Page 4 | To not use proper spellings when naming your child

Catterpillarsflipflops · 2025-03-19T18:17:05+00:00

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

RaraRachael · 22/03/2025 18:00

@NPET we were in Scotland. She never objected to us, or the teachers pronouncing it as Sean

ToWhitToWhoo · 22/03/2025 17:40

I heard of someone, whose name was John Smith, and whose parents, seeking to distinguish him from all the hundreds of other John Smiths, had given him the unique middle name of 'Five-eighths'.

ToWhitToWhoo · 22/03/2025 17:36

Hoppinggreen · 21/03/2025 08:11

I understand from HK Chinese friends that some people even pay a consultant to choose an English name for their Children when they send them to The UK for their education.
I was at Boarding school in the mid 80's with a HK Chinese Kenneth, Susan, Monica, Edward and Lawrence amongst others

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I have met quite a few East Asians (not just from Hong Kong; also other parts of China; South Korea; Singapore) who came to the UK to work or study, and who had English names as well as their Chinese/ other Asian names. Their English names have tended to be very 'classic' and more what you'd typically associate in England with someone born in the early 60s than (as is usually the case) the 90s/ early 2000s: Margaret, Janice, Angela, Dennis, etc. They are usually not super-wealthy, but certainly upper middle class: poorer people are presumably less likely to be able to travel to study abroad.

EmpressaurusKitty · 22/03/2025 17:17

Namechangetry · 22/03/2025 17:10

Gosh if only someone had said so in the 34 pages that this thread's been going

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On the bright side, @tulippa has now learned the same new thing every day since Wednesday & I’d guess she has a fair chance of learning it tomorrow as well.

I wonder how many of the people who get as far as that post reach far enough to see that they’re part of the running joke?

Namechangetry · 22/03/2025 17:10

amele · 22/03/2025 16:46

@Yellowpingu yes I think that is the polish spelling, we were writing Christmas cards, my son told me to write Casper, he then told me I’ve spelt it wrong and it’s Kacper, I honestly thought he doesn’t know the spelling until I was inside the school one day and saw the little boys name on the peg spelt as Kacper

Gosh if only someone had said so in the 34 pages that this thread's been going

amele · 22/03/2025 16:46

@Yellowpingu yes I think that is the polish spelling, we were writing Christmas cards, my son told me to write Casper, he then told me I’ve spelt it wrong and it’s Kacper, I honestly thought he doesn’t know the spelling until I was inside the school one day and saw the little boys name on the peg spelt as Kacper

NPET · 22/03/2025 16:37

RaraRachael · 22/03/2025 14:24

We had a Sian at school in the 70s. We called her Sean as we'd never heard the name before

Which country were you in? In Britain, Sean is a male name so I imagine Sian was not pleased! I wouldn't have been anyway.

NPET · 22/03/2025 16:31

BeholdOurButterStinketh · 22/03/2025 14:29

Hmmm, it's almost as if Welsh is a different language from English, isn't it?!

If they don't believe that Sian can be pronounced that way, why are they happy to 'accept' Sean? That name isn't spelled in a way that you would say it according to standard English pronunciation either - it would clearly be said as 'Seen' or maybe 'See-an' if it were originally an English name!

If they know that Irish is a different language from English, why wouldn't Welsh be also?!

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Simple answer is 'I dont know'. Of course it doesnt help that I'm not actually Welsh! I do have some Welsh ancestry but quite a while ago. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised at finding a "Sharn", as there are many "Shauns" or "Shawns".

OkPedro · 22/03/2025 16:23

Shinaed is an abomination!

OchonAgusOchonOh · 22/03/2025 15:50

EmpressaurusKitty · 22/03/2025 15:47

My fault.

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You weren't to know.

EmpressaurusKitty · 22/03/2025 15:47

OchonAgusOchonOh · 22/03/2025 14:54

Sorry.

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My fault.

Scorchio84 · 22/03/2025 15:34

Heggettypeg · 22/03/2025 15:25

Well thank goodness he was. It would have been awful for the poor kid if he'd sucked at everything, with a name like that.
Mind you, there's a lot worse. There was someone called Preserved Smith! I think it meant preserved as in spiritual salvation, but it sounds more like being pickled in vinegar.

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He was a treasure! Probably a later childs name...

I had a Blessings too, it's a lot to live up to

Scorchio84 · 22/03/2025 15:32

Grammarnut · 20/03/2025 23:39

I loathe Aaron (pron. Airon) being spelled and pronounced as if it was the Isle of Aran. It's not.

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Like the Arann Islands off the coast of Gallimh?

Heggettypeg · 22/03/2025 15:25

Scorchio84 · 22/03/2025 11:56

I had a "Gift" in third class & he truly was.. all rounder, academic AND sporty! talk about nominative determinism

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Well thank goodness he was. It would have been awful for the poor kid if he'd sucked at everything, with a name like that.
Mind you, there's a lot worse. There was someone called Preserved Smith! I think it meant preserved as in spiritual salvation, but it sounds more like being pickled in vinegar.

Heggettypeg · 22/03/2025 15:13

Natsku · 22/03/2025 08:05

I do like nature names but they seem a bit out there in English but Snow is a popular name in Finnish (Lumi) and I like it. Nature names are very common, my mum is named Grasshopper! (Obviously in Finnish though, where it sounds nicer)

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Snow can be a girl's name in Welsh too - "Eira". And Snowdrop - "Eirlys".

LadyMonicaBaddingham · 22/03/2025 15:05

S18 · 19/03/2025 21:48

I went to school with a BeeJay. Always thought it was an interesting choice.

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There's a Teejay at my school...

OchonAgusOchonOh · 22/03/2025 14:54

Gingerbreadloony · 22/03/2025 13:24

I was enjoying this thread until someone mentioned Péig 😳😭😭😭😭

Sorry.

BeholdOurButterStinketh · 22/03/2025 14:29

NPET · 22/03/2025 13:35

My first name is Sian. You can imagine some of the problems I have, especially with Americans, who seem to only recognise Sean as both a female and male name.
But Sian is normally the way it's spelt.
"But how's it said?" ppl ask.
"Like s h a r n (e)" I say.
"Well why not spell it like that?", they say.
And, would you believe it, I came across a "Sharn" one day!

Hmmm, it's almost as if Welsh is a different language from English, isn't it?!

If they don't believe that Sian can be pronounced that way, why are they happy to 'accept' Sean? That name isn't spelled in a way that you would say it according to standard English pronunciation either - it would clearly be said as 'Seen' or maybe 'See-an' if it were originally an English name!

If they know that Irish is a different language from English, why wouldn't Welsh be also?!

RaraRachael · 22/03/2025 14:24

We had a Sian at school in the 70s. We called her Sean as we'd never heard the name before

Hoppinggreen · 22/03/2025 14:22

NPET · 22/03/2025 13:35

My first name is Sian. You can imagine some of the problems I have, especially with Americans, who seem to only recognise Sean as both a female and male name.
But Sian is normally the way it's spelt.
"But how's it said?" ppl ask.
"Like s h a r n (e)" I say.
"Well why not spell it like that?", they say.
And, would you believe it, I came across a "Sharn" one day!

In an American accent Sean is "sharrrn"
I remember reading a book where an English character living in The US was called Mel (Melanie) and there was much hilarity about her having a middle aged mans name

NPET · 22/03/2025 13:35

My first name is Sian. You can imagine some of the problems I have, especially with Americans, who seem to only recognise Sean as both a female and male name.
But Sian is normally the way it's spelt.
"But how's it said?" ppl ask.
"Like s h a r n (e)" I say.
"Well why not spell it like that?", they say.
And, would you believe it, I came across a "Sharn" one day!

Scorchio84 · 22/03/2025 13:35

StrawberryDream24 · 20/03/2025 20:01

I think there is an Irish name like that but it's not O'Sheayana.

It's like Oshianna or something. My nephew's gf is called that.

It might be a female version of Oisin(n), I don't know.

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There isn't a female version of "Oisín" or whatever that obomination that was previously

Gingerbreadloony · 22/03/2025 13:24

I was enjoying this thread until someone mentioned Péig 😳😭😭😭😭

Scorchio84 · 22/03/2025 12:44

StrawberryDream24 · 20/03/2025 20:27

In my parents generation it was common to have a Gaelic or Scots first name, then English middle name, often a direct translation, not always obvious. So my father was, eg. Iain John X. He had two equal parallel identities, and he switched between them at will, Iain X at home in Scotland, John X out in the world. Documents could be in either or both.

It's quite common in parts of Ireland for people to be called both the Irish and English versions of their names interchangeably eg. Sean/John, James/Seamus. I've heard people change between the two in the same conversation
.

My daddy was Seán & John intermittently.. no one batted an eyelid, mad stuff altogether

Scorchio84 · 22/03/2025 12:17

CharlotteStreetW1 · 19/03/2025 19:38

The first book I read by Maeve Binchy had a young character called Niamh. I was easily halfway through before I realised it was a girl and in my head I was pronouncing it "Nyam" 😳

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I was like this with "Hermione" until the films came out 😆Hermyown was my particular take on it