. I have heard 4 elderly people named his name though after he was born- I had never heard his name before, his name is Brock

 

Ds5 I really wish I would have changed the spelling of his name. I guess I did spell his oddly and I regret it now, but I didn't know it was odd, it was the first way I ever saw it spelled and the way I usually saw it spelled (in book, now real life) His name is Jayce (sounds like vase but with a J) Everybody calls him the female name Jaycee (Jay- see) Oh well. I actually considered changing the spelling but I don't know. On his hospital card in the Hospital they spelled it Joyce :glare: Sorry, my son is NOT Joyce. So his name is my big spelling mistake

 

I've actually seen and recognize all of those as common spelling for their names. :001_smile: The only other way I've seen Taryn spelled is with an "a" instead of a "y". Either way seems "right" to me.

[gardenmom5]

People are always trying to call her Candace, which never occurred to me or I might not have done it. I have a real aversion to children being named after foods....

 

I think people skip over letters/put them out of order when they are trying to read an unfamiliar name.

 

My daughter gets called "el-sie" alot. (NOT her name, they've transposed letters) Makes me think of a milk cow. . . . .

[HS Mom in NC]

They are Faith, Mercy, and Hope.

 

People usually want to know if Mercy is spelled with an "i." Hispanic girls here in the SW usually go by Merci as a shortened version of Mercedes. So, as a shortened name, our version is not standard. Since her name is the Biblical virtue, not a shortened version of another name, it's standard because that's how it is in the Bible.

 

Generally, I would discourage parents from using odd spellings for kids....but only if they ask.

[nono]

Dd 13's middle name is Noelle so I guess that's not the normal- I just didn't want the Christmas spelling of Noel for her middle name.

 

The way you have spelled it is correct for a female. (My mother is French). It's also the more common form of the name for females in the U.S. as well, according to the link provided a bit earlier in the thread. So, you're good. :)

[LazyDazy]

How would you pronounce La-sha? My dh came home from work with this one. The woman who had just named her baby La-sha was upset that no one was pronouncing it correctly. Apparently, the "dash" isn't silent!! (LA-dash-a)

 

I'm not opposed to odd spellings but, I think that using symbols is going too far.

[piraterose]

Boo's name is a traditional alternative spelling to the American common spelling, she is Elisabeth (vs. Elizabeth). I just thought the "s" looked softer and I refused to have her be called Liz, Lizzie or Lizard.

 

Ironically, I have avoided anyone calling her lizard, but for years, her aunt has called her Monkey and another aunt calls her Ellie-roo.

Edited October 13, 2011 by piraterose

[fhjmom]

I actually wrote out a list of criteria I had for my children's names and one of the things on the list is that the spellings be "normal". As I teacher, I always hated trying to decipher the weird spellings of names that were totally common when pronounced. :tongue_smilie:

 

I don't even know how I would get creative with spelling for my brood:

Foster (although people are forever calling him "Forrest" instead :confused:)

Faith (maybe "Faythe" - totally not fond of that for mine)

Ella (???, "Elle" would be pronounced different, plus she is named after my grandmother whose name was Novella)

 

I did get very creative on middle names for the girls. We totally made up DD#1's middle name as a combination of DH's first name and my middle name: Marae (pronounced "Ma-ray"). DD#2's middle name is "Jae" (pronounced "Jay") bc I wanted my maiden name (which also happens to be a traditional feminine name that begins with a J) but DH didn't go for it, so I suggested just "J" (the letter only). He also nixed that idea but said we could use "J" if we spelled it out. He let me decide on the spelling, which is based on the spelling of my middle name (just one letter different) and more feminine. Neither of the girls goes by middle names though, as that was one of my other criteria on the list; their first name is what we would call them.

[KristinaBreece]

How would you pronounce La-sha? My dh came home from work with this one. The woman who had just named her baby La-sha was upset that no one was pronouncing it correctly. Apparently, the "dash" isn't silent!! (LA-dash-a)

 

I'm not opposed to odd spellings but, I think that using symbols is going too far.

 

I would have pronounced it like Tasha with an L. Definitely would not have pronounced the "dash." People are weird.

 

Hehe. I know a little girl whose middle name is Hope-L. How would you pronounce that?

 

They say "Ho-PELL." The dad wanted her middle name to be Louise, and the mom wanted Hope. Mom called tacking an 'L' on the end of her middle name compromise. I don't get this concept, apparently.

[KristinaBreece]

Boo's name is a traditional alternative spelling to the American common spelling, she is Elisabeth (vs. Elizabeth). I just thought the "s" looked softer and I refused to have her be called Liz, Lizzie or Lizard.

 

Ironically, I have avoided anyone calling her lizard, but for years, her aunt has called her Monkey and another aunt calls her Ellie-roo.

 

By best friend's name is Elisabeth. Her mom hated "Liz" and would sometimes call her "Elissa" for short. She much prefers to be called Liz.

[MrsBasil]

I used the traditional spelling, but I can not for the life of me, come up with a creative way to spell DS's name.

 

The name we picked for DD has two commons spellings that I am aware of. We went with the way it's spelled in the Bible in English.