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?

"early-sane" is how I would pronounce that :)

I know an Amiee
But I always want to spell it Aimee because in my head that makes more sense.

I mean Amy would be better but not my child!

Aimee is the French spelling.

I had a manager called Karen pronounced Kare on ,bu she waa south African.

hahaha!
I could have written this word for word apart from being born in England.
My Dad registered me and spelt it wrong. I didn't find out about the wrong spelling until I was an adult. (and wondering why one particular teacher always insisted on calling me the wrong name.)

Like you I called all 3 of my DC perfectly normal, easily pronounced names.
I often got: Is that spelt with an H? (Tegan)
Has that got an i on the end? (Barry)
Is that spelt que? (Mark)
Just examples and not my DC real names!

If only we had the same here. IMO ‘youneek’ names are too often verging on child abuse.

Also knew a little Micheal. Pronounced Michael. Never understood that one.

They probably meant Michael and got it wrong. It's often misspelled like that. I always notice because I have a relative called Michael.

I knew someone who followed the career of an actor whose name was Michael. She spelled it Micheal every time she mentioned him online. Set my teeth on edge.

I don't believe they changed it "because they believe it looks naff", I think it was an accident because it was a name that generally has one "correct" spelling, which is what the school wrote. I do think they should be more careful and get the spelling right, but I just think it's a little silly when people act like there's something wrong with everyone else when they've misspelled something that has a clear and commonly understood spelling.

Do you think this is a soap opera for your benefit?

The OP is talking about a real person, a child, who would be outed by her doing that.

That's hugely unfair on that child, and to demand the OP does that purely for for entertainment is pretty shallow IMO.

I know an Aayvvah

Micheal is the Irish spelling. It's pronounced differently (softer) although when people are in the UK they often just pronounce it the same as Michael.

Yet again on this thread with a lot of the names mentioned people don't seem to have an understanding that English isn't the only language. Spelling and pronunciation vary depending on the country/language of origin but also on where the name has travelled to and how long it's been in use there. Lots of Irish names mentioned on this thread....some families try to retain the pronunciation but Anglicise the spelling e.g. Seán becomes Shaun/Shawn, some retain the spelling (minus fadas) but Anglicise the pronunciation e.g. Mícheál becomes Micheal but pronounced Michael. Over time the names spread in their new area to others and so many change further. I have a name listed on the thread and yes I have to spell it, yes I've heard/seen a hundred variations of it written down but that's just because people either are not familiar with the language of origin or do not want to make assumptions about which way it's spelled.

The Matrix

sahmahnthah
Ptabeether
Mykhhuhl
Bendgahmihn
Soohshahn

If it's a topic-based diversion, how about:

The rough, tough dough-faced ploughman went coughing and hiccoughing through the boughs of the borough of Loughborough.

I know of a mabel spelled mai belle, poor child.

Sadly true. If a teacher you always know the difficult kids will be the ones with the off-beat names. Emma and James are rarely a problem but someone named after a famous city, or owning to a street-wise name almost always is.

My name never turns on threads like this but it is rare (so rare owners of it will be either my age or my daughter's age and none in between as it also goes out of fashion quite fast) and has a variety of spellings - and some very famous legendary owners as well as the star I was named for. I usually have to spell it, even its diminutive (or at least the one I use, it has several, depending on the spelling). Its origins are probably Celtic.

Unique spellings are one of my pet hates. It makes the parents look as though they can’t spell and dooms the child to a life of ‘nope, not Cassie, it’s Kassyeeie’ 🙄 🙄 (or similar!)

I once had three Siobhans in one class, none were spelt correctly, Chevonne, Shivorn and one I forget.

Dad went to register and spelt it incorrectly? I know one too, plus my dad registered my brother and spelt his middle name incorrectly by adding in a pointless extra consonant. Mother was not pleased.

I care about it. Stupid spellings are not the action of a loving person. Give your child a name spelt sensibly, spare them a life of correcting people or comments.

Aimée-loved/beloved. Should be pronounced m-a. My friend called her dd this, it just bemuses me when her other dc have very standard UK names.

I also worked with someone with the same pronunciation, apparently it was the Norwegian way. Which would be fine if she had any Norwegian heritage, but she and her parents were all English. She used to get really cross when it was pronounced incorrectly.

My friend is from a French speaking African country she's an Aimee and pronounces the same as Amy ,apparently it's also common in France to pronounce it the same as Amy .