If you add random extra letters into a name, don't be pissy when people mispronounce it!

[BoobsOnTheMoon]

I met someone recently who has a young child with a name that is actually quite a old/traditional English name, rare but not unheard of. Almost the perfect sweet spot, you'd think.

When I heard the name I immediately said oh how beautiful, I love that name. Which then set the mum off on a big rant about how nobody can ever pronounce it. Strange, I thought, it's not that unusual and tbh it's pretty phonetic when written down.

Except I found out later via FB that the mum has added two letters to the name (a consonant and a vowel), in two different places, that make it look like you pronounce it completely differently to the way she wants it pronounced. It's not an alternative spelling (which the name does have a couple of, both of which are completely obvious how to pronounce). If you were to see it written down you'd add an extra syllable when reading it out! And probably mispronounce the one of the consonants because it's had a random other consonant put next to it for...no reason? She must just like how it looks

I can't say what the name is because this child is literally the only person in the world with the name spelled that way, I've googled it and got the total of 2 results (both of which refer to this child, via their hobby). The closest examples I can come up with would be calling a baby Phetier when you want it pronounced Peter, or Elixzabieth but wanting it pronounced Elizabeth, or Dharrien and expecting everyone to know you say it Darren.

Anyway I don't particularly care how people spell names but to then be huffy that it gets mispronounced is just silly, right?

Sehraah

Dannii Minogue??

Lots of people don't understand the rules of spelling in English so they think it's fine to add extra letters or change them or decide on random pronunciations because they don't know what the letters they have chosen are supposed to sound like.

And also that names have meanings (if they're not made up names), and changing the spelling can change the meaning.

Yanbu. I recently met a Diylon and I just think of the fabric dye.

No idea what the name is at all, I thought maybe of Emote (occasionally spelt as Emmot).

This used to be a diminutive of Emma.

The tradgedaigh subreddit is funny and sad in equal parts. It seems quite common in the US to try and be different.

Aedwharde

Lol very funny 😀.
I think the op may have a cunning plan ( to keep us guessing) 😂

I went to college with three girls called Amy spelt three different ways! 🤦‍♀️

I knew a Gerard, but it was pronounced Jared.

I was about to say the same thing! If posters can’t give the whole story, then please don’t bother! Apart from that, people then keep pestering for the name, which makes the post even more boring. It just seems such a waste of time on all counts.

The ones that trip me up are Mia and Maya - both have ways of pronouncing them that could be the same or could not be. One class I teach has 2 Mia’s - both pronounced differently. The very next class has a Maya and I can never remember which pronunciation I am aiming for.
My friend is still not over the spelling of Daisy with a z (Daizy) in one of her classes.

Are you sure it's an old English name and not Scots or Manx Gaelic?

eg Mharie which I've heard English people wrongly pronounce as "Marie" or "Mary", but it should be pronounced something like "Vorrie" or "Vorrey"

I also know of someone who removed the second 'h' from Hannah. She's absolutely nuts!!

Well i know the French spelling is Aimee, what's the other way?

I can assure you this spelling is in no way traditional. As I said, I actually googled it to check and it doesn't exist anywhere on the internet except for 2 results that are both mentions of this child! Which is why I'm not posting the name. It's really genuinely a yooneek one off.

I forgot that name threads always go like this. Been out of the baby naming circles for well over a decade myself!

The book Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner showed how OTT or deliberately way out names and odd variations actually influence a child future. It shouldn’t be the case but we live in a world which determines class and advance decides ability through clues such as naming conventions.

Its just fucking cringeworthy and on par with the moronic parents who name their child Khaleesi which aside from being a made up GoT name isnt it a title not a name?
Totally agree with PP that registrars should have the power to deny utterly ridiculous names.

This is one of my pet hates! I teach, and when I get class lists I always look up names I'm unfamiliar with - usually they're from different cultures and I think it's important for me to try to get them right. The internet is very helpful for this. Not for invented names that are spelled in ways that don't reflect the pronunciation the parents want.

The worst one I came across, with a couple of letters changed for privacy reasons, was similar to 'Karsej.' Kar-say? Kar-sedge? No. Kar-jay. I guarantee nobody got that right first time.

Many moons ago there was a blog called “Baby’s Named a Bad Bad Thing” and oh my word it was hilarious! The majority of posters were in the US and the names people posted about ranged from normal names with bizarre spellings to the downright insane made up stuff that I presume only comes to you after years of abusing crystal meth!

The blog still exists in part, though a lot of the original posts are no longer there. It’s worth a read when you need a laugh! If you click on each of the names on this page it takes you back to the original blog post which often has other classics to blow your mind!

http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/bestof.html

I don't think you're being unreasonable... But some people are dyslexic, or maybe poorly educated (not through any fault of their own), and don't necessarily notice that the spelling doesn't match the intended pronunciation, or vice versa. I have encountered people who struggle with the spelling and pronunciation of names that seem pretty straightforward to me.

Spudulika……. It’s exotic!

I once taught an Abbey-Gayle

Bhalonze?

Well if you won’t tell us I hope the child’s mother reads this and has another wobbler, defends the name, and spills the beans!!