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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

AIBU to be annoyed over the wrong spelling on my DS's name

126 replies

PizzaSlut · 06/12/2011 23:21

He's 4 and we're just receiving the first lots of christmas cards from school.

The amount of parents that have spelt his name wrong is astounding. It's very common and has a really easy shortening that we use so surely it can't be that difficult to address him correctly.

Or AIBU?

OP posts:

KristinaM · 07/12/2011 07:55

I met a samual last week. Man in his late 20s. And yesthat is definitely how he spells it as it was on his email

exoticfruits · 07/12/2011 08:08

I think it is just something that you have to put up with.

VivaLeBeaver · 07/12/2011 08:14

I was going to say is it Samuel and I see that it is. Its the one name which I struggled with spelling, I have a young relative with this name and spelt it Samual on Xmas and birthday cards for the first year.

TandB · 07/12/2011 08:15

It doesn't really matter in the scheme of things. It doesn't actually hurt you for your name to be written down wrong.

My first name can be spelt in one of two ways and I quite often get the wrong spelling and I barely notice. My surname is unusual and I always have to spell it and it is regularly written and pronounced wrong. I go to courts all over the place and it is only the ushers who know me well who introduce me correctly - everyone else does variations on a theme. I never correct it unless the judge actually queries it because it doesn't actually affect me or my ability to do my job, and the correct version will be on the court record.

hocuspontas · 07/12/2011 08:17

Why annoyed? Mildy surprised maybe. Nothing to be annoyed about.

SnapesMistressofMerriment · 07/12/2011 08:30

YABU, it took me until I was about 12 to learn how to spell my middle name.

Flisspaps · 07/12/2011 08:32

I reckon OP is Rachel and gets 'Rachael' in her cards.

redroof · 07/12/2011 09:24

I reckon OP is Tracy and gets 'Tracey' in her cards.
OP?

MrsSleepy · 07/12/2011 09:33

I have a Leah and she has had cards from school with Lia, Lea and Leigha.

fluffygal · 07/12/2011 09:49

This is hilarious!My DD1,ds1 and ss1 took their cards in today,only by chance did I realise my ss1 had spelt his friend Samuels name Samual as that's the card he accidently dropped on the floor.I told him we need to correct it but maybe I should punish him for spelling the name wrong? I mean,he is 4 after all,he should really be able to spell by now!

EcoLady · 07/12/2011 09:59

Speaking as a mother of an Ellena / Elena / Eleanor / Elinor / Ellinor / Helena ... you learn to live with it. So long as teachers get it right and it's correct on anything 'official' it really does not matter does it?

NannyR · 07/12/2011 10:41

I once registered siblings Samual and Racheal at a creche I worked at. Thought it was a misprint on the list but that's how mum spelt them on the reg forms.

My name is always spelt incorrectly, I'm Rachael rather than Rachel, doesn't bother me most of the time.

whackamole · 07/12/2011 11:14

I'm not expecting this with my older two, but am with the baby. He is called Nathan, is not even 7 weeks old and I have already had cards for 'Nathen'!

Mind you, my nan still can't spell my name.

elliejjtiny · 07/12/2011 11:26

DS1's name is an unusual biblical name. We get so many different spellings on christmas cards. Doesn't bother me though. My name is fairly common but people still spell it wrong.

PrettyCandlesAndTinselToo · 07/12/2011 11:29

Dd once sent a card to a boy whose name she did not know how to spell, so I wrote it out for her: Rhys. The following term his dad spoke to me for the first time ever, to tell me it should have been spelled: Reece. No "thank you for the card", no "people keep getting his name wrong, so I hope you don't mind if I tell you the correct spelling", just a blunt instruction. It was most unpleasant.

My name is foreign and is always mis-spelled and mispronounced. Which is one reason my dc have simple, traditional, names. People still mis-spell them. As long as it's still the same name, and it's not on something important like a register, I just let it slide. But when I choose to correct their or my names, I do so politely, making it clear that this is my problem, not embarrassing the other person.

4madboys · 07/12/2011 11:36

it makes me but not worth getting het up about, my ds3 is dylan, he often get dillan/dilan/dilern?!! etc but his friends are little like him so [shrug]

also my dd was one this week, her name is merryn, some of her brother friends from school sent her cards and spelt it merin, tbh i thought it was lovely of them to bother sending her a card for her 1st bday, she isnt their friend, she is just a baby, but they had made the effort, so they spelt her name wrong, no big deal :)

ujjayi · 07/12/2011 11:40

On Christmas cards the misspelling of DS2's name doesn't bother me so much. It is when his teachers have misspelt it that I get irate.

Parasaurolophus · 07/12/2011 11:58

YABU

Last night we puzzled out whether it was Sophie or Sofie. DS (5) wanted to give her a card, so we went with the spelling that looked most famliar to DS.

Is it Thomas or Tomas? Fin or Finn? Mark or Marc? Emily, Emilie, Amelia, Amelie (this class has all 4). What about Tallulah or is it Talullah? Or is that totally wrong?

I don't care at all if DS who is 5 gives out cards. He really wants to, and he is writing them out all by himself. I lost the class list that came out for teacher meetings so am leaving it to the kids. It is just for fun and it really is just the thought that counts.

SomekindofSpanish · 07/12/2011 12:06

DS2(6) has a well-known name which can be spelt in a number of ways, but I registered him with the classic spelling of it - does not stop people spelling it the American or Spanish way.

Still, I can't get too upset as long as he knows how to spell it correctly.

I worry that one day someone will spell DS1's name incorrectly, as recenlty I have seen a number of boys named this with an apostrophe in the middle instead of 'e' .

MaryMotherOG · 07/12/2011 12:08

YANBU I have an Elliot one T not Elliott or Eliot arrrrghhhhh

annaklingon · 07/12/2011 12:09

My SIL was being very PFB and ranty about her son's name and mis-spellings on his first birthday card (and he had an unusual name) when we were at a family dinner. She pointed out that they had sent all Christmas cards and thank you for birth cards with the correct spelling.

She did when I pointed out that I had done exactly the same and she had spelt my son's name wrong for 20 years

pranma · 07/12/2011 12:09

Finn
Fin
Fynn
Flynn[!]
Finlay
The top one is dgs name the others have appeared on cards/invitations!

annaklingon · 07/12/2011 12:11

PS I hadn't spelt his name wrong it was an elderly relative who had spelt his name wrong

AChickenCalledKorma · 07/12/2011 12:13

In the grand scheme of things, learning how to spell Samuel correctly is not going to be high on the list of parents' priorities at this time of year. Most of them are probably just trying to survive the mayhem.

My daughter's best friend has just given her a card with the most classic mis-spelling of her name. It doesn't mean she doesn't care.

ChunkyPickle · 07/12/2011 12:15

YANBU, but you're going to have to get used to it. I have a very, very, very common name, but people still miss-spell it as often as they spell it correctly - even within the family. People are endlessly creative with it.

My son has a rarely used, but easy to spell name, which people insist on lengthening (even though it's not a short form..)

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