What is with the trend of misspelled names??

[IsabelC]

I used to get all het up about how 'wrong' everyone except me was with their choice of names, but now I am older and wiser I simply accept that names are a matter of personal taste, and that's that. I will probably never understand how it's a good idea to select a 'classic' name and then change the spelling so that the kid will spend half her life spelling out her name, but if it makes people happy then that's fine with me.

 

[IsabelC]

I have looked up the pronunciation several times over the years, and I still can't remember how to pronounce it. :p

 

Is it sort of like Eva but with more of an F sound? (EE-fuh)

 

It took me years to figure out that Niamh was pronounced Neve. I thought those were two different names. Same thing with Ngaire / Nyree.

[SereneHome]

My name is very plain and common where I am from.  Here, in US, everything thinks it's 'beautiful, blah blah blah".  I wish instead of gushing  over my name, people could just spell it, but  oh well - not a big deal.

 

By tradition, we named our kids in honor of family members that passed away.  However, their names are also plain and VERY easy.  no one has ever asked me how to spell them

 

My mom had a few exotic names that she wanted to name me, but my dad just gave me a very simple name.  When I asked him "why", he told me that it's not the name that makes the person, it's the person that makes the name.

[Pamela H in Texas]

My son's name is misspelled.  It is Johnathan.  He changed it at 14 and that is the spelling he chose and I was fine with it and still am.  He gets comments about it, but most people that know him think it is cool.  I have a little more trouble with the fact that he kept his middle name so people relate him to "The Duke."   :)

 

I changed my youngest boy's spelling when we adopted him (he goes by the nickname off his middle name anyway so it doesn't even matter).  Doing so made 95% of people start referring to him as a boy rather than a girl.  

 

I do like some misspellings though:  Kaileigh for Kylee, Karyn for Karen, etc.

 

I don't like certain "names" though.  We've had kids named after drugs, satan, WWII locations.  That was one sibling group!  There are many other awful ones shared in foster parenting groups.  Oy.  And though I know WHY my mom's middle name is Early, I don't like it.  

 

But I like some odder names also.  It is very possible I could name a girl Charleigh, for example.  

 

Of course, that goes DIRECTLY against my issue with people assuming boys are girls just because girls stole a name.  For example, Addison MEANS Adam's Son.  It *is* a boy's name even if it has been a very popular girls name recently.  Maybe we could just assume names stolen by the opposite gender are unisex names instead :)

[Pamela H in Texas]

Oh, one more thing.

 

OU in a short last name says /ow/ as it HOUSE, SHOUT, HOUND, etc 

[laughing lioness]

I have a kid in  a class whose name is Elin. (A lynn). None ever gets it right. The kid is bugged by it. The other kids actually say to her regularly, "HOW do you say your name!"

[Orthodox6]

Interesting that in a thread about non-standard names, there has not been mention of the judge who forbade parents to call their daughter "Nutella". Saw that in news articles a few days ago.

[shawthorne44]

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.

 

At my high school graduation, we handed someone a index card that we'd written our name on.  I wrote mine phonetically and made it obvious that it was phonetic by adding the // around the name.  I got a whispered thanks.  Seems to me that they should have instructed everyone to do that.  It wasn't my first name it was my last name that is hard.  

 

DH has a Yneek spelling to his name.  It isn't that odd just a double letter was changed to a single.  His dad "didn't believe in extra letters".  He is annoyed by it, and would rather have had the standard spelling.  There is just so many other things to talk about when you first meet someone and talking about the weird spelling of your name gets old.  (I am already tired of it, and I'm just a bystander).   It is like when you are wearing a cast, and you meet someone.  Everyone will glum onto that as something to talk about.   But as the person wearing the cast eventually you just want to print up a fact sheet on the reason for the cast, so you can talk about something else.  

 

DD's former best friend (they've moved) had a slightly different spelling.  In his case, it was the Norwegian spelling and the dad wanted the tie to the ancestry.  I don't know why, but "This is the normal spelling at X location" seems like a fine reason, and "I don't like extra letters in a name" doesn't.  

[Haiku]

My dd's name is three syllables. I had always heard the name with the emphasis on the first syllable. After we named her, these hoardes of people appeared out of the woodwork who insisted on placing the emphasis on the second syllable. It totally changes the sound of the name, not in a positive way. Luckily, when she was a few years old a woman of the same name became popular with the press, so people have pretty much stopped pronouncing it wrong. Now she just gets asked constantly, "Were you named after ...?"

[unsinkable]

Was the emPHAsis on the wrong sylLAble?

 

 

[Lady Florida.]

 

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

 

She's not the only celebrity with an actual misspelled name. Oprah should have been Orpah.

[Firefly]

I'm atheist and my son's first name is Christian.  He goes by his middle name but I loved the story of Christian Fletcher and the HMS Bounty (and had a huge crush on Mel Gibson when I was a teen).  Plus it's a very strong but kind sounding name.

 

I agree and feel the same way about the name Noah... it has a soft but strong quality to it that I really like for a boy.  Funny story:  every once in a while people we meet will say, "Oh like the Bible!" in reference to his name. But my husband's relatives who are French when they first heard his name said, "Oh, like the tennis player!"  :lol:

[Ann.without.an.e]

 

But I like some odder names also.  It is very possible I could name a girl Charleigh, for example.  

 

 

 

 

I like that name :lol:

[swimmermom3]

My sister "misspelled" both of my nieces' names. She said she liked the names and it was a way to differentiate from the thousands of other kids born during those same years with the same name.

 

Our father has a different theory: it's because she truly can't spell.  After she met my boyfriend ( who is now my dh), she told Dad that she wanted a clone of dh.  Dad "harumphed" and said that with her spelling she'd probably end up with a clown. It was prophetic. :D My BIL is a terrific guy, but he does make us laugh until we cry.

[Chelli]

As someone with a unique spelled name, which is actually a nickname and not even my legal name, I am bothered by creative spellings because I feel for the kids growing up with it. I HATED that my name was spelled so strangely. Whenever we had subs in school or the first day of classes, I'd always hear "Ch-eh-lee" or "Chili." Of course all the kids would die laughing and I'd have to spend the rest of the week being teased. Then you have the cases where someone asks for my name and I say, "Shelly" and they say, "How do you spell it?" At which point I say, "Spell it however you would like." Because there is NO way if I give them the correct spelling that they will say it correctly. When it came time to name our kids I made it a point to 1) make their names simple and use the common spelling and 2) no nicknames, especially nicknames that had nothing to do with their real name. They are Grace, Sophia, and Levi. I haven't had anyone misspell or mispronounce their names yet so I think we're good.

 

I have a theory that parents who give their kids creative spellings usually have very normal names (like the 5 Jennifers in my grade) and they want their kids to feel special and unique.Having grown up with the annoyance of a creatively spelled name, I can promise you that it is not special and unique. It's just annoying. At least to me. I'm sure there are kids who love having a name that's different just as I'm sure there are parents with creative names that loved having them growing up and wanted to name their children similarly. It just wasn't the case for me. However, I don't judge parents as less educated or less intelligent if they name their children something unique. I do make it a point to spell and pronounce creative names correctly once I know them because it drove me nuts when people would still get mine wrong after I told them 1,000 times.

 

Of course all of this is my own experience and opinions so feel free to disregard.  :laugh:

[PeacefulChaos]

My name isn't all that unusual - nor is it a unique spelling - but I have to spell it for people all the time.  

 

*shrug*  I think pretty much everyone has to spell their name.  Unless it's, like, Bob Jones or something.  

[Elisabet1]

What I cannot stand is when the way they spell it vs pronounce it is not correct. They take a common name, and then spell it funky, and then get upset when no one says it right. Like they name their child Grayson..and spell it Grasson. Or Piper..and spell it Pyppherr. Uugghh! It is not even pretty! But I do like when it is ethnically or historically correct. Like, I prefer Rhys to Reese.

[Butter]

My daughter's nickname is spelled "wrong."  But it's very much on purpose.  We pronounce it Annie and spell it Ani.  But that's because her name is Anastasia (and just to be difficult, we don't pronounce it the way Americans do - we say it this way).  We are often told we spelled her middle name wrong, too.  It's Sariah (sa-rī´a).  That's also not an accident and it is not supposed to be Sarah.  It is from the Book of Mormon.  We're such awesome parents for giving her a difficult name considering our last name is completely unpronounceable by sight (we have had exactly two people *ever* pronounce it right... and one was from the Czech Republic and the other served his mission in the Czech Republic... the name is, in fact, Czech... but, bonus, there are three ways to properly pronounce it, just depends which part of the family you are from).  She's good with it, though.  Her name is a bit of a conversation piece it turns out and really helps her break the ice with people.

 

When my fourth kid was born, someone at church e-mailed out that he was born and we were all doing well and his name was Adrienne.  Someone very kindly called and asked if I was aware we had misspelled his name and used the female version of what we intended.  I laughed and said we didn't.  His name is Adrian and it's very much spelled the male way.  The person who sent the e-mail is the one who made the mistake.

 

As long as the name can be figured out from the spelling or, if not, the parents/person don't get all offended by a mispronunciation, I think interesting spellings can be fun.  If it's hard to get it right just by looking at it, I feel like you shouldn't be surprised or upset when it is mispronounced.

[kiwik]

Often people here change names to make them more phonetic - amalie to armalie, sioban to shevaughn (really ugly) etc. I changed the first letter of both my kids names to simplify things and make the short form work - I called my youngest zavier because I didn't want him called exavier all his life. I don't like people used the male form for a female or vice versa (although I did meet a woman whose immigrant parents just didn't know) and some names just irritate me, a little girl called Brastic for example or calling your kid syphillis or whatever. My grandfather's name was simply spelt wrong though because his father didn't know how to sell it.

[Orthodox6]

My daughter's nickname is spelled "wrong." But it's very much on purpose. We pronounce it Annie and spell it Ani. But that's because her name is Anastasia (and just to be difficult, we don't pronounce it the way Americans do - we say it this way). We are often told we spelled her middle name wrong, too. It's Sariah (sa-rī´a). That's also not an accident and it is not supposed to be Sarah. It is from the Book of Mormon. We're such awesome parents for giving her a difficult name considering our last name is completely unpronounceable by sight (we have had exactly two people *ever* pronounce it right... and one was from the Czech Republic and the other served his mission in the Czech Republic... the name is, in fact, Czech... but, bonus, there are three ways to properly pronounce it, just depends which part of the family you are from). She's good with it, though. Her name is a bit of a conversation piece it turns out and really helps her break the ice with people.

 

When my fourth kid was born, someone at church e-mailed out that he was born and we were all doing well and his name was Adrienne. Someone very kindly called and asked if I was aware we had misspelled his name and used the female version of what we intended. I laughed and said we didn't. His name is Adrian and it's very much spelled the male way. The person who sent the e-mail is the one who made the mistake.

 

As long as the name can be figured out from the spelling or, if not, the parents/person don't get all offended by a mispronunciation, I think interesting spellings can be fun. If it's hard to get it right just by looking at it, I feel like you shouldn't be surprised or upset when it is mispronounced.

That you use the Greek prounciation of "Anastasia" makes perfect sense to me! My own Greek name generally is transliterated into English to appear identical to a common Spanish-language woman's name which, of course, is pronounced differently. Perhaps in your case, people default to the Russian pronounciation -- ?

 

The spelling "Adrian" is what I would have assumed to be spelling for your son's name. To be honest, I believe that when one has known people from a number of countries, one internalizes the spellings of names used less often by many U.S. residents.

[Angie in VA]

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.

 

That was so wrong!!! (((umsami)))

[Word Nerd]

How would spelling Amalie (Amelie is more common) Armalie make it more phonetic?

[Butter]

That you use the Greek prounciation of "Anastasia" makes perfect sense to me! My own Greek name generally is transliterated into English to appear identical to a common Spanish-language woman's name which, of course, is pronounced differently. Perhaps in your case, people default to the Russian pronounciation -- ?

 

Generally people here pronounce her name like the title of the 1990s terrible cartoon movie Anastasia (something like Anna-stay-zhia).  Interestingly, where we lived in MD people we knew usually told us it's a good thing we call her by a nickname because no way would they even try to pronounce it the way we do.  Here in TX we regularly have people ask us if they're getting it right and they want to try to pronounce it correctly.

[Hunter's Moon]

Generally people here pronounce her name like the title of the 1990s terrible cartoon movie Anastasia (something like Anna-stay-zhia). Interestingly, where we lived in MD people we knew usually told us it's a good thing we call her by a nickname because no way would they even try to pronounce it the way we do. Here in TX we regularly have people ask us if they're getting it right and they want to try to pronounce it correctly.

The way you pronounce it is my favorite way. If we ever have a daughter, I really love this name, but worry about having to constantly correct it.

[musicianmom]

So am I all classist and snobbish for thinking that Apiffany is an appalling name? I just ran across that one for the first time yesterday.

[kiwik]

How would spelling Amalie (Amelie is more common) Armalie make it more phonetic?

She wanted it pronounced with an arm at the beginning not an am. To be honest in NZ most people would have pronounced it arm because that is our default but she wanted to be sure.

[Sherry in OH]

So am I all classist and snobbish for thinking that Apiffany is an appalling name? I just ran across that one for the first time yesterday.

 

Is it pronounced Epiphany?

[musicianmom]

Is it pronounced Epiphany?

I can only assume so. I haven't heard it pronounced, only read it.

[swimmermom3]

As someone with a unique spelled name, which is actually a nickname and not even my legal name, I am bothered by creative spellings because I feel for the kids growing up with it. I HATED that my name was spelled so strangely. Whenever we had subs in school or the first day of classes, I'd always hear "Ch-eh-lee" or "Chili." Of course all the kids would die laughing and I'd have to spend the rest of the week being teased. Then you have the cases where someone asks for my name and I say, "Shelly" and they say, "How do you spell it?" At which point I say, "Spell it however you would like." Because there is NO way if I give them the correct spelling that they will say it correctly. When it came time to name our kids I made it a point to 1) make their names simple and use the common spelling and 2) no nicknames, especially nicknames that had nothing to do with their real name. They are Grace, Sophia, and Levi. I haven't had anyone misspell or mispronounce their names yet so I think we're good.

 

I have a theory that parents who give their kids creative spellings usually have very normal names (like the 5 Jennifers in my grade) and they want their kids to feel special and unique.Having grown up with the annoyance of a creatively spelled name, I can promise you that it is not special and unique. It's just annoying. At least to me. I'm sure there are kids who love having a name that's different just as I'm sure there are parents with creative names that loved having them growing up and wanted to name their children similarly. It just wasn't the case for me. However, I don't judge parents as less educated or less intelligent if they name their children something unique. I do make it a point to spell and pronounce creative names correctly once I know them because it drove me nuts when people would still get mine wrong after I told them 1,000 times.

 

Of course all of this is my own experience and opinions so feel free to disregard.  :laugh:

 

I think your theory certainly works for my sister. My mom's name is Joycelyn LaRose. She made sure that like you, my sister and I have straight-forward first names and middle names that no one can really do anything with. It bothered her to no end that my sister would choose a weird spelling for her kids.

 

 

[Orthodox6]

Perhaps the worst child's name that I ever have encountered in real life was when apartment neighbors named their daughter "Caprice." They said that she was named for the car. That had been my startled guess, although there could have been other implications.

[AimeeM]

I dunno.

I named my eldest "Autym" (Autumn). I was 16 - that's my only excuse.

When the adoption went through (as in, when my husband legally adopted her, but it was treated as a private adoption and I had to "adopt" her, too), we changed it to its proper spelling. Why? Because she was old enough to be sick of people calling her "Au-time" and constantly/always misspelling her name. Luckily name changes were standard since part of the paperwork for the adoption process, after the court date, was a form to change her last name - easily, quickly, and painlessly she suddenly had a name she was comfortable with.

Well, first she wanted it changed to Hermoine, but we told her no.

 

Again, I've got nothing to explain the "Autym", other than teenage stupidity. Sounded cool at the time, I suppose.

[Hunter's Moon]

Often people here change names to make them more phonetic - amalie to armalie, sioban to shevaughn (really ugly) etc. I changed the first letter of both my kids names to simplify things and make the short form work - I called my youngest zavier because I didn't want him called exavier all his life. I don't like people used the male form for a female or vice versa (although I did meet a woman whose immigrant parents just didn't know) and some names just irritate me, a little girl called Brastic for example or calling your kid syphillis or whatever. My grandfather's name was simply spelt wrong though because his father didn't know how to sell it.

 

I have to ask -- in regards to the bolded, have you actually ever met a child named Syphillis? 

 

I only ask because I think this is what others were trying to say upthread about classism and the like. When you hear Syphillis, or Lemonjello and Oranjello, or De'niece and De'nephew, what images do they conjure up? What race are the parents who named their children such names? 

 

This series over on Baby Name Wizard sums it up well. The humor in those "I-know-a-woman-who-has-a-cousin-who-has-a-daughter-who-named-her-child ......" stories is lost as soon as the racial and socioeconomic background is mentioned. So, we don't mention them. 

 

I'm not picking on you, kiwik. Just something I thought was worth bringing up. 

[shawthorne44]

Perhaps the worst child's name that I ever have encountered in real life was when apartment neighbors named their daughter "Caprice." They said that she was named for the car. That had been my startled guess, although there could have been other implications.

 

That doesn't even make the list.  Dh went to school with a Doritoes (spelled slightly differently).  Yes, they were the mother's favorite food.  ABDCE'ysce is someone's name.  

While we are the subject of Caprice, I really hate the trend of naming your child after where he/she was conceived.  I know I was made in Germany.  But I am really really glad I'm not reminded of where my parent's had *ahem* every time someone calls my name.  

But, in general, it seems to me that if someone wants a unique name, they can adopt a unique nickname.  But, it doesn't seem to work the other way.  

[SparklyUnicorn]

I was substituting about a week ago and saw a child's name spelled C'Krete. I immediately thought to myself,"Why would anyone name a child Secrete?"

 

Turned out her name is pronounced Secret. Glad I was wrong.

 

That's hilarious.

[Haiku]

The worst name I ever encountered was Princess Destin. All I can think of when reminded of it is a baby dressed in fairy clothing wielding a tube of Desitin like a wand.

[IsabelC]

I used to know a pair of siblings called Nicholas and Colette. I liked both of those names but it irritated me because they are different versions of the same name.

 

Never met anyone with a shocker like C'Krete.

 

Naming a child after her place of conception, you'd have to be very careful to make sure you're always baby-making in places like Brooklyn or Chelsea, and abstain while in places like Slough or Oodnadatta.

[BigMamaBird]

I used to know a pair of siblings called Nicholas and Colette. I liked both of those names but it irritated me because they are different versions of the same name.

 

Never met anyone with a shocker like C'Krete.

 

Naming a child after her place of conception, you'd have to be very careful to make sure you're always baby-making in places like Brooklyn or Chelsea, and abstain while in places like Slough or Oodnadatta.

 

I knew a little Ireland who was named for just that reason.  

[TranquilMind]

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.

Kori and Kamryn really aren't that out there.  I've heard both of them in the last 40 years.

 

But stuff like "Rehtaeh" is ridiculous (Heather, backwards). 

[TranquilMind]

I used to know a pair of siblings called Nicholas and Colette. I liked both of those names but it irritated me because they are different versions of the same name.

 

Never met anyone with a shocker like C'Krete.

 

Naming a child after her place of conception, you'd have to be very careful to make sure you're always baby-making in places like Brooklyn or Chelsea, and abstain while in places like Slough or Oodnadatta.

So many places come to mind.   Bangor.   Penistone.  Middelfart.   A city in Austria that is the F word, with "ing" on the end, Intercourse in Pennsylvania, Big/Animal that builds dams, Brest, France. 

 

A couple in Germany I had better not repeat. 

Please don't do this to your kids! 

[Word Nerd]

 

 

But stuff like "Rehtaeh" is ridiculous (Heather, backwards). 

 

The worst I've ever seen is Neveah, which is heaven misspelled backward. 

[Miss Peregrine]

The most creative name I've come across IRL is Lorelli for Lorelei.