To not use proper spellings when naming your child

[Catterpillarsflipflops]

Am I being unreasonable to think it's ridiculous to use a funky spelling of a normal name. I spent today dealing with lost paperwork for a child as the person that took the details didn't think to check the spelling as there is no other spelling of the name.

It looks silly and just causes no end of problems for the child. It also disadvantages them as straight away people get an image of what the child is like.

I've seen

Jaymz
Ezmay
Lil-leigh

We had a Kio in nursery and we asked how it was pronounced as it could have been Kye-oh or Key-oh.
The mum told us very indignantly that it was Kye-oh "Cos it's got an I, innit?"

I can never get Mia, Maia, May, Mya right. I know what I think they should sound like but that's not always the same as the parents.

I always get that wrong. I know 2 Mayas, a My-ah and a May-ah and I always get it wrong

I went to school with loads of Hong Kong boarders, lots had old fashioned English names. There was definitely a Kenneth, and a Queenie!

Neight instead of Nate (both equally awful imo)

IMO that counts as child abuse! I do sometimes think that registrars should have the right to veto the truly daft ‘youneek’ names some parents come up with.

We once had a German exchange student staying with us. He was bemused by some of the names of his classmates. Apparently in Germany you can only choose from a list of approved names.
Far more sensible and would stop children being given ridiculous and embarrassing names that they're going to hate for the rest of their lives.

In my northern European home country it's the same. You can come up with new names but they will then be approved or rejected by the officials. I'm sure they're more lax these days, but I still feel that it's a good thing that you can't name your child something utterly ridiculous.

Having said that, my child's name has an unusual spelling here in the uk. As the child has dual heritage I wanted them to have a name that reflects it, and because they have a bog standard British surname too so the first name would be a nod to their "other home country". It's not too out there, but it does end with an i when the UK version would end with a y. Think Luci instead of Lucy. I sometimes feel it's a bit awkward, but the name is a normal name in my home country and doesn't stand out when we visit, and it's easy for my parents, family and friends to say. I just sometimes feel that I have to explain myself that I didn't go for a weird spelling just to be quirky and that it's just a boring normal name where I'm from. 😅 My child loves it though so I'm happy.

Or force the parents to change their own names to the ridiculous monstrosities that they want to inflict on their poor children.

After all, they truly believe it to be a beautiful name, so they'll be over the moon with that, won't they...?

I recall reading an article in a trashy magazine many years ago by a woman who called her DD KVIIIlyn, pronounced Caitlyn (as in the 8 sound spelled in Roman numerals).

I wonder if that was actually true or made up rubbish for a cash payment an 'artistic fictional interpretaton'.

That’s an awful autocratic idea. I like that about the UK. I think individual registrars should be able to refuse names but who decides what is acceptable to put on a list and what is not? I think our love of eccentricity and individualism is a trait to be proud of.

OMG that's awful! 😂 KVIIIllyn to say 'K(8)lynn.' Top tier batshit!

That's why I can barely believe it was actually true - and I wonder if she thought in a moment of madness "Wouldn't this be crazy?!" and then tried to sell it to Take a Break as if it were actually true"

Imagine everybody seeing your name for the first time, pausing to wonder what on earth it was, and then guessing at something that sounded like Kveeeeeeen. You don't even have any way of knowing that the last letter before the Y is an L, what with it following three Is!

@JHound I think it's preferable to saddling kids with batshit names.

I once knew a Que. It had been a name in a 70s show. Poor child.

If I see the word “youneek” on this thread one more time I think I might scream…

I really don’t think giving government that level of power is ever preferable.

Who decides what makes the list? How does it handle foreign names?

Daft idea.

Oh come on, surely you could have stretched to Marque?

Well it works perfectly well in quite a few countries. I'm sure they add new ones from time to time.

I once taught a little girl with a very odd name. Seemingly the parents had lived in England when she was born. The registrar hadn't understood their Scottish accent and had written what he thought they said on the birth certificate then said it couldn't be changed.
Poor child.

I saw a photo on TwiX where a man had ordered a coffee at Starbucks and given his name as "Marc - with a C" - and then, when he got his drink, it had 'Cark' written on it

I think, a lot of us have learnt something new. There will be a lot of kacpers born in the uk in the next few years. 😊

105 posts left to go on this thread. How many will tell us that Kacper is Polish?

Sorry couldn't resist.

That's a nice Welsh name, I love "Cerys" for a girl & if I had have been lucky enough to have another baby & she so happened to be a girl it's what I would have chosen

As much as my eyes roll every September with our new recruits I absolutely agree, who's business really if it's spelled Kayden, Caiden or Kaydhen? (just examples, I have no issues with this name) My son's Irish name has a few different spellings but no one bats an eyelid & it speaks to a bit of snobbiness

We had a new girl enrolled at our school called Cerys and the HT was adamant it was Serys. She was the sort of person who always had to be right and no amount of telling from the rest of us would convince her otherwise.

It wasn't until the parents complained that she conceded. Even then it was "Apparently her name is Cerys, even though it should be Serys" 🙄

Strangest name I ever came across was "Lisma" pronounced like Lisa with a random M in it. The child was around 10 so I checked our paperwork and it was definitely Lisma.
I casually asked the Mum about it and she said she liked Lisa but thought it was boring and too common.