to be annoyed by people who question name choices on the fact the child 'will have a lifetime spelling their name'?

[Stillill]

My son has an Irish name in the UK (we do have Irish heritage although I feel that's not the point). We are likely to give our second child an Irish name too.

I am so sick of people in RL saying how it is cruel or awkward or ridiculous to 'set my child up with a lifetime of problems'. Really?? A lifetime of problems?

Yes, it is more than likely they will need to spell their name out the first time they meet someone. It is more than likely someone will ask how their name is pronounced. But once they've done this, they move on. It's about three seconds out of their time and probably not on a daily basis.

As an adult, most people I know know my name. I am not meeting a new person who might need to write my name down daily. I have a very easy to spell and say English name. If I do meet someone or call someone who needs to know my name or spelling, I tend to spell it out despite how common it is as people vary the 'ey' 'ie' 'ea' 'y' ending. It can also be misheard for other similar names. It doesn't bother me.

AIBU to say everyone needs to calm down and put 'difficult to spell' names into perspective as not ruining my child's life and setting them up to fail 'the high court judge test'?

My name is welsh and i have to spell it EVERTIME . I have given DD and DS simple names due to the hassle my name gives me.

I've had this comment about our DDs name but I've got the first 2 most boring and ordinary names, very much of their time and I have to spell both every time someone asks me.

Really can't see why other people's illiteracy sound affect your choice. Just give your baby a name you love.

Sassh My BIL is Adam and his wife is German. She calls him A-DAM with a strong emphasise on the second syllable. (As opposed to Add-am.)

I often have to spell my first name out and it is a very common one for my age - but it has more than one common spelling too. When I was younger I used to have spell my surname too.

Dd has a name with two spellings and hers is the least commonly used version, so she has to spell it out a lot.

So even with quite common or popular names these issues can exist. It hasn't caused either of us any real issues tbh.

YANBU. I have a name that needs spelling to some people in the UK (where I was born) and 100% of people in France where I live now. It isn't even pronounceable to most of them, even after I have explained it and spelled it. I don't really mind to be honest, I have a whole routine worked out to explain the origin of my name and how it relates to my heritage and how it is pronounced and it's a pretty good ice breaker!

So - the thing is that you can't possibly know whether or not you child will grow up hating and being irritated by the spelling of their name. They might have to spell it every time and not care; they might have to put up with incorrect spellings a lot of the time and not care - or BOTH of those things could irritate the arse off them.

As you can't know, you can only do what you think will be the best compromise - between your fondness for the name and the complexity of using it for your DC. You can't win this one.

Yanbu. I have a fairly common name which I often have to spell out to people, but it's never bothered me.

I also frequently have people inserting a hyphen into my name which isn't supposed to be there. That used to annoy me once upon a time (especially when they argued that is the traditional way of spelling it - it's bloody not) but not anymore

I remember a thread once where a poster said her name was Aloysia, the feminine form of Aloysius, which for anyone who isn't familiar with it, is pronounced like Aloo-ishus for a boy or Aloo-isha for a girl.

It's a tricky name to spell and pronounce at the best of times but her parents had registered her spelling as Alyousa which would logically be pronounced Al-ee-oo-sa by EVERYBODY. So not the same name at all, not even close. All the letters and blend sounds are in completely the wrong place to make it EVER sound like Aloo-isha but as far as she was concerned her name was Aloysia /Aloo-isha and that's what she was known as.

Her life must have been HELL explaining that one three times a week to all and sundry, and putting up with all the bemused and cynical face pulling that would have undoubtedly gone on. She was quite stoic about it but I would have been sick to the back teeth of it, if it were me. Not to mention embarrassed by my parents' mistake.

Even if you give your child the most boring, normal, easy to spell, only one spelling, can't possible ever get it wrong name, there's no guarantee they won't bugger off to live in a country where nobody can spell or pronounce it!

Each to their own really. DH has one of those names. Even friends of 20 years continue to spell it wrong. Occasionally when he meets someone new they'll keep staring at him in disbelief and repeatedly fail to pronounce his name. His name is quite popular in his country of origin but it might as well be something like trousaboggler the way people react. However, I don't think he minds much.

For me, as a shy person, I had an unusual surname and it did used to make me wish for one I didn't have to spell out every time I gave it. It was also one you could make fun of (a bit like bottomly but not). I hated being the centre of attention and it would draw attention to me.

My wish came true when I married dh and took his surname that you couldn't possibly mishear or get wrong. I now have one of the most boring names you could imagine. I prefer it myself.

I don't think you can predict how they will react. But it's rather nice to have a name that tells people something about your origins, I think.

Yabu IMO. I hate hate hate spelling out one of my names. People then always say "why is it spelt like that”. I like to keep things simple.

I think, OP, you are all right as the names you are considering have a heritage and history behind them. I have an unusual name which no one can ever spell or pronounce in any language and the only history behind it is my parents being up themselves.
As a result, I have given all my DCs 2 names in case they dislike the first so I would second that suggestion.