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AIBU?

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Original poster

To not use proper spellings when naming your child

934 replies

Catterpillarsflipflops · 19/03/2025 18:17

Am I being unreasonable to think it's ridiculous to use a funky spelling of a normal name. I spent today dealing with lost paperwork for a child as the person that took the details didn't think to check the spelling as there is no other spelling of the name.

It looks silly and just causes no end of problems for the child. It also disadvantages them as straight away people get an image of what the child is like.

I've seen

Jaymz
Ezmay
Lil-leigh

OP posts:
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Heggettypeg · 19/03/2025 22:40

trufflesandolives · 19/03/2025 22:21

My DH taught a student who was called Thankgod. It was a direct translation of a west African name. I have Greek heritage and we have names like Theodore which means God's gift in Greek and is very normal in Greece but I wouldn't name my DS God's gift in English, I'd go with Theodore. I bet the original west African name would have sounded much better too. Anyway, I prefer that kind of name quirk than misspellings and 'unique-but-not-unique' names but I thought I'd mention it as I chuckled every time my DH told me how he'd have to call out 'Thankgod' in class!

This sort of name was a bit of a fashion in Puritan England too. I seem to remember some character called Praisegod Barebones. Not sure now who he was, but the name stuck in my head.

Ponoka7 · 19/03/2025 22:40

ThisFluentBiscuit · 19/03/2025 22:21

Coeurtis! 😂😂😂

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We are one tiny island. There's a big world outside our shores, with different languages and spellings.
These threads always turn racist, though. All names and languages are made up. Names from the black community in the US were unique, because they'd been forced to forget their language, but didn't want use the names their owners decided to give them. They worked with the knowledge they had.
Why posters haven't googled the names before posting a lot of them, Is a mystery. A lot of the names in these threads always contain valid 'proper' names, they just aren't traditional white British.

ThisFluentBiscuit · 19/03/2025 22:40

Wrangledi · 19/03/2025 20:18

My daughter goes to school with a Pegi. I keep expecting her to rate films….

Eh? Why??

Oh - it's pronounced PG. Simple me read it as Peggy.

EmpressaurusKitty · 19/03/2025 22:40

MumofSpud · 19/03/2025 22:32

This is the Polish version rather than a funky version!

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Crikey. How could nobody else have spotted that so far in this thread?

@tulippa will be very glad that she’s learned something new today.

iwentjasonwaterfalls · 19/03/2025 22:39

DD has a normal Welsh name but because it has a "y" in it, non Welsh people think it's a "youniiiqueh" name.

TwoRobins · 19/03/2025 22:39

MissDoubleU · 19/03/2025 18:19

It’s a fucking Tradgedeigh

😁

iwentjasonwaterfalls · 19/03/2025 22:38

ohreallyIsee · 19/03/2025 22:37

I know a M'kayla

There's a gymnast (I think) called MyKayla

I always want to pronounce it as My Kayla but apparently it's Mick-ayla like Michaela.

FamousFriends · 19/03/2025 22:38

CrystalSingerFan · 19/03/2025 22:02

Well I have a young relative named Cobweb. Fine Shakespearean name.

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I also know a Cobweb, I wonder if it's the same one? There can't be too many of them around. He has a brother with another unusual name from the same play

HaddyAbrams · 19/03/2025 22:38

Heggettypeg · 19/03/2025 22:34

I think it is Freyja with no -h on the end.

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Oh. Maybe.

BeholdOurButterStinketh · 19/03/2025 22:38

Doitrightnow · 19/03/2025 22:35

I quite like Romelu!

I had a school friend whose name was a portmanteau of their Mum and Dad's name. Like Barry and Erica had a baby called Barica (but not that). Didn't think anything of it at the time, it sounded very believably a name.

I like Elphaba too which is a similar concept!

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Barica is gold!!!

FrodoBiggins · 19/03/2025 22:37

Doitrightnow · 19/03/2025 22:35

I quite like Romelu!

I had a school friend whose name was a portmanteau of their Mum and Dad's name. Like Barry and Erica had a baby called Barica (but not that). Didn't think anything of it at the time, it sounded very believably a name.

I like Elphaba too which is a similar concept!

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It's nice isn't it! I've floated it also few times but always been dismissed as biased because I'm a massive Everton fan and he was my favourite striker for many years lol. But glad to have a backup in it being an OBJECTIVELY good made up name 😂

ohreallyIsee · 19/03/2025 22:37

I know a M'kayla

Bumpitybumpbumplook · 19/03/2025 22:36

My sister is named Jane. You would be surprised how often it gets spelled exotically.

Jayne
Jaynne
Jahne

Wht the extra letters? It’s plain Jane for a reason!

Doitrightnow · 19/03/2025 22:35

FrodoBiggins · 19/03/2025 22:27

Made me think of Romelu Lukaku (plays for Napoli)

His first name is a portmanteau of his dad (also a footballer)'s three names - Roger Menama Lukaku.

Wondered if there will be a load of Belgian/ Scouse/Neapolitan kids running around now called Romelu! I think it's a cool name actually it sounds a bit like Romulus the Rome wolf boy.

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I quite like Romelu!

I had a school friend whose name was a portmanteau of their Mum and Dad's name. Like Barry and Erica had a baby called Barica (but not that). Didn't think anything of it at the time, it sounded very believably a name.

I like Elphaba too which is a similar concept!

SinnerBoy · 19/03/2025 22:34

MidnightMillie · Today 18:56

I'm Irish and for many years a lot of us have been moving away from Gaelic spellings.

My mam's mam and my dad's dad were Irish and so is my Christian name. My life has been spent fending off, "No, my parents aren't hippies and no, I'm not named after a river."

Along with answering to half a dozen variants, plain wrongs and one plural wrong name...

And it's not as if it's even difficult for an Anglophone...

Heggettypeg · 19/03/2025 22:34

HaddyAbrams · 19/03/2025 22:20

Isn't Freyhah the old Norse spelling though? And therefore not incorrect? Just unusual.

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I think it is Freyja with no -h on the end.

ThisFluentBiscuit · 19/03/2025 22:34

BeholdOurButterStinketh · 19/03/2025 22:26

Also Caron Keating - the late DD of Gloria Hunniford who was once a Blue Peter presenter.

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Maybe Caron is the Irish spelling of Karen. I think she was Irish.

TheBirdintheCave · 19/03/2025 22:33

Stafanko · 19/03/2025 18:38

I know TWO Jaxxons

There are three Jaxsons in my son’s class. It’s hilarious as they clearly all thought they were being ‘unique’ with that spelling 😅

RominaDina · 19/03/2025 22:33

MissRoseDurward · 19/03/2025 22:29

The mother of a friend of mine told her when she was expecting her first child that it should be a name you could put a title in front of such as Lord, Lady, King, Queen etc.

<cough>Prince Archie<cough>

Princess Lilibet 🙄

BeholdOurButterStinketh · 19/03/2025 22:33

Ilovelblue · 19/03/2025 22:23

The mother of a friend of mine told her when she was expecting her first child that it should be a name you could put a title in front of such as Lord, Lady, King, Queen etc. That pretty much ties in with your views.

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I can see the thinking... but wouldn't you have a pretty good idea from their birth whether or not your DS was ever likely to become King?!

ThisFluentBiscuit · 19/03/2025 22:33

atmywitsend1989 · 19/03/2025 20:43

Lol I think it's fine as long as it's not too overboard. My son has an arabic name that isn't obviously Arabic, spelt with a Y instead of an I, and people have rolled their eyes at the spelling before. Same with daughter, I chose a really unconventional spelling for hers. But it never really matters in most in their lives unless people are seeing their legal documents

People actually roll their eyes? I would judge you so hard for your "really unconventional spelling" but I wouldn't SHOW it!!!

MumofSpud · 19/03/2025 22:32

tulippa · 19/03/2025 18:34

I work somewhere where there is a sign to contact Kacper if you need a certain thing doing. I spent months thinking that's an unusual name until I realised it was a funky spelling of Casper. Parents obviously didn't know the letter c only makes 's' when followed by i, e or y.

Edited

This is the Polish version rather than a funky version!

ThisFluentBiscuit · 19/03/2025 22:31

CrystalSingerFan · 19/03/2025 22:02

Well I have a young relative named Cobweb. Fine Shakespearean name.

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I have one with a fine Shakespearean name, too: Bottom.

Perculiar · 19/03/2025 22:30

PluckedOutOfThinAir · 19/03/2025 22:05

Ok fair enough.

Maybe ajay will become the new kacper of the thread?

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Haha I haven’t got the patience of the kacper op to achieve that 😆

to be fair I didn’t know Ajay was an Indian name too though and pronounced differently until another poster pointed it out so I have learnt something new there

MissRoseDurward · 19/03/2025 22:29

The mother of a friend of mine told her when she was expecting her first child that it should be a name you could put a title in front of such as Lord, Lady, King, Queen etc.

<cough>Prince Archie<cough>