Does everyone just go with the general consensus of the time to decide the “best” way to spell a name? Example: Growing up I knew a handful of girls named [name_u]Haley[/name_u] - all spelled this way - but now [name_f]Hailey[/name_f] is overwhelmingly more commonly used than any other [name_u]Haley[/name_u] spelling.
[name_f]Kaylee[/name_f], [name_f]Kylie[/name_f], [name_u]Riley[/name_u], and [name_f]Hailey[/name_f] are all so similar and yet their most popular spellings are so different. Why is it expected that [name_u]Kiley[/name_u] will be [name_f]Kylie[/name_f], or [name_f]Kailey[/name_f] will be [name_f]Kaylee[/name_f]? Siblings with these names are often [name_u]Riley[/name_u] and [name_f]Kaylee[/name_f], or [name_f]Kylie[/name_f] and [name_f]Hailey[/name_f], but it appears to only bother me and no one else. What has made these spellings sooo much more popular than their counterparts? I’ve even noticed that some people will reject the idea of [name_u]Rylie[/name_u] but embrace [name_f]Kylie[/name_f] or reject [name_f]Haylee[/name_f] but like [name_f]Kaylee[/name_f]. Is it just me who doesn’t quite understand this?
I have a son named [name_u]Ryan[/name_u] [name_m]Zachary[/name_m] and I’m naming DD (due in Sep) [name_u]Bailey[/name_u] [name_f]Jane[/name_f] so this has been on my mind quite a bit while choosing her name.
I’m not sure how to answer your thread. I haven’t heard of any other ways to spell [name_u]Bailey[/name_u] if that’s any help and I like both the name and the spelling
Most of the time I like the -ley spelling. Maybe because my name is [name_f]Carley[/name_f]? I just find -lee and -lie to be too cutsey. That said, I love the name [name_f]Macie[/name_f] (spelled this way).
There are lots of other ways to spell it ([name_u]Baylee[/name_u], [name_f]Bailee[/name_f], [name_f]Bayleigh[/name_f], [name_f]Baylie[/name_f], etc) but that wasn’t my point. My point mostly was to ask why are some spellings overwhelmingly more popular than others that have the same sound. Why is [name_f]Kylie[/name_f] so much more popular than [name_u]Kiley[/name_u] when [name_u]Riley[/name_u] is much more popular than [name_u]Rylee[/name_u]? Why is [name_f]Hailey[/name_f] more popular than [name_f]Haylee[/name_f] when [name_f]Kaylee[/name_f] is much more popular than [name_f]Kailey[/name_f]? Mostly a philosophical question, I suppose. [name_m]Just[/name_m] something that I’ve wondered about for some time.
I don’t think it’s to do with spelling patterns, so much as it being about the individual name.
[name_f]Kylie[/name_f] and [name_u]Riley[/name_u] are the original spellings of the name, I’d say that has something to do with them being more popular. I know this isn’t always the case, but I’d say most of the time it’s what people prefer.
As for [name_f]Hailey[/name_f], I’m not sure. [name_f]Hayley[/name_f] is the most popular spelling here in Aus and I believe that to be the original spelling also.
[name_f]Kailey[/name_f] (and variants) do have some history:
[name_f]Kailey[/name_f] has Greek and Welsh origins. But I wonder if the appeal comes from anglicising the Gaelic Ceilidh, which has created so many spelling variants.
I agree that it is more about the original name than spelling patterns.
[name_f]Kylie[/name_f] is an aboriginal word for boomerang.
[name_u]Riley[/name_u] is an Irish surname.
[name_f]Kaylee[/name_f] is a variation on [name_f]Kayla[/name_f], so I assume that parents simply swapped the -a for a -ee.
[name_f]Hayley[/name_f] is the original spelling of the name (it is an English surname), while [name_f]Hailey[/name_f] is a variation.
I think a lot of it has to do with overall name trends in general. When my son was born in 2009, I feel like the -leigh thing was more popular than it is now and Y’s were at their peak of popularity.Looking at the top 1000 from 2017, the top names / spelling for this type of name seem to be the most straight forward ([name_u]Riley[/name_u], [name_u]Paisley[/name_u], [name_f]Kinsley[/name_f], [name_f]Hailey[/name_f]), but [name_f]Kaylee[/name_f] is still the most popular spelling for that name so maybe I’m completely wrong.
[name_u]Halley[/name_u] and [name_f]Hailey[/name_f] are entirely different names. [name_u]Halley[/name_u] is hal-lee like [name_u]Halley[/name_u]'s [name_f]Comet[/name_f]. [name_f]Hailey[/name_f] is hail-lee like a hail storm.
I wouldn’t use a name that ended in a y or an ie because they look like nick names. I would use lee or leigh to make sure it was seen as the given name and not just the nn.
The [name_f]Kaylee[/name_f] that I know is spelled [name_f]Kayli[/name_f] which I think solves the problem neatly.
I know that [name_f]Kylie[/name_f] is the original spelling of the name from Australia, but [name_u]Kiley[/name_u] is a Gaelic name that is just as legitimate. Based on spelling preferences overall for the US, it is still puzzling to me why [name_f]Kylie[/name_f] prevails over [name_u]Kiley[/name_u].
I know it has been trendy for the past decade to use -lee/-leigh/-lie and to insert “y” into names, it is just interesting to see which ones are deemed acceptable to do this to and which ones aren’t (i.e. [name_f]Kylie[/name_f] + [name_f]Kaylee[/name_f] A-OK, [name_u]Baylee[/name_u] + [name_u]Rylie[/name_u] NOPE)
ailey names are a mystery for me. I’m one of those cases that love [name_u]Riley[/name_u] but don’t like [name_u]Kiley[/name_u]. Maybe it’s because I’m used to [name_u]Riley[/name_u] and [name_f]Kylie[/name_f] spelling, and the moment I see [name_u]Kiley[/name_u] i think it’s misspelling. Or when I see [name_f]Bayleigh[/name_f] instead of [name_u]Bailey[/name_u] I cringe.
I have a [name_f]Kylee[/name_f] who was born in 2006. We know a LOT of [name_f]Kylie[/name_f]'s and a few [name_f]Kylee[/name_f]'s. We have yet to meet a [name_f]Kyleigh[/name_f] or [name_u]Kiley[/name_u]. When we named our [name_f]Kylee[/name_f] we honestly didn’t think twice about the spelling or discuss it. We agreed on her name verbally and when we wrote it we both naturally spelled it [name_f]Kylee[/name_f], so that’s how that happened. Had I really looked it up or thought about it I may have gone with [name_f]Kylie[/name_f] because that is how most people assume it is spelled, so she has quite a few trophies/certificates/gifts that say [name_f]Kylie[/name_f]. I do however personally prefer the look of [name_f]Kylee[/name_f], so I’d probably still consider that spelling for aesthetic reasons. The word “lie” seems to jump out at me quite a bit with [name_f]Kylie[/name_f].
I think a lot of people use what they’re familiar with when they spell their child’s name and don’t necessarily overthink it. I grew up with one girl named [name_f]Katelyn[/name_f] in my school. I always assumed this was the original spelling of the name and never met anyone who spelled it differently until I was in college. I would have probably gone with the [name_f]Katelyn[/name_f] spelling if I used it on my own child because it is what I am most familiar with.
The evolution of [name_u]Haley[/name_u] into [name_f]Hailey[/name_f] is pretty interesting, but I know where I live people say the two names differently - [name_u]Haley[/name_u] is usually said “hale-ee” while [name_f]Hailey[/name_f] is said “hay-lee” so that might have something to do with it.
I personally don’t like the -lee spelling. Other than that, it depends on the name. For example, I would use [name_f]Ashely[/name_f] rather than [name_f]Ashlie[/name_f] but [name_u]Allie[/name_u] rather than Alley.