To get annoyed when parents spell their kids name wrong

[HelloSteve]

...and then they get annoyed when people constantly spell their names "wrong" (aka the right way)? Or buy personalised items with their names spelt their way?

Not really a big deal I know, but I what do you expect when you give your child a name spelled in a way to be yoo-niq?

Over the past couple of weeks I've heard of a Emma-Leigh, a Sophy and a Jordyn. I can't help thinking 'poor kids they're going to have to go through their whole lives having to correct people'. It seems people don't think about that though.

I know a woman who has two grown up daughters called Jemma (I assume they meant for that to be Gemma) and a Hollie (again, I assume Holly) and she always gets annoyed when people don't ask and just assume they're spelt Gemma and Holly, but I don't know why. She should have expected that/be used to that now? I know she would constantly get irritated when the kids were at school and received Christmas cards/party invites with their names spelt wrong but honestly I have little sympathy. What was she expecting when she spelt her kids names wrong?

Your thoughts?

But pronunciation of English has not stayed the same!

Have you never heard of the Great Vowel Shift? Or noticed that English people don't pronounce 'r' at the end of a syllable but Americans do?

Oh, badtime, you en't from round 'errrrre, arrrre you?

I'm pretty sure Isobel (however you spell it) is always foreign to English people - it's equivalent to Elizabeth isn't it?

I struggle if something doesn't pronounce how I'd imagine it would - Louis/Lewis would catch me out, and I know a Mary spelt Marie that I find awkward to remember, as if reading that I'd say Mahr-EE.

I have Dutch family too, and most memorably came a cropper doing a bible reading and pronouncing Job as 'yob' the whole way through.

Most English people!

Lewis prn Lewis is Welsh, isn't it?

Actually I struggle to say Lewis how people like it full stop. The first place I came across it said regularly was John Lewis, and my grandma always pronounced it 'L-you-is', so that's how I say it. She also said 'S-you-san' although I never have.

It's in poor taste to give a child an oddly spelled, precious, or shortened name. All their life, he or she will have to spell it out and correct people. Choose a name sensibly.
Worse yet, don't give a child a parent's name, or variant of a relative's name. It creates confusion, and denies a child his or her own identity. My father was named for his father, whom my grandmother divorced when he was a toddler. He goes my an uncle's Confirmation name. I didn't know his real name until I was eight.
Please think carefully before choosing a legal name for your child.

I know some who spelt Alex's Aleks and Jessica Gessica never going to get a personalised things from the shop

Years of teaching irate teenagers with illogicly spelt and pronounced names led me to give my children very standardised names. There are common variations of many names, and some can be a bit of a minefield, which are not the ones I mean, but I don't see the joy in bestowing a name that the child will have to correct, spell and pronounce every single time they meet someone because it is completely random and defies logic.

Years of teaching irate teenagers with illogicly spelt and pronounced names led me to give my children very standardised names. There are common variations of many names, and some can be a bit of a minefield, which are not the ones I mean, but I don't see the joy in bestowing a name that the child will have to correct, spell and pronounce every single time they meet someone because it is completely random and defies logic.

I have an Eirik and a Caspar and get accused of this all the time. Really annoys me and not one person pronounces Eirik correctly, even family.

That pisses me off more, when family decide to say names their way because they think that's how it should be, despite being corrected.

I have encountered a Daittonn recently. Why so many letters?

anne/ann my friend has had it misspelt all her life she doesn't really care unless her mom is seeing the spelling she cares a lot apparently

iain/ian scottish friend has the first spelling confuses everyone

chloi looks unnatural as a name

dayah wynter leif tallica just look wrong!

i like traditional names you know what your getting without having to check is this a boy or a girl you can just look at the name and KNOW!!

I did teach a child called Sian which was pronounced Cyan I always wondered if one day she will decide she would rather be a Sian!

lackaDAISY -is your DH Finlay's bio dad? If so, why would you give your child a name his father could not pronounce?
I don't think you can get too upset that people with other accents can't quite pronounce words the same as your people. My DP is often making friendly fun of my pronunciation of some words - it makes us all the more interesting!

The worst one I have seen recently is "Lucus"

"Lucus", FFS!

LadyCordeliaFlyte Fri 20-Jun-14 20:45:19
I know someone with a Phebe. Not sure if it was deliberate alternative spelling or if they didn't know how to spell Phoebe. Either way the poor child is going to go through life having her name misspelt.

Hello! I wonder if it's me you know?
As a couple of other posters have mentioned it is a long standing alternative spelling. And yes I do know the most common spelling is Phoebe, but do you know how many people struggle with the silent 'o'??? So I just decided to do us all a favour and lose it all together. HTH

By the way neither my 'poor' child, nor I, get uptight if the o gets chucked back in - in a seemingly random location.

Oh look! It's even in the King James Bible...

I commend unto you Phebe our sister

Romans 16:1-2

That ok, now?

I always check how people spell their names, check the pegs at school for Christmas cards, the invitation for the spelling of the birthday child's name. Just having a guess is just rude if you can easily check.
Doesn't take a lot of effort.

I have an Irish name spelt the Irish way and I live in England. Spelling it out for people takes seconds and is not a daily event.

People will make more effort for the Pixie and Peaches Geldofs of this world, the Moon Unit and Dweezil Zappas. Yet ordinary people don't benefit from the same degree of tolerance and efforts because their parents are ordinary people.

Of course one should make the effort to spell and pronounce people's names as was intended! However, sadly, some people are lazy, or dyslexic, or just Not Spellers, and I don't agree with taking the risk of alienating those people from one's child.

I have an Oliver often called Ollie but his dad still spells it olly
My niece is katey and everyone apart from family sends birthday cards etc saying Katie, sil wanted to be "different"

Despite that rather Establishment-sounding comment, I categorically condemn racist reactions to foreign names.

I can spell peaches, pixie and moon unit. However, if they were written peechus, phixxee and muhnn younit I wounldn't be so sure!

Some of these names look like bad typing without autocorrect!

I chose a simple traditional easy to spell name for my eldest after experiencing such a wide variety of "interesting" names as a teacher. Hmmmm, he was often referred to as "Jon" and asked " I expect it is short for Jonathan/Johnathan/Jonathon/Johnathon isn't it"

Welcome to Mumsnet HelloSteve.

Are you really a Steven or a Stephen?