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

Side note - but the name llacey with a welsh Ll is actually growing on me 🤣🤣

To be fair, his name is George, so not really.

My son is George, that's going to be fun!

Maybe I should have spelled it Jorj

That’s a polish name. Have had a few children with the name in my class over the years.

Isnt that just the Polish or similar spelling?

You are in danger of judging people for being foreign.

Yep, phonics are fun!

They're not.

Germany has rules surrounding names but you are allowed basically any name as long as you can prove that it really is a name and it wouldn't cause the child any distress. Unisex names have to be followed by a middle name that's clearly male or female, so you can't have Ashley Robin for instance, but Ashley Rose or Robin John would be fine.

Iceland is the one that's really strict - if even one parent is Icelandic they have to choose an Icelandic name from an approved list.

I thought you were mocking an Irish name for a minute there 🫢

eMjae

(pronounced MJ)

Retired secondary school teacher here.
In my last job I taught a girl whose mother intended her daughter to be named after the popular singer Shakira. Sadly she was registered as Sharkia!

Her daughter couldn't spell either!

My son was born abroad and so has a foreign spelling. Luckily some famous pro footballers from Europe have the same spelling so obviously not an attempt to be different.

Yes I have already been corrected by multiple people. Thank you. I have learnt something new today. 🙂

I know of a Jorja. Also an Abigayil. Both adults. I’m mostly baffled by Abigayil choosing to keep her ridiculous spelling.

I know of a child Patzi, renesmee (I’m not sure if it’s now officially a name since twilight but come on), countless spellings of Emily such as Emma-Leigh, emalie and Emmilie. Came across an Ameilia the other day. Why add an extra i? What’s the point?! It was pronounced like Amelia. And she went by Milly anyway. I’ve come across daize recently too which I presumed was the same as Daze but was actually daisy. Also come across a Bayli and an Ajay.

if I came across Llayceigh as a Welsh person I’d be so confused if they had attempted Lleucu and got mixed up along the way. I’d probably pronounce it as lleucu and not even consider Lacey!

Hungary is quite strict, or at least their name day is often as important as their birthday.

I had a stepdad Laszlo, an Uncle Laszlo, a cousin Laszlo and now I have a Deliveroo driver Laszlo 🤣

Nooooooooooooooo! 😆

Was it just at school that she was registered as Sharkia? Or was Sharkia her given name/on her birth certificate?

🤣 That did just make me cackle.

I mean, poor kid...

Kacper is the Polish spelling of Casper.

The first book I read by Maeve Binchy had a young character called Niamh. I was easily halfway through before I realised it was a girl and in my head I was pronouncing it "Nyam" 😳

It's absolutely not pronounced Cly. This is an explanation of how to pronounce it

There was a thread about 10 years ago now on AIBU where a “Sian” was absolutely convinced that the correct pronunciation was Cyan and anyone who thought otherwise was VV U.

Got quite a lot of posts from Welsh MNetters that one who handed her arse back to her.

For the avoidance of any doubt Sharne is correct as designated by the circumflex over the letter a.

if you are going to pick a Celtic name for your child I personally think it’s only appropriate to respect its cultural heritage by spelling and pronouncing it properly.

As for You-Nique names - poor bloody kids. It’s a permanent announcement that your parents are classless and batshit.

I know an adult Xayva, which looks sort of cool written down, but it REALLY gets on my nerves how it's pronounced. Ex-ay-vee-ah. If you want that the y and v need to be the other way round at least!

I know a Ciara who pronounces her name Car-ra. So different to Ciaran which I’d pronounce Key-ran.

Amongst many bizarre names, I recently taught an ElLea (Ellie). Just why??? Why give your child a lifetime of having to spell ElLea and explain it to people?

I judge people who saddle their DC with younique names, but I'm also starting to judge people who don't read the thread before posting about Kacper...

Kanncelle the cheque. 😉