Chivonne?!

[felicitywits]

BIL wants to call the baby Chivonne.

I said "oh Siobhan, how lovely" - but no, apparently Chivonne is 'a different name' and he doesn't like she spelling of Siobhan.

I am catsbumming but I'm an old lady - is it a name 'in its own right' or is it a misspelling?

Chevron. I dare you.

Gosh,
it may well be a name in its own right but they need to be prepared for the fact that EVERYONE will simply think they were too thick to spell Siobahn

Hmmm, I rather like Cayenne. In a world where girls are called Paris, Brittany etc, what's wrong with the capital of French Guiana . I think that's cool.

Well, not cool, not if there's pepper named after it, but

(gets coat)

I know a Shivaun.
She hates it - the spelling, not the name. I think Siobhan is well know enough not to be confusing. Like Niamh and Kiara, it' come in to fairly mainstream use.

I think because the word is so unfamiliar (and looks a bit like Chivers marmalade) some people might use Ch as in cheese. I have had my name pronounced with a 'hard, cheese' ch - only by the wilfully ignornat of course!

The other bit was onne rather than awn / orn / aughn, the double nn makes it 'on' as in Yvonne, making me think it is not like Siobhan at all.

That'd be 'ignorant' (as opposed to typing too fast) of course!

Actually, it looks like one of my predictive text typos.

Because I am a sad geek, I tested "Shevorn" out on my iPhone 4S with Siri's voice-to-text thing. It spelt it Siobhan.

I saw them today and suggested Sian... He would want it pronouced Si-anne though, or shy-anne.

He seems to really like the shi/si sound. Can anyone think of any?

How about Charlotte? Perfectly nice name and everyone can spell it.
How would he pronounce Cheyenne?

Suggestions:
Shalom
Shauna
Chantal
Shannon
Shoshana
Sheridan
Shelley
Shay/ Shea
Charlene
Charlise

The man is an idiot but you know that.
Chivonne is absolutely the most ghetto-fabulous American spelling of Siobhan you could ever hope not to see.

Not all have sh sounds but along those lines...?

Asha
Ashley
Celeste
Natasha
Shirley
Cecilia
Michelle
Silvana
Sybil
Sylvia
Skye

Siobhan = lovely.

Chivonne is just horrid. Diner waitress. Can you talk him out of it?

I'm wondering (and this might be my catsbumming here, like he couldn't possibly be serious about Chivonne), if perhaps it's a tactic to get DSis to use his surname instead.

I think Shelley and Shirley and Sybil (and maybe Sylvia though I might be setting my sights too high there), might appeal. It might be that he's trying to be 'unique' though.

Chivonne (which incidentally this predictive keyboard wants to turn into "chucking") also reminds me of the Vauxhall Chevanne (the van version of the Chevette).

Any chance you could persuade him to opt for Shula?

Shiloh

Shona?

Sylvie?

If it's a tactic, he's an arse!

Each parent needs power of veto when it comes to the first name.

I'm afraid Chivonne Cheyvonne Shivaurn etc are all, round here very much "chavvy" handles to "chavvy kids" . Yes a gross assumption and really classist or me.

Talk to DSIS either use Siobhan or use another name, or put up with possible "classist" labeling.

Angel and Martine aren't much better though. I'm assuming your DSIS/BIL are not "chav" inclined??

Shoot me now...

I reckon it's a tactic, too... reckon when the baby arrives he may well come to his senses change his mind... [crosses fingers].

Siobhan is a beautiful name, Chivonne/Shivaun etc just make me shudder. Similarly I have a friend whose middle name is Shantahl. Yuk, yuk, yuk.

Personally, when I see the name Chivonne, I always think the family/parents are illiterate, and can't bothered to spell properly. Do not do it or you will forever be labelling your family as chavs.

BIL hasn't shown any misspelling tendancies previously.

Martine is in honour of his late father (Martin), so I can sort of understand that. Chivonne seems out of nowhere!

There's nothing wrong with Martine. It's uncommon without being "out there".

Hand this to BIL and Sis

Please please don't.

I have (had) a name with a chavvy spelling and it is not only embarassing but I have spent years having to spell it to people. Thwy start writing the conventional spelling so every form has a name crossed out and rewritten

If you do it:

All teachers will think she is a trouble maker before meeting her

Relatives will spell it wrong in cards

You will never be able to buy a mug / keyring etc with it on

She may, as I did, just change it in the end.

DO NOT DO IT, please

Sweet Jasus, thats an infliction if i ever heard one. Just awful.

OP, You owe it to your neice to spell out to her parents what trouble their name choice will cause her in life. How will you justify your inaction to little Chivonne once she grows up a bit and starts asking why her parents misspelled her name?

I am convinced that being called 'Chivonne' would definitely hold a person back in life, in many, many ways.

Do make your Dsis cry, it's worth a few tears for them to reconsider. (NB. I understand that this is sensitive ground. My sis made me cry over my DDs name choice. I didn't change it. But then it wasn't a made-up name, just not English. But we still get on fine, and she loves her neice).