Completely weirded out by my name being spelled wrong. Am i being ridiculous?

[ApolloandDaphne]

I was signing some POA forms for my DM today to register her POA with a new savings account. I pointed out she had spelled my middle name wrong. She said that it was correct and when i looked on the main POA form (completed over 15 years ago) it was also spelled this wrong way.

I have checked my BC and the way i spell it is correct. My DF registered my birth and i am aware aware of the provenance of my middle name so it is spelled exactly as might be expected.

I am a bit weirded out that my DM appears to have believed my middle name was spelled differently all my life ( i am 61) despite the correct version being on every certificate i have. She does not suffer dementia or any other memory impairment.

Am i ridiculous to feel sort of strange about this? I can't really figure out why it bothers me so much.

I'm very proud of my middle name though and DM and I have spoken often about how I am named after my grandmothers. I don't understand how the spelling has never come up in those conversations. I have an uncle who used to gently tease me with the "Is a bell necessary on a bike" joke. That only really works with the Isabel spelling so he obviously knew.

Not so weird if it's a middle name and both are common spellings. My mum and sister have the same middle name and different spellings. I guess which one is which if I have to write them down. Do you have any other family or friends with the same name as yours but spelt the other way?

Yes. Both my grans were called Iza and their full names were pronounced Iza-Bella.

No

At no other point in your life did your mum ever write out your full name? Was it registered at school for example? I just find it bizarre that if she did intend for it to be spelt differently all along that it didn't come up at any point up until now!

I'm also named for my grandmother and my mum used my full name on every form she could.

She probably preferred isobel and either lost the argument with your dad and imagined she had won, coming to believe it over time, or she won and your dad recorded it incorrectly:

my grandmother was named Carmella. But it was spelled Carmella or carmela in various places and even she was never sure. And then she tended to go by camille anyway.

Although, my sibling is named "after" a family member but with a different spelling to differentiate so it is possible your mum intended it to be spelt the way she's suggesting and your father registered it wrong but to not notice ever / never write it down again seems odd! Surely someone taught you how to spell your middle name?

Exactly. It is spelled right on my baptism certificate and there is no way my DF would have had anything to do with that. He wasn't a church goer. She must have at least read the certificate. She would also have been to one helping me to write and spell my name.

My DD would not have argued with her over this. She may have told him to use that spelling then he forgot and spelled it how his mums name was spelled. He would never have done this to score a point. That just wasn't in him.

My SIL thought her name was Carole and found out in her twenties that it was just Carol..!!

Names can be weird—
so glad your dad was lovely. If you mom is otherwise thoughtful I would try not to be upset about it. Both versions are beautiful.

I didn't see my bc until I was 27 and it didn't have my middle name on. When I got married I had to sign some other paperwork to use the know as with mn on.

Yes you are absolutely right. I just needed to process this a bit as it is a key part of my identity.