Would you tell someone they’ve misspelt their baby’s name?!

[CaptainCabinets]

A colleague has recently announced the birth of ‘Pheobe’ on Facebook and have since referred to the baby as ‘Pheobe’ several times.

Would I be awful to gently suggest the correct spelling or just hope it’s picked up on when they register the birth?!

[legalseagull]

I'd point it out, in private so as not to embarrass them. Maybe they have done it deliberately though.

[Twickerhun]

I wouldn’t ever say anything

[LovingLiving]

Why don’t you send a message saying congratulations on the birth of Phoebe? If enough people do it she might notice.

On the other hand I know a Micheal (not Michael) and it never did him any harm.

[BruceAndNosh]

Micheal is the Irish spelling of Michael

[TakeAChanseyOnMe]

Micheal is pronounced Me-hall in Irish. A relative called her son Micheal but pronounces it like Michael.

If you look at the lists of baby names given, there’s some spellings that are awful - even unintentional ones.

[LovingLiving]

I never knew that! Mind you he is Welsh.

[Shazafied]

I would put a commment on welcoming little Phoebe to the world, but wouldn’t say anything directly x

[BobbinThreadbare123]

Yes but the Gaelic version of Michael has fada accents on the vowels, so that's part of the spelling. Pheobe is just plain wrong.

[AddictedtoCrunchies]

I would send her a text, or ask her. I’d say ‘congratulations on your baby, she’s gorgeous. Before I write the card i just wanted to check how you’re spelling her name. Is it Phoebe like the girl in Friends or Pheobe as I've seen you post on fb?

[legalseagull]

@AddictedtoCrunchies has it! Good one

[Notsolarry]

One of my friends announced the birth of Saphire on facebook. I knew it was spelt wrong but I didn't want to be the one to point it out. It didn't however take long for someone else to correct her, and now at 5 months I see pictures of Sapphire on a daily basis.

[flapjackfairy]

The trouble is people spell names in all sorts of weird ways. It is a minefield these days .

[Haworthia]

If you look through the National Statistics baby names spreadsheet you find Phoebe misspelled “Pheobe” every year.

In 2017, 29 Pheobes were born vs 2000 Phoebes.

[InfantaSybilla]

Weirdly I came on to say that I would correct someone if it was something like 'Pheobe' as I think that is more likely to be a genuine misspelling compared to perhaps spelling Mason as Maison (a purposely yoonik spelling)

[cjt110]

Hmmm. I don't know. Our son's name, when said, is relatively popular. The spelling is unusual. Someone said we had spelt it wrong - that we have used the female version. We have not and have used the neutral spelling.

Think ie - male, y - female and ey neutral.

At least if you're going to point it out, make sure you're a close enough friend that they won't be offended.

[diddl]

I would have thought that if they have written it that way numerous times then that's how they are spelling it tbh.

[pumpastrotter]

When you next see them say 'Oh is this little 'Fee-obe'?

But in seriousness, maybe just drop a congrats message and ask whether it will be spelt Pheobe or Phoebe?

[Charolais]

I knew someone who named their baby boy Danielle thinking it was just another spelling of Daniel. Never said anything.

[ReturnofSaturn]

I would congratulate her and comment saying you love the unusual spelling of the name...

[Charolais]

I would tell them I've never heard the name before and ask how is it pronounced.

[diddl]

"I knew someone who named their baby boy Danielle thinking it was just another spelling of Daniel. Never said anything."

Hopefully the registrar did!

It's two different names!

[Hadalifeonce]

I did this, turned out they intended that spelling!

[DontCallMeCharlotte]

I have a sister called Phoebe and, shamefully, it took me until my twenties to spell it correctly because Pheobe kind of looks right as well. I think I was basing it on the spelling of "people".

But I do think it's one of those that can only have one correct spelling (unlike my name which no one ever spells right!).

[Theweasleytwins]

I saw someone spell Daisy as Daisey

Feel like sometimes people do it to be unique

[Wheelerdeeler]

My niece had an unusual spelling of her name. Within 2 days the spelling was changed as every reply to the announcement text congratulated them on on regular spelling