Spellings you prefer for different sounds

General Name Discussion
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For each sound mentioned, which letter or combination do you generally prefer, is most aesthetically pleasing? Does it vary by name or gender?

A C or K in names where that start with a K sound (Catherine/Katherine, Kara/Cara, etc.)

An I or Y inside names with either short or long I sound (Allison/Allyson, Miles/Myles, etc.)

An F or PH for the F sound (Sophia vs Sofia for example)

For the unstressed “-en” sound at the end of a lot of names, which spelling do you generally prefer: -an, -en, -in, -on, -yn?

“long E at the end” spelling do you prefer? Does it differ by gender? (-y, -ey, -ie, -i, -ee, -eigh)

long E inside a name (Kiera, Keegan, Deacon, Rita, Peter). E, EA, EE, I, IE

H or no H for names like Sara(h), Hanna(h), Nora(h)

Single or double consonants when both are used as in Con(n)or, Al(l)ison

My responses
I like to follow the English rule and use K before E, I, Y and C before anything else, excluding some Ka- names.
I generally prefer an I except when Y is the predominant spelling as in Ryan, Dylan
F sound, Whatever is most common in English. Substituting Ph for an F can look strange.
-en sound, -an for boys’ names, -en/-an for girls’. -yn makes a word look non-English.
Final “ee” sound, Generally (e)y for boys’ names and either -ie/-(e)y for girls’.
Long E inside a name, IE/I
H in Sarah and Hannah, no H anything else
Double consonants if there is a short vowel

2 Likes
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Just depends how it looks, but I have more K names than C names on my list, honestly I’ve never heard of that rule before :sweat_smile:

Usually I’s, but there’s a few I like, like Sylvera or Sylvie or Mya (and a few others but that’s off the top of my head)

Just depends but I usually like both pretty equally, but F’s tend to be easier for my family to pronounce in Spanish (I’m Hispanic and pretty much all my fam speaks Spanish so I want it to be easier to say for when we speak Spanish)

Just depends on the name, but like ph v f, in Spanish these make different sounds so I’d usually go for the spelling to get the pronunciation I like most

Just depends but I don’t really like -ee or -eigh endings, double e’s tend to feel tacked on and -eigh I always end up pronouncing it as -ay. Doesn’t change with boy or girl names

Just depends on the name, like all of your examples I like spelled in the original ways but there’s a few I like spelled differently

Typically no H but depends, like I like Korah more than Kora but Sora more Sorah

Just depends how it looks

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A C or K in names where that start with a K sound - almost always prefer C

[name_u]An[/name_u] I or Y inside names with either short or long I sound - this one I think depends but usually prefer i

[name_u]An[/name_u] F or PH for the F sound - I think I typically prefer PH

For the unstressed “-en” sound at the end of a lot of names, which spelling do you generally prefer: -an, -en, -in, -on, -yn? - this one truly depends on the name, I don’t have a go-to

“long E at the end” spelling do you prefer? Does it differ by gender? (-y, -ey, -ie, -i, -ee, -eigh) - typically prefer just i but it depends on the name, sometimes I like y or ie, and less often ee or ey

long E inside a name (Kiera, [name_u]Keegan[/name_u], [name_m]Deacon[/name_m], [name_f]Rita[/name_f], Peter). E, EA, EE, I, IE - this one completely depends and I don’t have an overall preference, it depends on the name

H or no H for names like Sara(h), Hanna(h), Nora(h) - definitely prefer no H

Single or double consonants when both are used as in Con(n)or, Al(l)ison - definitely prefer single consonants, I even take out consonants of names when they are typically spelled with a double consonant like [name_m]Mateo[/name_m], [name_m]Fin[/name_m] / [name_m]Finian[/name_m], etc. The only time I keep double consonants is if it would change the pronunciation without it or typically double L’s I tend to keep for some reason

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C for the initial, but K for letters within the name (Rebeka > Rebecca)

Always an I.

Always an F.

I really dislike this sound. I can’t make it sound pleasant when I speak it unless I over-enunciate it as “ehn.” I think I would pick en.

I prefer -y and -i, and I have no way of narrowing it down beyond that since it definitely depends on the name. I mostly like -ee, neutral on -ie, mostly dislike -ey, and always dislike -eigh.

Most often I, but sometimes ee (Seema > Sima)

Always no H.

Always the single consonant.

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For me it depends on the name. I like Clara with a C but Katherine with a K

It depends on the name out of your examples I like Allison and Myles

I prefer the ph to the f. Sofia has always looked weird to me. I like Sophia and what about Phoebe would you spell if Foebe

It depends on the name and the gender. Avery for example I do not like the look of Averie. Casey compared to any of the other spellings of Casey

en, an or on it depends on the name and how you pronounce it. Jordan, Jackson, Jaden

ie, ea and ee always depends on the name and how you pronounce it

Most names with the h added to the end. Hannah, Sarah, but Nora

I like the double letters. Connor, Allison, Collins, Addison etc…

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C/K depends on the name, but probably C
I/Y definitely I
F/PH ph looks nicer to me
-en whichever is the most common, but -en in general
[name_m]Long[/name_m] e ending usually -ie but still, whichever is the most common
[name_m]Long[/name_m] e inside e
H prefer -a over -ah
Single or double consonants depends on the name, usually double

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honestly, it depends. i’d say c for the most part though.

definitely i. y looks odd to me.

f looks so much more streamlined, simple, and more elegant!

depends on the name, but usually -an, i think.

depends on the name, but never -ee or - eigh.

simple i looks best to me.

no -h. much more exciting.

depends, but usually single.

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Lots of my answers really depend on the name, I don’t think that some of spelling preferences work for every name.

C vs. K : Really torn on this one. I think I’d prefer K
Y vs. I : I’d say I, since Y could lead to misspellings.
F vs. Ph : I’d prefer F as opposed to Ph (with the exception of Phoebe), it’s seems more simple and clean.
–An , –En, –In, –On, –Yn : Typically –en or –on
[name_m]Long[/name_m] “E” at the end : Favorites are “–Y” and “–IE”
[name_m]Long[/name_m] “E” inside: –EA , –IE , –E
H vs. No H : No H
Double vs. Single Consonants : Double consonants seem more complete to me.

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Usually…

  1. C
  2. I
  3. F
  4. Totally depends on the name
  5. -ie, -y, or -ey depending on the name
  6. Also depends on the name
  7. H’s for the [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] and [name_f]Hanna[/name_f], no H for [name_f]Nora[/name_f]
  8. Double consonants when it’s more commonly spelled that way
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Generally for girls, I think I prefer the C spellings, but for boys I like K better.

I prefer I usually

I like PH i think

-en looks best to me generally

In terms of a long e sound at the end, it really does depend on the name. For boys, i usually like the y ending, but I also really like [name_m]Brodie[/name_m]. For girls, it really varies - i prefer [name_f]Lucy[/name_f] and [name_u]Romy[/name_u] for example, but also [name_f]Darcie[/name_f] and [name_f]Maisie[/name_f]

A long e inside a name totally depends on the name too - i guess i usually go with the most familiar spelling?

Typically, I prefer without the h but Sara/Sarah would be pn differently to me, so in that case I’d use the h - same with [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] as that feels more classic/familiar

I prefer double generally

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K
I
F
an
ie
I
no H
double

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  1. C, mostly. For only a few names, I find the K spelling more appealing (Karolina, for example)
  2. Definitely I, although I agree with you about the predominant Y spellings
  3. I usually prefer the PH spelling but don’t dislike the other.
  4. It really depends here – most surname names (e.g. [name_u]Keaton[/name_u], Hudson) I strongly prefer with the -on. Names like [name_u]Kieran[/name_u], [name_m]Lucian[/name_m] or [name_m]Bastian[/name_m] I tend to prefer with the -an ending, although the (commonly French) -en ending (Lucien, [name_m]Aurélien[/name_m] etc.) appeals to me too. I typically dislike -yn and -in.
  5. Typically I like -ie and -y best, with some exceptions where I prefer -i. Usually I like the ‘normal’ spelling best (E.g. [name_u]Teddy[/name_u] over [name_m]Teddie[/name_m], [name_f]Bonnie[/name_f] over Bonny)
  6. Really depends on the name. Generally speaking I like the simple I best, although all your examples are spelled my preferred way (The most common spelling)
  7. No H most of the time. I agree with you about [name_f]Sarah[/name_f] and [name_f]Hannah[/name_f] though.
  8. Again, it depends (on how it looks, mostly), but usually double consonants.
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  1. I usually prefer a C, but there are exceptions!
  2. I usually prefer an I over a y inside name.
  3. I slightly prefer an F, but I like Ph well enough that I’d rather use that if it’s considered more “standard.”
  4. For the unstressed “en” sound, it depends on the name, especially as the spellings often mean slightly different things.
  5. For a long E at the end, I usually prefer a y or an ie!
  6. For a long E inside a name, I find the I most intuitive, but there are many names that I prefer with an E or another spelling.
  7. As a general trend, I prefer Biblical names with the h, and most others without the h. This is subject to exceptions.
  8. Whether I prefer single or double consonants usually depends on the name!