What is with the trend of misspelled names??

[Moxie]

Why are so many younger people misspelling the names of their children?  I have a big family and I'm one of the oldest.  Out of all my cousins, I can only think of 2 that have given their kids traditional names.  One cousin just had a baby girl and named her Kori.  Kori has a sister named Kamryn.  Is it an attempt at being kute and klever or do they just want something youneek?? 

 

ETA: I'm not bothered as some suggest, just curious why a person picks a name and then changes the traditional spelling.

[redsquirrel]

it's hardly new.  I am almost 50 and went to school with kids with what you would call 'misspelled' names.  And if someone spells their name a certain way, than that is how their name is spelled and it isn't 'misspelled'

 

I bet there are a lot of people on this board whose kids names are spelled in a way that you would deem 'misspelled'.  I am looking forward to hearing what they have to say on the matter.

 

 

[hornblower]

I think with globalization and multiculturalism, this really matters less and less. Lots of "unusual" (sometimes unusual to everyone and sometimes just unusual to english speakers) names here in Vancouver. We go wih the flow.

[LucyStoner]

Not new. At all.

[skimomma]

 

 

I bet there are a lot of people on this board whose kids names are spelled in a way that you would deem 'misspelled'.  I am looking forward to hearing what they have to say on the matter.

 

Yeah.  Me too.

 

As someone with a "misspelled" name myself and the parent of a child with a "misspelled" name all I can say is sorry that it bothers you so much.

 

There are too many potential reasons why people choose alternate spellings to list in full.  In my case, my parents were trying to "feminize" and traditionally male name.  In my dd's case, we were updating a traditionally "old fashioned" name.  Neither is a big deal as far as I can tell.  I have been "dealing" with my name for 40 years and it really is not a big deal.

[Orthodox6]

Not new. Strikes me as an unnecessary bid for attention or an attempt to distinguish a child from the overuse of a trendy name.

[hornblower]

And honestly I never understood why all the Gaelic and Welsh names get a pass. Theyre just as difficult to spell. My nephews have such names and I've botched them more than once ...

[Tangerine]

I have a friend my own age named Caryn.  I've known an adult Kristopher. (Which could very well be a derivative spelling of Kristoff).  I figure if people are naming their kids names you don't like, the simple answer is because they do like them.  There are certainly names that are not to my liking, but having put up one baby name thread on this board (against my better judgement), I have to say people have weirdly rabid opinions about what other people name their kids.

[BigMamaBird]

I don't mind yoonique spellings unless the person gets offended that I can't spell or pronounce it the first time out of the gate.  

[momacacia]

My kids have "weird" names, although one is a tad more traditional, not common, and is spelled in the most traditional way. The other two, traditional in other cultures and/or just weird. They're not spelled weird, but to Americans they are because most people are unfamiliar with their root words or the names themselves. Doesn't bother me when people spell or pronounce them incorrectly--how would they know? Just correct it and go on. Even if it takes a few times or an explanation.

 

But, we don't have any Kori, Kary, Karrie, or Izabell or Mikayla here.

[JumpyTheFrog]

What I really hate are names with unphonetic spellings. I once worked at an after school program where a girl was named Anthea. It should be an-thee-uh, but she said it was a-NEE-thee-uh. Every time I saw her name in print, I'd think, "How do you get four syllables out of that spelling?"

[Diann]

I agree with the PP that this is not new. I'm 54 and have an uncommon spelling of Diane. I always have to spell my name to others, but I'm never bothered by it. Unique spellings are just that, unique.

 

Diann

[SparklyUnicorn]

Is this really a misspelling thing though?  There are various ways to spell many names. 

 

My older kid's name starts with a K.  The more typical spelling around here has it starting with a C.  The K spelling is not wrong and at least half the world probably spells it with a K.  People assume a C here though.  It's not a huge deal and once I point it out they usually don't forget. 

 

 

[SparklyUnicorn]

What I really hate are names with unphonetic spellings. I once worked at an after school program where a girl was named Anthea. It should be an-thee-uh, but she said it was a-NEE-thee-uh. Every time I saw her name in print, I'd think, "How do you get four syllables out of that spelling?"

 

Then again tons of people don't grasp the concept of phonics it seems.  My maiden name is spelled phonetically and about 75% of the time people pronounced it wrong and inconsistent with phonic's rules.  Now my married name I thought would trip people up less.  Nope.  The name is absolutely phonetic with no possible way to confuse the pronunciation yet people manage.

[Miss Peregrine]

Then again tons of people don't grasp the concept of phonics it seems. My maiden name is spelled phonetically and about 75% of the time people pronounced it wrong and inconsistent with phonic's rules. Now my married name I thought would trip people up less. Nope. The name is absolutely phonetic with no possible way to confuse the pronunciation yet people manage.

Mine, too. People just skip right over two letters and pronounce it as if they aren't even there. It's baffling.

[Callie]

I was born in 67 and went to school with a Kori & my neighbors gma was Kori.  This was in Kentucky.

[Georgiana Daniels]

This weekend I'll be the announcer for the awards at a gym meet. This very issue will likely trip me up because so many names are spelled youneekly.

[LibraryLover]

I'm currently working in an amazing multicultural setting. There are literally, not figuratively, people from all over the globe. Some days I wish for a Kori. I have the most trouble pronouncing Indian and Chinese names. I feel like a dolt some days. Forget spelling without looking at the roster.

 

People from other places on this earth don't know Kori is 'supposed' to be Corey. Doesn't matter a whit in a global society.

[HS Mom in NC]

I think it's an attempt to be unique for a lot of people.

[blondeviolin]

I'm all for a little diversity. We are currently expecting so the name conversation comes up a lot. Just the other day someone suggested Hyzeah (pronounced Hey-a) to me. That doesn't even make any sense. :001_huh:

 

I have a hard-to-spell and hard-to-say middle name. It's not youneek, it's Swedish (I'm named after my great-great-grandmother). But it's so frustrating.

[Farrar]

The way you spell your name can't be misspelled. It's a name. You can spell it however you please and it's automatically correct.

 

I get why some people choose and other people don't choose standard spellings for common names. But I see a lot of judgement around this issue that always just makes me sad.

[8circles]

I don't know, MOXIE, why do people give their children such strange names?

 

(Sorry, I'm teasing, I just couldn't resist. I don't know if Moxie is your real name or not and it doesn't matter.)

 

Why are so many younger people misspelling the names of their children? I have a big family and I'm one of the oldest. Out of all my cousins, I can only think of 2 that have given their kids traditional names. One cousin just had a baby girl and named her Kori. Kori has a sister named Kamryn. Is it an attempt at being kute and klever or do they just want something youneek??

 

ETA: I'm not bothered as some suggest, just curious why a person picks a name and then changes the traditional spelling.

[Ivey]

I think there are lots of reasons that people choose to alter the spelling of their kids' names. My niece has a little boy named Jaxon, which they chose because they intended to use the nickname "Jax" (which suits him perfectly). My 12yo has one of the Gaelic spellings of "Owen", because we didn't want his initials to be "OO". 

 

Apparently, you can actually misspell a name though: Keira Knightley on Her Unique Name: 'My Mum's Crap at Spelling'

[Wilma]

I've historically felt judgy about this very issue. 

 

But then I read a book about the alphabet.  It was highly-nerdy and fascinating, and the guy took a look at each letter and its history and development -- where did /a/ come from?  who used it first?  and what caused it to have all these different sounds?  He walked through the dipthongs and weird combinations we use and explained their origins and exceptions.  The alphabet is really cool, y'all.  And it's still, to some extent, in flux. 

 

So I'm making an effort (and it doesn't reflect well on me that it takes an effort) to say to  myself, "it's their alphabet, too, Wilma.  They can use it how they want to."

[umsami]

I think it's in a desire to make their kids stand out or be unique.

 

I grew up with a what today would be considered normal, but back then was not, name.  I could never find anything with my name on it.  I had a French teacher take one point off my paper each time because I spelled my name wrong.  It annoyed me.

 

I think there are accepted variations of spellings of certain names and then there are the more creative versions.  I think one can be too creative and just create trouble for one's child.  But hey, that's just me.  If it's your name, I'll do my best to learn to spell it and pronounce it the way you like. 

[MomtoCandJ]

Hmmm dd2 is spelled Juli (Julie just no e), dd1 picked it out since her name is Cali. So maybe it's a matter of having older siblings help pick out names. I know I get a lot of flack for it but oh well.

[Matryoshka]

Apparently, you can actually misspell a name though: Keira Knightley on Her Unique Name: 'My Mum's Crap at Spelling'

 

I'm fairly sure I read somewhere that Oprah's unique name is also a result of maternal misspelling, and that her mother had intended to give her the Biblical name Orpah.

 

[Georgiana Daniels]

I think it's in a desire to make their kids stand out or be unique.

 

I grew up with a what today would be considered normal, but back then was not, name. I could never find anything with my name on it. I had a French teacher take one point off my paper each time because I spelled my name wrong. It annoyed me.

 

I think there are accepted variations of spellings of certain names and then there are the more creative versions. I think one can be too creative and just create trouble for one's child. But hey, that's just me. If it's your name, I'll do my best to learn to spell it and pronounce it the way you like.

That is so rude of your teacher!

[Just Kate]

I think there are lots of reasons that people choose to alter the spelling of their kids' names. My niece has a little boy named Jaxon, which they chose because they intended to use the nickname "Jax" (which suits him perfectly). My 12yo has one of the Gaelic spellings of "Owen", because we didn't want his initials to be "OO". 

 

Apparently, you can actually misspell a name though: Keira Knightley on Her Unique Name: 'My Mum's Crap at Spelling'

 

Lol...this made me think of my mom's name. She is named Dorenda, but it wasn't until years after she was born that they realized her birth certificate says Dorinda. Not sure how that happened! She goes by her middle name, so it isn't much of an issue but I thought it was pretty interesting. So I guess my mom's name IS misspelled!

[Matryoshka]

Lol...this made me think of my mom's name. She is named Dorenda, but it wasn't until years after she was born that they realized her birth certificate says Dorinda. Not sure how that happened! She goes by her middle name, so it isn't much of an issue but I thought it was pretty interesting. So I guess my mom's name IS misspelled!

 

I'm actually not sure what happened with my dad's name.  It is a very odd name I've never heard elsewhere. It has an 'e' and an 'i' in the middle (not next to each other but with a couple consonants in between).  On his birth certificate, the name has the e first, and the i later. 

 

When he got to middle school, he moved to another state and picked a 'nickname' that was a 'normal' name that sounds the first half of the name if it had an 'i' in it.  His family still calls him by the original name, except... now it has an 'i' in the first half, and the 'e' after - so, kind of a halfway point between his nickname and his birth certificate name.

 

I'm not sure if his mother misspelled it on the birth certificate and immediately started calling him the i/e variant, or whether somehow everyone unwittingly shifted after he took on the nickname. 

[Mom-ninja.]

I saw a guy with an employee name tag. His name is Mykal. 

 

Yes, it bugs me. I admit it. 

[Firefly]

It doesn't bother me at all.  I grew up with a traditional name that was constantly misspelled anyway: Kellie, Kelley, Kelly. So sometimes you just can't win.  FTR both of my kids have classic names that are traditionally spelled.  But sometimes I wish I'd been more creative. ;)

[melbotoast]

I'm fairly sure I read somewhere that Oprah's unique name is also a result of maternal misspelling, and that her mother had intended to give her the Biblical name Orpah.

 

I've heard that too.

[SparklyUnicorn]

Mine, too. People just skip right over two letters and pronounce it as if they aren't even there. It's baffling.

 

Yeah in fact they mispronounced it wrong at my high school graduation.  This is despite going over it with them during the rehearsal and that there were 3 other people in the school with the same last name (it was a small school). 

 

I was kinda bummed because the mispronunciation is not at all flattering.

[chocolatechip]

I think there's a difference between things like Catherine/Katherine and then things like Michael/Mykal. 

 

I confess I'm not really a fan of kre8tiv spellings. And don't get me started on stuff like naming your kid La-a.

[LibraryLover]

Mykal seems rather Easter European-ish to me. Doesn't bother me at all.

 

And it makes more sense than Michael, especially to a  person whose first language isn't English.

 

I hear so many different names daily. Most brand new to me.  My perspective on this has modified.

[KidsHappen]

My oldest dd's middle name is misspelled. There is a male and female version of the name. My hubby put the male version on the birth certificate by accident. The weird thing is that spelling is my grandmother's actual middle name although it is pronounced differently. So my dd has the female pronounciation of a male spelling of a name that my grandmother has that is prounouced differently. And then to complicate matters, one of my other dd's SO has the male version of the name which confuses my dgs to no end especially since both names are spelled and pronounced the same way.

[Orthodox6]

I saw a guy with an employee name tag. His name is Mykal. 

 

Yes, it bugs me. I admit it. 

 

Possibly a misspelling of "Mikhail" (which is the Greek and Russian for "Michael").

[Momling]

Using k instead of c sounds intentional, not a misspelling. Years ago, I had a foster child named Destany which was actually a misspelling. Her mom just didn't know how to spell destiny and didn't ask anyone. I think it's an awful burden to give to a child.

[hornblower]

I've typed & deleted a response several times now because I'm trying to say this right.

 

As an immigrant, I had my name first & last name changed by an immigration official because it didn't fit a standard acceptable NA pattern. It still irks me. (I've since changed my name again but that was my choice, kwim?)

The whole thing smacks to me of a sense of linguistic & cultural superiority that a certain name has to be spelled a certain way.

 

Zofia is not a misspelling of Sophia (not my name but an example). Whether it's 'creative' or foreign, why can't people just accept a name? I don't get it.

I understand the reasons for standardized spelling of most words (though I wish English had done a much better job of standardizing) but proper names? I just don't see a reason to fuss over this.

[SparklyUnicorn]

I've typed & deleted a response several times now because I'm trying to say this right.

 

As an immigrant, I had my name first & last name changed by an immigration official because it didn't fit a standard acceptable NA pattern. It still irks me. (I've since changed my name again but that was my choice, kwim?)

 

The whole thing smacks to me of a sense of linguistic & cultural superiority that a certain name has to be spelled a certain way.

 

Zofia is not a misspelling of Sophia (not my name but an example). Whether it's 'creative' or foreign, why can't people just accept a name? I don't get it.

 

I understand the reasons for standardized spelling of most words (though I wish English had done a much better job of standardizing) but proper names? I just don't see a reason to fuss over this.

 

Yuck.  I can't believe they'd do something like that! 

 

I guess in Germany they have a list of approved names.  I don't think they'd change someone's name if they moved there from elsewhere.  I don't think my name is on the list, but it's not at all a weird name.  I've had it explained to me why they do that, but I still don't like it.

[Haiku]

The way you spell your name can't be misspelled. 

 

I don't really agree with that. When the spelling of a name doesn't follow phonetic rules, it's misspelled. (I understand if it's a spelling carried whole cloth from another language, but that's not what I'm talking about.) For example, I know a child named Bryccon. It's pronounced Bryson. Bryccon does not say Bryson, sorry. I also know a child named Nickles. His parents insist it's pronounced Nicholas. No, Nickles is pronounced "nick-els" or "nick-less," but it is not pronounced Nick-o-lass.

 

I mean, spell your kid's name however, I guess, but don't get humpty when people can't pronounce it. 

 

(And my kids' names are all train wrecks, as they are all imported from other languages. And our last name is Eastern European and begins with three consonants in a row that don't normally go together. I get it, I really do.)

[Reefgazer]

Sometimes, I think it's just non-standard/foreign-to-America names/spellings.  But I think more and more people want to be perceived as "you-neek", and this is one way to go about it.

[Farrar]

I don't really agree with that. When the spelling of a name doesn't follow phonetic rules, it's misspelled. (I understand if it's a spelling carried whole cloth from another language, but that's not what I'm talking about.) For example, I know a child named Bryccon. It's pronounced Bryson. Bryccon does not say Bryson, sorry. I also know a child named Nickles. His parents insist it's pronounced Nicholas. No, Nickles is pronounced "nick-els" or "nick-less," but it is not pronounced Nick-o-lass.

 

I mean, spell your kid's name however, I guess, but don't get humpty when people can't pronounce it. 

 

(And my kids' names are all train wrecks, as they are all imported from other languages. And our last name is Eastern European and begins with three consonants in a row that don't normally go together. I get it, I really do.)

 

It is annoying when someone wants people to pronounce a name in a way that doesn't match its spelling. But... I don't know, what are you going to do? Like, tell a person their name is "wrong"? Argue with them? Since we don't usually choose our own names, what's the point of that? it's just insulting, I think.

 

My name is certainly odd. But it's an old family name. The last "r" is not really pronounced. Is it "wrong"? Want to go back in time and argue with my ancestors over it or what?

[The Girls' Mom]

Not a trend, but as a "mis-spelled" adult, it does get annoying to have to spell my name out all the time.  Especially when it is a rather common name with an uncommon spelling.

[Farrar]

Alternate spellings don't bother me. Made up spellings do- but that just reflects some class bias. I don't know what it's like there, but here, made up spellings signify 'not middle class'. So really, the problem is with my class bias and not the name. 

 

Here too usually, though increasingly less so. I think the trend of "creative" naming and spelling has spread to the middle class a bit.

 

ETA: Maybe that spread is why it feels "new" to some people. Hm.

[texasmama]

Using k instead of c sounds intentional, not a misspelling. Years ago, I had a foster child named Destany which was actually a misspelling. Her mom just didn't know how to spell destiny and didn't ask anyone. I think it's an awful burden to give to a child.

When I was doing therapy for a foster care agency, one of the kids was named Kammie (pronounced Kamie).  Her mom was cognitively low functioning and did not know how to spell the name on the birth certificate.

 

I also worked with a Merrall (pronounced Mur -rell).

 

I saw a guy at a car rental agency with "Jeromyah" on his nametag.  That one bothered me.  He was young and hip-looking so maybe it suited him.

 

To me, the above are not the same as Cori and Kori.  I think there are about a hundred ways to spell Cori.

 

(I have altered the names of my former clients.  These are not their real names, but the concept is the same.  The car rental dude's name is as it appeared on his nametag.)

 

I've noticed a trend to put a Y in many names in place of an e or an i.

[SparklyUnicorn]

When I was doing therapy for a foster care agency, one of the kids was named Kammie (pronounced Kamie).  Her mom was cognitively low functioning and did not know how to spell the name on the birth certificate.

 

I also worked with a Merrall (pronounced Mur -rell).

 

I saw a guy at a car rental agency with "Jeromyah" on his nametag.  That one bothered me.  He was young and hip-looking so maybe it suited him.

 

To me, the above are not the same as Cori and Kori.  I think there are about a hundred ways to spell Cori.

 

(I have altered the names of my former clients.  These are not their real names, but the concept is the same.  The car rental dude's name is as it appeared on his nametag.)

 

I've noticed a trend to put a Y in many names in place of an e or an i.

 

This somewhat reminds me of how my mother pronounced my name.  She had difficulty spelling and she didn't hear sounds right sometimes so she often pronounced stuff in an unusual way.  She could not say When in Wendy.  She called me Windy.  At least she was kind enough not to name me Windy. 

[JennyD]

 

My maternal grandfather, who immigrated to this country in the 1920s, spelled his first name in a nonstandard way.  We named our oldest son after him but modified the spelling to the more standard version.  My mother was disappointed and everyone STILL misspells my son's name.  Can't win for losing.

 

Our last name is a romanized version of a name that is pronounced in one way (the way we pronounce it) by a minority language group in my husband's family's country of origin, and another way by the majority group in that country.  Every now and then people from that country try to argue with me about how to spell our name, which drives me bananas.  

 

[EKS]

Is this really a misspelling thing though? There are various ways to spell many names.

 

My older kid's name starts with a K. The more typical spelling around here has it starting with a C. The K spelling is not wrong and at least half the world probably spells it with a K. People assume a C here though. It's not a huge deal and once I point it out they usually don't forget.

We have the same issue here.