Another user on a different thread made this point (I couldn’t find it- sorry!) about this. [name]Even[/name] if you name your child the correct spelling of a name such as [name]Caitlin[/name] or [name]Aiden[/name], they will be asked how to spell their name. Now, I don’t mean crazy spellings like Kaytelynne or [name]Adyn[/name], but [name]Kaitlin[/name] or [name]Aidon[/name].
I don’t think you should just change spellings without a reason, but maybe a different spelling honor someone. Maybe your maiden name was [name]McKenna[/name], and you love the sound [name]Michaela[/name], and you use the spelling [name]McKayla[/name] to incorporate your maiden name. Or, perhaps your brother who died in a car crash was [name]Kyle[/name], and you think [name]Kylee[/name] is closer to his name than [name]Kylie[/name]. Or it could be more subtle, such as your mother was [name]Eleanor[/name] and your SO’s was [name]Carson[/name], so you decide [name]Ellison[/name].
I’m a '90s baby who knows a multitude of Caitlins- only one has the correct spelling. She is asked to spell her name as often as the all the Kaitlins and Kaitlyns. Because of this, as long as you don’t completely butcher the name or make it hard to pronounce, I think it is fine if you spell a name a bit differently.
Well, I don’t really agree with you and I really don’t like any of the names you mentioned! I prefer classic names where there’s only one real spelling. [name]Even[/name] [name]Aidan[/name] (I thought this was the correct spelling) and [name]Caitlin[/name] are made-up sounding to me (I know they’re actually old names, but with their popularity and trendiness…). And with the hypothetical back stories you gave, I’d still cringe if I met a [name]McKayla[/name], [name]Kylee[/name] or [name]Ellison[/name]. Slightly less cringe-worthy if I knew their back stories, but only slightly. So, to answer your question, I’d prefer everyone just spelled their names how they were originally spelled, including [name]Caitlin[/name] and [name]Aidan[/name]!
Well… I`m from [name]Argentina[/name] and my DH works in a global help desk and he allways tells me that when a user calls from USA, he never know how to spell their names properly, because the odds spellings, the other day he spoke with a Laakedjya (lakesha) a Caetlynn and a [name]Cady[/name] prn like [name]Kathy[/name]…
all the spelling variations seems very odd to us …We have only one list of stablished names that can only be writen in one form and one form only.
My step daughters are named Emmersyn and [name]Rhylee[/name] and I know 3 others of each. An Emmasyn an [name]Emmerson[/name] and an Emmison and with [name]Riley[/name] I know a [name]Rylee[/name] a [name]Ryleigh[/name] and a [name]Rilee[/name] not even one [name]Riley[/name].
I think creative misspelling is sort of like coloring your hair pink-- you have to expect a certain reaction to it.
Personally, I wouldn’t color my hair pink. I also wouldn’t spell a child’s name some way that’s bizarre. That said…
Who decides what the ‘correct’ spelling is, anyway? My name is [name]Jennifer[/name]. I had a twice-great grandmother named [name]Jennie[/name] who was born in the 1880s, I alternated between [name]Jenny[/name] and [name]Jennie[/name] when I was in grade school, then looped in [name]Jenna[/name] and [name]Genna[/name] when I was in middle school before simplifying to [name]Jen[/name] (frequently ‘misspelled’ [name]Jenn[/name]). What makes any of those more or less ‘right’ than any of the others? Or [name]Jenifer[/name] or [name]Jeniffer[/name] or [name]Jenniffer[/name] for that matter? It’s a name derived from a common ancestor that also gave us [name]Genevieve[/name], [name]Guinevere[/name], and [name]Ginevra[/name], as well as a whole host of mind-boggling spellings that look to me like they belong in [name]Lord[/name] of the Rings. I usually see something like Gwenhwyfar listed as the original spelling. What kind of eyebrows would that raise?
Why is [name]Hannah[/name] okay as opposed to [name]Channah[/name]? [name]James[/name] is a corruption of a form of [name]Jacob[/name], which is a Latinisation of a Greek form of a Hebrew name. [name]Linda[/name] is a name element that suddenly began sounding exotic in the early 30s.
I think that names will inevitably become more phonetic, such as with [name]Michaela[/name] to [name]Makayla[/name] or [name]Caitlin[/name] to [name]Katelyn[/name]. I think hard ch sounds are begging to be turned into k’s, silent letters drop away when we’re not looking, and diphthongs like ‘ai’ get reduced to vowels like ‘a’. And then someone will inevitably print out A-N-N and decide it looks absolutely dreadful so slap an ‘E’ on the end of it because [name]Anne[/name] with an E is much more distinguished. [name]Hence[/name], [name]Brooklyn[/name] becomes [name]Brookelyn[/name] and [name]Brookelyn[/name] becomes Brookelynne.
As for image… I think the image will change as those Makaylas and Brookelynnes grow up. I remember when I was a tween, I had a board game called Girl Talk-- it was a truth or dare game with little trivia/challenge cards and one of the cards that always stumped me was ‘name three famous people with your name’. Well, none of the Jennifers were famous yet. We were all having slumber parties. It was hard to imagine a [name]Jennifer[/name] as anything but maybe a cashier at the mall. Guess what? We grew up and we’re making our way into the boardrooms. [name]Just[/name] like [name]Terri[/name] did, and [name]Debbie[/name] and [name]Donna[/name] and [name]Pat[/name]. I suspect that in 30 years, [name]Kylee[/name] and [name]Rhylee[/name] will be there too.
I agree with the point, but the whole way through I just got increasingly annoyed at your referal to a “correct” way of spelling a name. Who decides what is correct and what is not? The most common spelling of a name in [name]England[/name] might be seen as creative in [name]America[/name] and vice versa, does this make either of them “wrong”, which one is correct?
I struggle to find a name that someone will not mispell at some point. [name]Even[/name] with [name]Elizabeth[/name] - one of the most elegant and historical names in the world (in my opinion) might end up “[name]Elizabeth[/name] with a Z not an S”. So I don’t reallt think if a spelling is “creative”. Besides, who deems what creative? Who’s decision is it that “that is a step too far”, what’s the different between [name]Kaitlyn[/name], [name]Caitlyn[/name] and [name]Cate[/name]-[name]Lynne[/name]?
Believe it or not, everyone makes me spell “[name]Jennifer[/name]”. The creative spelling thing is so omnipresent at this point, that I don’t think anyone really assumes the spelling anymore.
My problem with “misspellings” of names, is that most of the time, parents do it to make it “uniquer”. However, if someone spells their son’s name [name]Jaydon[/name] because [name]Jayden[/name] is too popular, then what is the point?
It’s still the same name isn’t it? It’s pronounced the same way.
What’s the difference between picking [name]Amelia[/name] instead of [name]Emily[/name] because [name]Emily[/name] is too popular vs [name]Jaydon[/name] instead of [name]Jayden[/name] because [name]Jayden[/name] is too popular?
The difference is, [name]Amelia[/name] is pronounced totally different to [name]Emily[/name], and thus they are not the same name.
[name]Jayden[/name] and [name]Jaydon[/name] might have different endings, but they’re both pronounced as jay-dun, and thus are the same name!
If you compiled a different version of the US stats, where different spellings of the same name are added together (i.e. you’d add all the [name]Katelyn[/name] spellings together), you wouldn’t add [name]Amelia[/name] and [name]Emily[/name] together. You would add [name]Jayden[/name] and [name]Jaydon[/name] (plus all the other spellings) together.
I would probably put [name]Emilia[/name] and [name]Emily[/name] together, along with [name]Emilee[/name] and [name]Emmalee[/name], and I might add [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name] to the same list because as far as I’m concerned, they’re so similar as to be functionally the same name. I’d absolutely group [name]Amelia[/name] and [name]Emilia[/name], even though they derive from different sources. But the point is, [name]Emily[/name] has become ‘overused’ so there are a whole host of names that are slight variations that one more round of parents are convincing themselves are ‘fresh’.
[name]Emilia[/name] and [name]Emily[/name] are completely different and appeal to completely different types of people ([name]IMO[/name]). They’re nowhere near being “functionally” the same name.
[name]Emily[/name], [name]Emilee[/name], and [name]Emmalee[/name] should all be grouped together, as well as [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Ema[/name], but not [name]Emma[/name] and [name]Emmeline[/name]. [name]Emmeline[/name] should be grouped with [name]Emmaline[/name] or [name]Emmalyn[/name].
I get it what about [name]Madison[/name]/[name]Maddison[/name] or [name]Emmerson[/name]/[name]Emerson[/name] or Madeleiene/[name]Madeline[/name]/[name]Madelyn[/name]. Or the [name]Maddy[/name] spellings like [name]Maddi[/name] and [name]Maddie[/name]. I’m a ninties baby so I know all the [name]Caitlin[/name]'s I know a [name]Kaitlin[/name] and caitlyn and a [name]Caitlin[/name].
Yes and no. I’m a [name]Kaitlin[/name], who grew up in the 90s with 4 others in my class. Two spelled [name]Caitlin[/name], one [name]Caitlyn[/name], and one [name]Kaitlyn[/name]. So yes, I do get asked to spell my name constantly because of the multitude of spelling variations, and yes, people still spell it “[name]Kaitlyn[/name]” and “[name]Kaitlan[/name]” and “[name]Kaitlen[/name]” even after I’ve spelled it for them, so I see your point. But I feel like this is limited to the names with multiple ‘accepted’ spellings. Like how [name]Katharine[/name] can be spelled a bunch of different ways. I looked it up, and in the year I was born there were 7 spelling variations of the name [name]Kaitlin[/name], all of them within the top 500 names (3 in the top 100 alone, and mine - [name]Kaitlin[/name] - was #101, just outside the top 100 (good job, mom)).
As far as what’s an accepted spelling and what isn’t, I can’t really say except that I would look at the history of the name and what’s used the most, international variations, et c. A family member is naming her baby girl [name]Cora[/name] with a K, because she likes it better… as a name nerd I was sort of turned off by this but the K spelling is apparently used in other countries, like [name]Russia[/name].
Also it annoys me when basic phonetics aren’t followed… like “Qhaytliyenne” instead of [name]Kaitlyn[/name] or “Zheszixka” instead of [name]Jessica[/name] would make no sense because those letters do not make the right sounds. But you’re right – [name]Kaitlin[/name] instead of [name]Caitlin[/name] or [name]Jessika[/name] instead of [name]Jessica[/name], I don’t mind.
The line does get blurry as to which spelling is “right” and which one is “too creative”. My name is [name]Haley[/name], (the correct spelling, if you ask me!) I get my name spelled [name]Hailey[/name], [name]Hayley[/name], [name]Haleigh[/name], [name]Halee[/name], [name]Hailee[/name], [name]Haylee[/name], [name]Haileigh[/name], [name]Hayleigh[/name], etc. Also with my spelling, some people think it’s pronounced like [name]Hallie[/name]. But which is correct? They all make sense phonetically (although I think any variation of the [name]Haleigh[/name] spelling is a bit ridiculous. No one needs all those letters…)
In terms of names the word ‘traditional’ is probably a better one to use than ‘correct’. There can be more than one traditional spelling of a name [name]Catherine[/name]/[name]Katherine[/name], [name]Elizabeth[/name]/[name]Elisabeth[/name], [name]John[/name]/[name]Jon[/name] etc that have come about over hundreds of years of language development.
Think about the English language. You can spell a word like ‘were’ five different ways (where/were/we’re/wear/ware) a lot of different ways even though they sound the same BUT if you start spelling it ‘whair’ just because you feel like being ‘different’ people are more likely to think you have problems with spelling/grammar.
Why shouldn’t it be the same for names? [name]Caitlin[/name] is [name]Caitlin[/name] (the ‘c’ is a ‘c’ for a reason. The letter ‘k’ doesn’t exist in Irish Gaelic) and it’s variant spellings are all recent inventions. Without it’s accent its very much a say it as you see it name. Why should it need altering at all?
I dislike non-traditional, for lack of a better word, spellings of names, but they will always exist. I noted that if a name is used for both genders the traditional spelling will stay with the boy and creative spellings will pop up for the girl. [name]Riley[/name] and [name]Jordan[/name] are the two most common examples of the traditional vs unique occurence. [name]Riley[/name] for a boy and [name]Rylee[/name], [name]Ryleigh[/name], [name]Rylie[/name], etc. for a girl; though [name]Reilly[/name] seems to be considered a feminine spelling and is tradtional. [name]Jordan[/name] is generally kept for the boy and [name]Jordyn[/name], [name]Jordin[/name], [name]Jordynn[/name], etc. goes to the feminine.