Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Unusual name spellings

148 replies

00100001 · 04/06/2015 10:59

AIBU to think that people who give their kids unusual name spellings should not get upset at 1) incorrect spellings and 2) incorrect pronunciation.

For example: There is a child I know called Leyah. (pronounced 'lee-uh' as in Leah)

Now, the mum get upset when something had 'Leah' on it, and also upset when someone, upon seeing the name, pronounces it "lay-uh" or "lee-YUH"

AIBU?

OP posts:
netty7070 · 04/06/2015 11:01

YANBU, if you tinker with the spelling of something these confusions are inevitable. Seems a bit precious for someone to assume otherwise.

notaplasticgnome · 04/06/2015 11:02

YANBU. Just spell the bloody name properly. Hollie doesn't look any more 'arty' or 'different' than Holly and Jessika doesn't scream 'original' or 'boho' parents, just silly idiots.

Tommy · 04/06/2015 11:02

of course not - but probably not worth getting het up about Smile

I know a little boy whose name is Stefan and he told me off for pronouncing it "Stefan" when it should be "Stef-un"

Hmm
TwinkieTwinkle · 04/06/2015 11:03

It's something I will never understand. If you are going to give a stupid spelling then don't expect people to be mind readers and know how to spell it in your unique way.

ItsTricky · 04/06/2015 11:03

YANBU. My name isn't that unusual but one of those that people regularly spell wrong. I don't blame them for that!

SaucyJack · 04/06/2015 11:05

Stefan isn't a misspelling of Stephen/Steven.....

It's a "proper" name in it's own right and is pronounced Stef-un.

hazelnutlatte · 04/06/2015 11:07

YANBU. I have a Lila pronounced lie-la. I don't get upset if someone pronounces it Lee-la or Lay-la, or if they spell it Lyla, I just correct them.
If you choose a name with a few different variants then it's normal for people to get it wrong sometimes. I would say even more so with your example as the spelling seems to be made up, but it could be wrong there.

Tommy · 04/06/2015 11:08

I know it isn't a miss spelling saucyjack but it's pronounced Stefan (the way it is spelt....) Hmm

AbbeyRoadCrossing · 04/06/2015 11:09

It think it depends. If you've made up the name yourself then fair enough.
A lot of people can't be arsed to make the effort with traditional spellings though. My name is a classic one but people still spell it incorrectly, out of laziness e.g. if you're replying to an email its on my signature and email address.
DS has a Welsh name which causes more difficulty than I imagined. There's an English version and various celebs with his name so we didn't think it'd be an issue
So, sometimes the new modern spellings dominate over the traditional ones - you can't really win

EatDessertFirst · 04/06/2015 11:10

YABabitU

Our daughters name is an unusual variation of a well known (in the top ten?) girls name. It is pronounced the same but I don't appreciate it being spelt wrong. Not because we are 'precious' or trying to be 'boho' or 'arty' but because she was named for an important family member we chose to honour.

If you are writing down a name its not really that hard to check on how it is spelt is it??

shitebag · 04/06/2015 11:14

When I was 19 I decided on Leyah for a DD because it was different thank feck I had a DS.

notaplasticgnome · 04/06/2015 11:14

Eat

If I'm taking a note of someone's name and they tell me it's Jessica then I assume it's spelt with a c. If it's spelt differently then it's up to them to stress that it's Jessica with a K.

Roobix04 · 04/06/2015 11:17

I agree. My name is slightly unusual in the UK and the spelling was totally made up by my parents. Nobody gets the spelling right first time and my parents never got upset. The only time it bothers me is when people misspell it on Facebook where they can literally see my name or the fact that my great aunt has spelt it wrong on every single birthday card for 25 years.

EatDessertFirst · 04/06/2015 11:18

I always check how peoples names are spelt when write them down. Maybe its just me.

SoupDragon · 04/06/2015 11:21

If you are writing down a name its not really that hard to check on how it is spelt is it??

Equally, if you have chosen to give an unusual spelling, how hard is it to spell it out when you have to tell someone?

I would probably query which version of Katherine, Jane/Jayne, Callum/Calum etc but not one I didn't know had an unusual (or sometimes made up) variant.

pleasebenice · 04/06/2015 11:22

I have a Millie. People spell it with a Y, it doesn't bother me. Its a shortened version of a family members name, we loved Millie but not the long version.

Cacofonix · 04/06/2015 11:23

Gosh yes - my name is an unusual forrin spelling of a name and it is always misspelt by people who don't know me well. I have a chuckle but never tell them off. However, if it is someone who gets to know me well and continually misspells I would probably tell them. I did have a boyfriend's Dad who said my name with the wrong starting letter the entire time I was with bf - 5 bloody years.

SoupDragon · 04/06/2015 11:24

My name has a common variant. It doesn't bother me if someone gets the wrong one.
DS1 has a name with a common variant and I don't mind if someone gets it wrong.
DS2 has a correctly spelt name which has an incorrectly spelt variant that is becoming more popular. It annoys me marginally if someone gets it wrong.
DD had a reasonably unusual but phonetic name. It doesn't bother me when people mishear or misspell it.

At the end of the day, people aren't doing it to piss you off. If they've copied it wrongly from a written list, that is worth being marginally irritated about.

DisappointedOne · 04/06/2015 11:26

My friend Marc told a barista his name was "Marc with a 'c'". They wrote "Cark" on his cup. Grin

Igneococcus · 04/06/2015 11:35

There is an English version of my German (of Greek origin) name and it gets misspelled a lot and pretty much always mispronounced. On top of it very few people seem to be able to spell my last name which consist of 4 letters. I often wonder how the receptionists at work know mail items are for me considering the random spellings of both my names.
I only get annoyed if I have known someone for years and they have seen my name written down many times and they still insist to use the English version.

TedAndLola · 04/06/2015 11:35

YANBU. My name has two correct spellings (think Catherine and Katherine, though that's not it) so it's my responsibility to say "Katherine with a K" when I tell someone my name. I couldn't blame them if I just said "Katherine" and they wrote it with a C.

If you correct someone and they persist in spelling or saying it wrong, that's rude. Whatever you think about someone's choice of spelling or pronunciation, it isn't up to you to decide to 'correct' it.

DisappointedOne · 04/06/2015 11:42

All 3 of us have "normal" names that have 2 or more "normal" variations in spelling. I just spell them out to anybody i give them to. They still get it wrong sometimes.

VenusVanDamme · 04/06/2015 11:49

YANBU. My name is perfectly normal but lots of spelling options i.e. Lynsey/Lynsay/Lindsey/Linzi and about 5 others so I always spell my name out if on the phone as people never pick the correct option and you can't really expect them to. However, if it's in an email and they then use whichever spelling they feel like then they're just rude.

shumway · 04/06/2015 11:50

Cark. That has tickled me! Grin

RedToothBrush · 04/06/2015 11:55

My friend Marc told a barista his name was "Marc with a 'c'". They wrote "Cark" on his cup.

That's genius!