To get annoyed when parents spell their kids name wrong

[HelloSteve]

...and then they get annoyed when people constantly spell their names "wrong" (aka the right way)? Or buy personalised items with their names spelt their way?

Not really a big deal I know, but I what do you expect when you give your child a name spelled in a way to be yoo-niq?

Over the past couple of weeks I've heard of a Emma-Leigh, a Sophy and a Jordyn. I can't help thinking 'poor kids they're going to have to go through their whole lives having to correct people'. It seems people don't think about that though.

I know a woman who has two grown up daughters called Jemma (I assume they meant for that to be Gemma) and a Hollie (again, I assume Holly) and she always gets annoyed when people don't ask and just assume they're spelt Gemma and Holly, but I don't know why. She should have expected that/be used to that now? I know she would constantly get irritated when the kids were at school and received Christmas cards/party invites with their names spelt wrong but honestly I have little sympathy. What was she expecting when she spelt her kids names wrong?

Your thoughts?

[mismylinford]

my name is aimee growing up i always got friends birthday cards being spelt Amy. it bothered me back then but you get used to it. as an adult its just routine to spell my first name out. i don't mind having a double ee makes me different

[WhoKnowsWhereTheTimeGoes]

No worse than Catherine/Katherine/Kathryn really.

[SecretNutellaFix]

Emma-Leigh is not spelled wrong. It's two named joined by a hyphen, both correctly spelled.

Sophy is a very old variant and was the ordinary English spelling of Sophia in the 17th century

Jemma/Gemma and Holly/Hollie are long established variants spellings of the same name.

It's very arrogant to assume that just because someone has spelled a name differently to they you would, that they are wrong. Yes it gets frustrating if people spell your name incorrectly, but if they are unsure it's polite to ask which spelling they use.

[Needaninsight]

You mean like Es-Mae?

[SecretNutellaFix]

"they way" not they

[Canus]

I can't imagine anyone caring much, the novelty of outrage will wear off even for the parents.

The examples you give look fine, alternative spellings have been around forever. Eleanor/Elinor for example.

The children will probably not stay in the UK for their whole lives, and people elsewhere are unlikely to care much for UK conventions.

[17leftfeet]

Dd's name ends in a y where the more common is an ie

Both are perfectly correct spellings

She gets around this non problem by using a shortened version

[MaxPepsi]

My name has 2 widely used spellings.

Neither is wrong.

My nephew has a name that can be spelt several ways, none of them are wrong either.

Catherine, Kathryn
Matthew, Mathew
Jonathan, Johnathan
Rachel, Rachael
Kirsty, Kirstie
Jemma, Gemma
Reuben, Ruben, Rubin
Mark, Marc
Alastair, Alistair
Steven, Stephen

All of these are very common names and spellings - none of them are wrong!

[CanaryYellow]

Emma-Leigh... really? Even if it's two names joined by a hyphen it's clearly going to be pronounced as Emily.

Sophy - I look at that and think I would pronounce it as in rhyming with 'toffee'.

[gingee]

Hollie and Holly are fine.

Names don't necessarily have correct spellings. You might think one of my dd's names is a stupid misspelling but actually it's correct in her Dad's language. It's when parents get arsey about it that's a bit unreasonable. Your kid won't die or be traumatized or 'disrespected' because there's a letter missing.

[DeepThought]

I love Aimee spelt that way.

[Elsiequadrille]

Yes Grandnutella. That was my first thought about Sophy. Thinking of the novel, The Grand Sophy, which was used for Sophia.
Perfectly valid as a name, though I expect they tire of having to spell it out and/or explain origins.

[Elsiequadrille]

Secretnutella, not grand. Sorry.

[rocketjam]

Yes yabu. First of all, there might be a name that is correctly spelled different ways in different languages. DS's name is Matthew and many people spell it with one T which is also correct. I am French speaking and my name is spelled a slightly different way from the English version and I get the occasional raised eyebrow and 'oh that's an unusual spelling', and you know what I don't care, it's my name reflecting on my background and language, so raise an eyebrow if you feel like it. Amy and Aimee is a good example, or Josee and Josie, or Emilie and Emily. Or Mary and Marie.

[Youdontneedacriminallawyer]

I'm with you Steve - I am a traditionalist and I like names to be spelled the "right" way.

Sure, there are acceptable variants of some names, though I'd argue that (eg) Steven, Jemma, Johnathan, Rubin are all spelled the wrong way.

[HelloSteve]

Emma-Leigh is pronounced Emily. It's not pronounced like two names joined together, so I do consider that a misspelling.

Fair enough are the legitimate alternative spellings but if one spelling is more commonly used than the other surely you would be prepared to have people spell it the other way and not get annoyed when people don't automatically know it's spelt the less common way? That's what the woman I know is like - she gets really pissed off when people spell her daughters names as Holly and Gemma, even by people who don't know her that well.

[somedizzywhore1804]

Knew a girl called Jorja Gayne (pronounced Georgia Jane). She hated having to correct everyone. It even looks a mess written down.

[Mrsjayy]

Emma leigh isnt pronounced emily at all, any lots of names can have ie of y at the end and be correct, dd had loads of Amy friends at school with 3 different spellings used to drive me nuts

[HelloSteve]

Emma leigh isnt pronounced emily at all,

Maybe not usually, but the one I know is pronounced that way.

[bayrans]

Watching the birthday mentions on ceebeebies I saw a 'Harleaux'....
Really?! Please tell me it's an actual French name not some bastardized name.

For your examples, YABU.

[LastTango]

Emma-Leigh is not spelled wrong

Emily ?

[Kerryp]

I don't understand the anger, my daughters name is Emmi but often have people spelling it Emmie or Emmy, neither are wrong spellings just not the spelling I chose but I don't get angry and to be honest I rarely correct them, it's not a big deal.

[PossumPoo]

DD has a different spelt name. There is a reason for this, not just to shit you Steve

Only two people I've got annoyed not spelling it correctly - her nanny and her nursery teacher.