Hey all, I’m interested in seeing which names we can come up with that have ambiguous spellings. What I mean by that is that there are several versions of the name that are similar in popularity so you wouldn’t necessarily know how to spell it right off the bat.
Some examples I can think of are:
Katherine / Catherine
Erica / Erika
Philip / Phillip
Brian / Bryan
Kaylee, et al.
Kaylyn, et al.
Haley, et al.
Raina / Rayna / Reina / Reyna
Calista / Callista / Kalista / Kallista
Sophia / Sofia
Zoe / Zoey
Alaina / Alayna / Elena / etc
Madelyn / Madalyn / Madeline / Madeleine / etc
Raphael / Rafael
Aidan / Aiden / etc
Sara / Sarah
Isabel / Isabelle
To be clear, I am not talking about names that simply have established variants like Elizabeth / Elisabeth, Allison / Alison, or Rebecca / Rebekah. With these, you are still likely to assume the more common variant. I am talking about names that if you heard them out loud, you truly wouldn’t know off the bat which spelling to use.
I can think of …
Lila / Lyla
Elliot / Elliott
Grayson / Greyson
Hailey / Haley / Hayley etc.
Layla / Leyla / Laila / Leila
Riley / Rylee / Rylie etc.
Arya / Aria
Susanna / Susannah
Sean / Shaun / Shawn
Stephen / Steven
Katelyn / Kaitlynn / Caitlin / Caitlynn etc.
Mikaela / Mikayla / Makayla etc.
Nicolas / Nicholas / Nikolas
Megan / Meghan / Meagan
Brianna / Breanna
Jackson / Jaxon / Jaxson etc.
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I think any name that ends in ley/leigh/lyn/den.
[name_f]Rosy[/name_f] / [name_f]Rosie[/name_f]
[name_f]Annabel[/name_f] / [name_f]Annabelle[/name_f]
[name_f]Laila[/name_f] / [name_f]Layla[/name_f] / [name_f]Leila[/name_f]
[name_m]Brian[/name_m] / [name_m]Bryan[/name_m]
[name_u]Sydney[/name_u] / [name_u]Sidney[/name_u]
[name_u]Remi[/name_u] / [name_u]Remy[/name_u]
[name_f]Sophia[/name_f] / [name_f]Sofia[/name_f]
[name_u]Vivian[/name_u] / [name_f]Vivienne[/name_f]
[name_f]Madeline[/name_f] / [name_f]Madelyn[/name_f] / [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f]
Apologies if these weren’t the type you were looking for!
[name_f]Marica[/name_f] and [name_f]Marika[/name_f]
[name_m]Erik[/name_m] and [name_m]Eric[/name_m] // [name_f]Erika[/name_f] or [name_f]Erica[/name_f]? (My biggest dilemma)
[name_f]Emi[/name_f] and [name_f]Emy[/name_f]
The spellings of [name_u]Elliot[/name_u]
The spellings of [name_u]Haley[/name_u]
[name_m]Nicolas[/name_m]? [name_m]Nicholas[/name_m]?
[name_f]Luise[/name_f] or [name_u]Louise[/name_u]? (Generally)
Where I live: [name_f]Maia[/name_f] or Maya!!!
[name_f]Anya[/name_f]? [name_f]Ania[/name_f]? [name_f]Anja[/name_f]?
[name_f]Cloe[/name_f]? [name_f]Chloe[/name_f]? (Where I live)
[name_f]Thea[/name_f]? [name_f]Tea[/name_f]? (Where I live)
[name_f]Athena[/name_f]? Atena? (Where I live)
[name_f]Althea[/name_f]? [name_f]Altea[/name_f]? (Where I live)
[name_f]Margot[/name_f]? [name_f]Margo[/name_f]? (Generally)
[name_f]Kathleen[/name_f], Katelyn…
[name_m]Brian[/name_m]? [name_m]Bryan[/name_m]?
[name_f]Katherine[/name_f]? [name_f]Catherine[/name_f]?
[name_f]Lucy[/name_f]? [name_f]Lucie[/name_f]? (Where I live)
[name_f]Rosy[/name_f]? [name_f]Rosi[/name_f]? (Where I live) [name_u]Or[/name_u] something else?
[name_f]Annabel[/name_f]? [name_f]Annabelle[/name_f]? (Where I live)
Gragson / Gregson
[name_m]Alan[/name_m] / [name_m]Allan[/name_m] / [name_m]Allen[/name_m]
Daisy/ [name_f]Daisi[/name_f] / [name_f]Daisie[/name_f]
[name_f]Kaylee[/name_f] / [name_f]Kailie[/name_f] / [name_f]Kaylee[/name_f] [name_f]Kaylie[/name_f]
[name_m]Ian[/name_m] / [name_m]Iain[/name_m]
[name_u]Owen[/name_u] / [name_m]Eoghan[/name_m]
[name_f]Jayne[/name_f] / [name_f]Jane[/name_f]
[name_m]Jeremy[/name_m] / [name_m]Jereme[/name_m]
[name_f]Emily[/name_f] / [name_f]Emili[/name_f] / [name_f]Emilie[/name_f]
[name_f]Amy[/name_f] / [name_u]Ami[/name_u] / [name_f]Amie[/name_f]
Elliott/Eliot/Elliot
[name_f]Katelyn[/name_f] etc.
Darcy/Darcie (the latter ranks higher in the UK 
- oh, and [name_u]Darcey[/name_u], forgot that)
Aisha/Ayesha
[name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f] etc
Kaia/Kaiya/Kaja/Kaya (mostly because I’ve met one or more of each…)
Maisy/Maisie
Mollie/Molly
[name_u]Jackson[/name_u], [name_m]Jaxon[/name_m], [name_m]Jaxson[/name_m] etc
[name_m]Mohammad[/name_m] etc
Molly/Mollie
Katie/Katy/Catie
Darrell/Darryl/Darell etc
Darian/Darien/Darion
Gemma/Jemma
Some more I thought of:
[name_u]Skylar[/name_u] / [name_u]Skyler[/name_u]
[name_f]Annelise[/name_f] / [name_f]Annaliese[/name_f] / et al
[name_m]Demetri[/name_m] / [name_m]Dmitri[/name_m] / et al
[name_f]Cara[/name_f] / [name_f]Kara[/name_f]
[name_m]Kane[/name_m] / [name_m]Cain[/name_m] / et al.
[name_m]Damien[/name_m] / [name_m]Damian[/name_m]
[name_m]Xander[/name_m] / [name_m]Zander[/name_m]
[name_f]Chantay[/name_f] / [name_f]Shante[/name_f] / etc
[name_f]Chantel[/name_f] / [name_f]Chantelle[/name_f] / [name_f]Chantal[/name_f] / [name_f]Shantelle[/name_f] / etc
[name_f]Christina[/name_f] / [name_f]Kristina[/name_f]
[name_f]Kristin[/name_f] / [name_f]Kristen[/name_f]
[name_u]Ramsey[/name_u] / [name_m]Ramsay[/name_m]
[name_m]Lewis[/name_m] / [name_m]Louis[/name_m]
[name_u]Payton[/name_u] / [name_u]Peyton[/name_u]
[name_f]Raelyn[/name_f] / [name_f]Raelynn[/name_f] / etc
[name_f]Daniela[/name_f] / [name_f]Daniella[/name_f]
[name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f] / [name_f]Aliyah[/name_f]
[name_f]Andie[/name_f] / [name_u]Andi[/name_u]
The [name_f]Kathryn[/name_f] spelling also feels almost as likely as K/Catherine
Juliet/Juliette
Katelyn/Caitlin/Kaitlyn/etc.
Adeline/Adalyn/Adelynn/etc.
Hailey/Hayley/Haley/etc.
Sophia/Sofia
Christina/Kristina
Keira/Kiera/Kira/etc.
Zoe/Zoey
Gwendolyn/Gwendolen
Jackson/Jaxon/Jaxson/etc.
Lucas/Lukas
Miles/Myles
Alistair/Alisdair/Allistor/etc.
Laurence/Lawrence
the ones where i actually really question the spelling:
maya/maia/mya et. al - while i probably see maya the most, i’ve met several maias, many myas, and at least one of an assortment of other spellings: maja/mahya/miya
may/mae - i’d likely be split between those two if i heard it aloud, but i’ve met girls called mai, mei, and maye also
sophia/sofia/safiyah - the latter is actually pretty common around me !! so while i’d be thinking of the first two, i couldn’t rule out safiyah or even safiya
lily/lilly/lillie/lili - i’d probably assume lily, but i’ve met enough people spelt other ways that i would definitely ask if i needed to write it
madeleine/madeline - i know madelyn is also there, and it’s common in the states, but i’d be surprised to meet one, so it’d probably just be between these two
aiden/aidan
claire/clare
amelia/emilia
millie/milly
maisie/maisy
isabelle/isabel/isobel
aria/arya
layla/laila/leila
lyla/lila
darcy/darcie/darcey
annabelle/annabel
amaya/amaia
aisha/ayesha (etc.)
skyler/skylar
sky/skye
remi/remy
khadijah/khadija/kadijah/kadija
emmie/emmy/emi
talia/thalia/tahlia
kiera/keira/ciara/kira
robyn/robin
lexie/lexi/lexy
ines/inez
katherine/catherine (etc.)
joni/joanie
juliet/juliette
cecelia/cecilia
rain/raine/rayne/reign
Vivian/Vivienne/Vivien
Lucy/Lucie/Luci
Zephyr/Zephyre
Margot/Margo/Margaux
Elli/Ellie/Elly
Juno/Junot/Juneau
Aria/Arya
[name_f]Ariana[/name_f] et al
Mika/Mica
Niko/Nico
Milla/Mila
Ren/Wren
the ones where i’d most likely question spelling
lucy / lucie / luci
lily / lili / lilly et al
mary ann / marianne / mary anne et al
darcy / darci / darcie / darcey
briony / bryony
vivian / viven / vivianne / vivienne
clare / clair / claire
annabelle / annabel (and the other -bel names)
elliot / elliott / eliot / eliott
jackson / jaxson / jaxon
Louis/Louie
Garrett/Garett
Leslie/Lesley
Camilla/Camila/Kamilah/etc.
Carrie/Kerry/Cary/etc.
Laurie/Lori
Leah/Lia
Letitia/Leticia
Renee/Rene/Ranae/etc.
Brittany/Britney