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AIBU?

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Original poster

To not use proper spellings when naming your child

934 replies

Catterpillarsflipflops · 19/03/2025 18:17

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

OP posts:
Thread gallery
10
BatchCookBabe · 19/03/2025 19:11

@thatsfunnybecause · Today 18:37

There’s a Reignbeau at dds nursery.

Oh that's priceless! 😂

aprilshowers2015 · 19/03/2025 19:12

@MidnightMillie I'm not assuming, that's what she told me. Not a speck of Irish in the family. She briefly toyed with changing it to Siobhan but thought it would be too confusing for elderly relatives.

BatchCookBabe · 19/03/2025 19:14

rosydreams · 19/03/2025 18:21

what ever floats your goat but it will make me raise a eyebrow ,its just odd

😂

SnoozingFox · 19/03/2025 19:16

I have an Irish friend called Ciara which is a very standard Irish spelling and nobody seems to have an issue with Ciaran which is the male equivalent.

She regularly gets Cee-ah-rah and Sierra.

oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends · 19/03/2025 19:16

Names fascinate me.

I know 2 men called Dara. One is Indian, one Irish.

Any connection ?

Agentscullyandmulder · 19/03/2025 19:17

I got asked other day when ordering Dominoes what my name was ( hangover food) Alison, 'Ellieson' they wrote

Didimum · 19/03/2025 19:17

I wouldn’t use names spelled this way and don’t like them, but at the end of the day it’s nothing to do with either me. Names will continue to evolve.

DazzyRascale · 19/03/2025 19:19

Rufus27 · 19/03/2025 18:36

There may be more to it. One of my DC has a v unusual name. We adopted DC as a baby, weren’t allowed to change the first name, but knew it made DC v identifiable (birth family are potentially dangerous) so we decided to change the spelling to something ‘unique’ but safe. I expect we are judged but, if it keeps DC safe, I don’t care.

I can think of at least four other instances I know of locally where this has occurred for adoption related reasons; one of the changed spellings is similar to one you quote in your OP.

Surely a super common name (eg less ubiquitous Evie, Emily etc) would be much less of an identification risk than a unique name though?

Kpo58 · 19/03/2025 19:19

SnoozingFox · 19/03/2025 19:16

I have an Irish friend called Ciara which is a very standard Irish spelling and nobody seems to have an issue with Ciaran which is the male equivalent.

She regularly gets Cee-ah-rah and Sierra.

TBF I wouldn't know how to pronounce either name just seeing it written down.

JasmineAllen · 19/03/2025 19:21

PowerhouseOfTheCell · 19/03/2025 19:02

A random US influencer post came up on my insta with a birth announcement 'Lefty Luck' she had turned the comments of as she was getting, quite rightly, abuse about calling her poor child that
Lefty has a big sister called Towne Belle Confused

Towne Belle sounds like a euphemism for a prostitute 😂 As for Lefty Luck, I'm not even sure where to begin with how awful it is.

Decorhate · 19/03/2025 19:25

@oncemoreuntothebeachdearfriends I’ve come across several names that in terms of how they sound, could be the same. Eg Kieran/Kiran. Ken and Sean both with similar sounding Chinese names. Tara common in Ireland and India.

Arcticrival · 19/03/2025 19:25

Yellowpingu · 19/03/2025 18:38

I might be wrong but I think that’s the Polish spelling. DS was at primary school with a Kacper who’s parents are Polish.

Show quote history

It is. We have a Kacper at work. It's Eastern European, not made up

Pallisers · 19/03/2025 19:25

I know a Ryleigh. Her father is Irish. I judge.

Also know someone whose surname was A'hern. Something dreadful must have happened on Ellis Island. I lived in fear that he would have to visit our Irish office.

JasmineAllen · 19/03/2025 19:25

BatchCookBabe · 19/03/2025 19:08

YANBU. I fecking hate it. I know a Bexleigh, a Jordonne, and a Nylargh. What the actual F?!

They are setting their child up for a lifetime of NO-ONE spelling their name correctly! Why do that to your own child?

One of my old neighbours (where I used to live) named her child Deekonne (instead of Deacon) and pissed and moaned because NO-ONE ever spelt it right.

Edited

Who names their child Deacon ? 😂
Unless it's a middle name, first name Joey (one for older MNs'ers)

BumbleBeegu · 19/03/2025 19:26

I had a ‘Sharn’ in my class a few years ago…constantly got spelled ‘incorrectly’ as Sian on forms (like when a TA was filling out a bumped head slip etc) 🥴

I recently had a Teighler (Taylor) 🤦‍♀️

Sporadica · 19/03/2025 19:26

Perhaps little Jaymz's parents worried that the trad spelling "James" might lead to accidental mispronunciations like JAY-mess, JAH-mess or jaw-MEZ?

He probably has a sister called K8.

tillytoodles1 · 19/03/2025 19:27

LittleBearPad · 19/03/2025 18:23

Was it in Wales - though the double LL would make it a completely different sound so it can’t have been! but why do that!!

Show quote history

In Wales it's pronounced Cly. Poor kid

BowTiesPinkTail · 19/03/2025 19:27

tulippa · 19/03/2025 18:34

I work somewhere where there is a sign to contact Kacper if you need a certain thing doing. I spent months thinking that's an unusual name until I realised it was a funky spelling of Casper. Parents obviously didn't know the letter c only makes 's' when followed by i, e or y.

Edited

That is actually the Polish spelling of Casper.

Summerishere123 · 19/03/2025 19:27

Best one I have seen was Jaymelee

JanglingJack · 19/03/2025 19:27

Undethetree · 19/03/2025 18:26

I met an Evon last week

Years ago at work we had a customer that had called her daughter Wy-vone-ee

Yvonne.

cait967 · 19/03/2025 19:28

JanglingJack · 19/03/2025 18:23

I had to think about Jaymz!

I'm not fan, but then naming my son with a common traditional name starting with G but sounds like a J, there were times he was trying to learn how to spell it, and I wished I had just called him Ben.

This! I have one of those first names that can legitimately be spelled about ten ways

i spend my life correcting it.

IVFbeenverylucky · 19/03/2025 19:28

Once came across an "Abbeygayle". Took me a while to work it out. How silly.

JanglingJack · 19/03/2025 19:28

Sporadica · 19/03/2025 19:26

Perhaps little Jaymz's parents worried that the trad spelling "James" might lead to accidental mispronunciations like JAY-mess, JAH-mess or jaw-MEZ?

He probably has a sister called K8.

Nah she's K8T

Rightsraptor · 19/03/2025 19:28

When I was a midwife we used to get parents decorating their baby's name with random accents - a cedilla here, an acute accent, or perhaps a circonflex there - apparently unaware that it might change the pronunciation. Well, it might if you were in the know, but as they clearly weren't it didn't bother them.

TheEllisGreyMethod · 19/03/2025 19:29

There is a child in my DDs swimming group - I've only seen her name written down - Ezma, so I thought it was Ezma. No, it's Esme, somehow.