To not use proper spellings when naming your child

I have met two different families where the sons were given the same name as the dad. As in, two sons and dad all with the exact same name. John Smith, and his son John Smith and his other son John Smith. It's mind-blowing to me.

Yes, I think that's often it. To be honest, I usually think the same when people give their babies the exact same first name as their own first name.

They aren't a brand new person in their own right; they're just an ephemeral add-on to the parent's life. If you're wanting them to have a clear link to the family of which they are now a member... well, that's exactly what a surname is for!

Some people see a baby to name, a cute accessory. Not a human who will be a feeling adult.

But it still goes on nowadays!

Even so, I don't think there's any excuse. Information was still out there and available before the internet, even if it took a bit longer to find it out. Any bookshop would have had a baby name book that they could have checked it in - probably wouldn't even need to buy it if there's just one specific name they wanted to quickly look for!

Maybe some people just really don't think their children are worth a tiny bit of their time; or they somehow just don't get (what I would have thought was obvious) how much of a hindrance it is going through your whole life with a silly spelling of a common name.

All this talk of Siobhan reminds me of my year 6 teacher many years ago. Her DD was called Siobhan, no idea how or why this had come up. But she got really snarky when we (a class of 10-11 year olds) didn't know how to spell/pronounce the name.

She was also very quick to correct the spelling of my friends names when I wrote about them, insisting I was wrong. I wasn't. They were Irish and used the Irish spellings. (Actually the girls name might not be an Irish spelling, I'm not 100% sure)

Presumably it was before the days of reaching to your phone and Googling.

I knew a Shevonne and it was not a creative spelling on purpose. Her parents just had realised that it’s spelled “Siobhan”. They registered it as they heard it. She said they discovered years later when they were discussing it with somebody.

See, this is what I genuinely cannot fathom at all.

If I were writing a shopping list and couldn't remember how to spell broccoli, I wouldn't really care and would just write an approximation, as it wouldn't actually matter; but surely these people must realise that they are officially naming a human - possibly for the next 100 years? Even if I were certain of the spelling of the name I'd chosen, I would still double check it online before going for it for definite. Why wouldn't you do that? Your phone is probably right there within arm's reach - it takes literally a few seconds to Google it; why would you just prefer to guess instead?!

Someone mentioned about a Snow White upthread. Well there is a little girl called Snow where my parents live.

I know that now (many years in) but was more naive at the time and believed everything SS told me !

Maybe I'll just wait until I need to learn...

It's interesting the way Welsh, Breton and Cornish got all the consonants while Irish, Scottish and Manx got all the vowels in the alphabet division in Celtic languages.

I do wonder if people have mentioned this since Wednesday, in order to inform @tulippa ?
Perhaps she would be grateful.

As I said previously, most english are perfectly reasonable people. A lot of the micro aggressions are not from people I would generally hang around with. It's the "banter" that is micro aggressive. I also lived in England in the 80's when it was outright aggression, rather than micro aggressions.

Perhaps you have just accepted the claims that it's "just a bit of fun" and not to do so would be a lack of sense of humour on your part.

I am an Irish person (with an Irish name, to boot) living in London, and no, my life is not a constant onslaught of micro aggressions.
Maybe it’s the company I keep?

Some people want to be creative and like you I hate that.

But there are some people who like a name but have no idea how it is spelled and never bothered to look it up.

I knew a Shevonne and it was not a creative spelling on purpose. Her parents just had realised that it’s spelled “Siobhan”. They registered it as they heard it. She said they discovered years later when they were discussing it with somebody.

I can only assume you have not been victim to the myriad micro aggressions experienced in the UK daily by the average Irish person (I can only speak from personal experience so can speak for other nationalities/ethnicities). It's always just a bit of banter / it's too hard to say etc etc.

Racism also refers nationality from a legal perspective.

Glittertwins · Today 14:47

Oh well…that will teach me 😉

I doubt that there's a single poster here, who hasn't jumped to the end of a thread and then seen that a correction has already been issued...

Guilty as charged!

Message for OchonAgusOchonOh
🤣 I was so hoping you wouldn’t ask that! It involves a lot of ‘tongue behind front teeth’ shenanigans! It’s difficult to describe, but if you say ‘th’ with an ‘l’ on the end, (so ‘thl’) it’s pretty close. Don’t worry too much! You need to worry when someone asks you to pronounce
‘Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyndrobwllllantysilliogogogoch‘!. That is a village in Wales and it’s no wonder even the locals call it ‘Llanfair pg’! My Nan was Welsh and she taught me to say it when I was small and I’ve never forgotten it.
As for pronunciation, if you enter the name of the town as a search on Google followed by the word ‘pronounce’ it will say it for you. You need to turn the volume up, of course.

No Idea, I haven't mentioned Racism

Couldn’t resist… 😉

Yes I have already been corrected by multiple people. Thank you. I learnt something new on Wednesday. 🙂 (Sorry could resist!)

Not excusing how they behaved, but racist?? No.

Is that REALLY racism, or just very rude? I can’t see the racist element at all.

Can I ask what is the welsh way of pronouncing it? I'm not British so hopefully that will excuse my ignorance😀

But are you going to pronounce it the Welsh way too? 😀. LL has a very distinctive sound.

Kids bully other kids. If your kid has a stupid name, expect them to be bullied. Also please don't give a name which rhymes with surname.

A school friend married her OH who has a surname which rhymes and sounds a mouthful. She kept her maiden name.