If people want a creative name, why don’t they just pick one? Picking a boring, overused name and spelling it strangely isn’t creative; All those parents are doing is dooming themselves and their child to a lifetime of spelling their name out to every person they meet. Take it from a Jennie (not Jenny, not Jennifer. Thanks Mom and Dad!), it’s a drag.

Comments My daughter’s name is Madeline, which I always thought was the standard way to spell it (it’s the way my grandmother spelled it, and that’s who Maddie is named after.) People spell it every which way– Madelyn, Madalyn, Madelin. . .

I hate to say it, but when I see someone’s name misspelled (Morgyn? Cayleb? Really?) I assume their parents are not creative, they’re functionally illiterate. People seem to be so desperate to declare their children’s individuality that they sacrifice any common sense. My guideline: Could you imagine a child with that name growing up and going to an Ivy League school? I think not, Mykal.

This is not a new phenomenon. Back when I was in school many years ago, Marilyn was also spelled, Maralyn, Marilynn, Marylyn and Mary Lyn. So you see, what comes around goes around – or is it what goes around comes around?

I have an unusual name and although I have to spell it AND pronounce it for people all the time, I like having a different name. However, I have to say some of the more unusual spellings of classic names do annoy me. Not sure why. As a teacher it is especially annoying if it is not phonetic and the actual child has difficulty spelling his/her own name. I think I agree with Ari–”I assume their parents are not creative..(rather) functionally illiterate” and possibly trying too hard to be something they are not. Not sure what THAT is–you fill in the blank.

Sometimes the spelling does not match with the spoken name the parents intend for the kid. We have a Johnathon in the family. I know how they intend the name to be pronounced, but I can’t help thinking in reality his name rhymes with marathon.

Man oh man, I’ve got some good stories on names. I had a student this school year whose name was spelled “Stephen”. To me, that is pronounced “Stee-ven.” However, when I called his name on the roster the first day of class, he said I was pronouncing it wrong and his name was “Stefan”..like “Stef-an.” I spelled what was on my roster for him and he said that was the right spelling. I couldn’t help myself, and I said “Your name is Stephen. Like Stee-ven.” We argued all year about it. Luckily, he had a good sense of humor. Last year, my husband had twelve spellings of “Marcus” on his roster. True story. I had a Yennifer two years ago. I’ve also had an Aaleeighya (a-lee-ya), Somer (summer), Neffertitty (nef-fer-tee-tee. Although I argued very strongly that her name was in fact referencing a boob. I finally had to call her Neffy so I wouldn’t giggle.), Alecsander (Alexander), a Ujein (Eugene. That one was hysterical.), and a Shane (who swore to me her name was pronounced Sha-nay.) Every year when my husband and I get our new rosters we bring them home and make bets on what the pronunciations are. I’m a firm believer that there should be nurse that says “Honey, are you sure?” when you write down the name.

I think there are multiple ways of spelling names, but not all of them work. For example, Emilia and Amelia both are accepted, legitimate spellings. Emeleigha is not. Katherine, Catherine, Kathryn, and Katharine are all fine (okay, I hate Kathryn and Katharine), but I knew a lady whose daughter was Kathyreinne. No! Isobel is the Scottish spelling of Isabelle which is the French spelling of Isabel.

As a Kate with a Y, I get all sort of blank stares, mispronounciations, and misspellings. Kaye, Katy, Kate, Kayte, Kay, or being called Katie, Kayak, Carrot, or Megan is just obnoxious. I firmly believe in unusual names, but not randomly misspelled ones.

One more thought: the creative spelling reflects poorly on both the child and the parent because (as many commenters have already noted) it looks like the person can’t spell or (like SanDeE* in LA STORY) that they are trying too hard to be cool or different. No one wants to be perceived as dumb or desperate. While the kid is young, you blame the parents, but once the kid is older, you just assume it is them (either because they chose the spelling or because they didn’t bother to change it).

Comments

Here’s the link to my NEA Today humor piece about students’ names:

http://www.nea.org/home/10870.htm

I like creativity. Why not go for something unique. As my name shows though, it is quite annoying when there are so many different ways to spell one name. I have to spell my name every single time I give it to someone or they will spell it Brittany. ugh.

I love that my parent’s spelt my name a little differently. With a maiden name like Smith it wasn’t so bad. Until I married my husband and took his hard to pronouce let alone spell last name – now I HATE having to spell my entire name every single time. So when it came to naming our kids we kept to the traditional spelling to save them the torture!