Spelling dilemma

9 replies

NameSpellingDilemma · 30/10/2023 17:48

I’m going back and forth on the middle name for my little boy. I want to use a name which has been in my family for generations - Sydney. It would mean a lot to me, and to my Dad, to follow this family tradition. But I know that these days, the y spelling is more often used for girls, and the i spelling, Sidney, for boys. Everyone outside my family that we have told assumes it’s Sidney. I think I prefer Sidney as well, if I’m honest. But is it still following the family tradition if I change the spelling? Is Sydney still useable for boys? Please help, this dilemma has been going round and round in my head and I need to decide!

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Believeinmarmite · 30/10/2023 17:50

I don't think it matter to much as a middle name as not many people other that you and baby when older will have to write it down, personally I think I would go with the y if it's a family name.

Gnomegnomegnome · 30/10/2023 17:52

If you are using it to honour family then it would be bizarre to change the spelling.

ClockHolly · 30/10/2023 17:52

If you prefer Sidney, go with it. It’s still very much the family name, just one letter different.

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NameSpellingDilemma · 30/10/2023 17:56

@Gnomegnomegnome and @ClockHolly have perfectly summed up the two opposing voices in my head 😂

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TheHorneSection · 30/10/2023 17:59

Absolutely still the same. I changed a family name slightly for a middle name - should have been Janet, which is too old fashioned for my taste and didn’t quite work, so we used Jane. Janet is a diminutive of Jane anyway. I still count it as honouring a family member.

Sahmto3 · 30/10/2023 18:00

We used Sidney for our daughters middle name, registrar pointed out that we were using the male spelling but as we were naming her after a male in the family I kept the male spelling. No one else has commented at all, she is now 14. I don't think it matters to be honest

Aquamarine1029 · 30/10/2023 18:02

You're really overthinking this. It's just a middle name. 99% of the people in your child's life will never even know what his middle name is, nevermind how to spell it. If the family spelling is Sydney, you should keep it like that. Sidney is not Sydney.

If you are using it to honour family then it would be bizarre to change the spelling.

Exactly.

Daisybuttercup12345 · 30/10/2023 18:45

Keep the spelling, it's fine x

theduchessofspork · 30/10/2023 22:06

Sydney is fine. And it gets used for men.

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