Names with strange spellings

Sorry Birds

Yes, I get the practicalities - like I said, I always have to spell my name - but personally I would just give my child a name I liked that wouldn't get them made fun of on the playground, and sod if it confuses a few people.

I know someone called September - I kind of like it!

One of my friends works with a lot of people from Africa, and she works with a guy called Big Boy!

YABU by the way OP. I think there is a difference between the Alison/Allison thing and Georgia/Jorja.

I have a name with dual spelling.

But interestingly when I was a kid I seemed to have the less common spelling (as judged by frequency of being spelt wrong by others and availability of personalised merchandise spelt 'my way').

Now I seem to have the more common version based on the way people naturally spell it without being prompted. There also seem to be a few more personalised items around other version still more common in this sense.

So I'm not sure if there is a geographical trend which favours one spelling over another (as I have moved from where I.grew up) or if things have changed over time.

The personalised merchandise thing is another point actually - DTD2 is really cross that she can rarely get personalised merchandise. Her name is a very common one, with 2 main spellings - which I would say are 60/40 or 70/30 in popularity - so hardly uncommon.

It wasn't a deliberate choice. When we named her I really didn't think about popularity of spelling.

I think lots of people hear rather than read names and then spell them phonetically. That's how the new spellings come about.

Yes that well known made up name so hated on MN
The one that is an old Hebrew one

Was that to me?

No, it was in general. One of the most liked names on the Baby Name lists on MN, is Ophelia, which was 'invented'.

Dsappy

Every name has different spellings and as the UK becomes more and more multi cultural anyone involved in any form of record keeping, or insurance etc, should be asking for the person to spell it.

This was the primary cause of insurance documents having to be sent back and problems with ID documents not tallying.

I have worked for banks, call centre's and LA's and it is really annoying that the scribe assumes that they can spell the name the person has said, you should always ask.

Birds what poet are you talking about? Was that to me?

Dappy but almost everyone bar Henry, Charles, and Beth is going to have that problem.

My name is common where I grew up but here in the UK people don't 'hear' it so I spend endless time spelling, correcting.

My sister's name is Emma - but where I grew up that was quite uncommon and she got called 'Emily' quite a lot! Go figure.

Also, random fact of the day - the name Pamela was introduced into English in the C18th and was considered desperately 'try hard' at first - now, just think of how many Pams you must've met!

So, it is valid if some 15th century 'poet', makes up a name (who probably lived in squalor and wouldn't have been particulary educated).

But, woe betide you, if you are under a certain income and dress a certain way, then using a different spelling, will have you ridiculed.

Oh, yes and hands up all the high court judges on here, with their accecptable names.

If you spell a mainstream name differently you sentence your offspring to a lifetime of spelling out their name and correcting others when they don't get it right.

Not good IMO.

The thing is, a lot of the names people are criticising are either just traditional spellings which have fallen out of fashion or non-English spellings.

Tomasz is definitely Hungarian - at least, I knew a Hungarian guy called that - and possibly Polish too.

Marc is French, like Luc.

Sharlot is an old, old spelling - Norman, I think - of the Frenchified Charlotte. Harriot is a v common C17th variant of Harriet.

It always makes me when people think they are so 'classy' banging on about 'new, trendy ' names like Sharlot - when actually - they are the best part of a thousand years old!

This whole thread is desperately aspirational............

If you are thinking about naming a child wand want like to be easy for them, try to imagine if there is a short way for them to explain their name.

Rachael with an A
Rachel without an A
Claire with an I
Clare with no I
Clair with no E
Kathryn with a K and a Y
Marc with a C

These threads always show how ignorant people are.
Frothing about 'misspelt' names that are spelt correctly.
Just not how they would spell them.
Like usual put it, 'up yourself'

I think we can accept that all names were once "made up" and also realise that some names are considered "normal", some are considered "old-fashioned", some are thought to be "hippy", etc.

Most names are 'made up' if you go back far enough. Go back further and the English langauge, as we recognise it, didn't exist.

These threads always show up how little people know as there are always forms of names, that are perfectly valid, listed.

You should make sure you know what you're talking about before you judge. I've got an Alizon in my family - not to be different or just to use a chav-trendy 'z' but because this is the traditional Lancashire spelling of the name and has been used in our family for hundreds of years. Another very old Lancashire name is Lois, which people always assume is a modern US name.

SO what's the cutoff?

50 years?

100 years?

How long before a misspelling or a made-up name becomes a "real name"?

(Wendy in Peter Pan springs to mind)

Agree that some people's threhsolds of acceptability are far too low. I would consider all of the following as widely accepted:

Ana/Anna
Anabell/Anabelle/Annabel/Annabell/Annabelle
Abbie/Abby/Abbey/Abi
Alison/Allison/Allyson/Alyson
Alice/Alys
Alicia/Alisha/Alesha/Alicja/Aleisha
Aisha/Ayesha
Aiden/Aidan/Ayden
Alex/Alix
Alexandra/Alejandra/Alessandra/Aleksandra
Alexander/Alessander
Austin/Austen
Ashley, Ashly, Ashlie, Ashleigh/Ashlee
Ashlynn/Ashlynn
Arianna/Ariana
Adrianna/Adriana
Aliya/Aliyah/Aaliyah
Amina/Aminah
Amira/Amirah/Ameerah
Addison/Addyson
Adalyn/Adelyn/Addalyn/Addelyn
Allen/Allan
Antony/Anthony

And those are just A names!!

La Luna is definately the moon. It comes from Latin and we use it in English... Lunar eclipse meaning eclipse of the moon, lunar cycle etc...

We don't so much avoid saint names as just not realize that's what they are.

I've known Jewish Marks. And Marcs.

I was going to say exactly what kungfu did.

My Nigerian friend is called Bright. She is too. Very. I pity the person who sneers at her name.

A few of the Marcs I've known were Jewish. AFAIK Jewish people avoid saints' names and always have done. How very unreasonable of them.

btw OP, YABU and quite ignorant. Those are completely normal spellings.

And I don't think there is anything particularly weird about "Happiness" etc. We have Prudence, Joy, charity, Faith, Hope etc.

I knew a Ghanian lady called Gladness. She was lovely. It suited her.