Hey y’all! [name_m]Just[/name_m] curious: do you know of anyone who has given their child the wrong name or spelling on their birth certificate?
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For example, I know a family and they meant to name their daughter [name_f]Savannah[/name_f], but accidentally put down [name_f]Sierra[/name_f], which they had considered but did not ultimately choose. They have always called her [name_f]Sierra[/name_f] despite it being an accident.
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I’m interested to know if y’all have stories like this!
I had a friend in college named H@illey whose parents went through lots of options for how to spell her name (they thought [name_f]Haley[/name_f] was too “basic”). her mom thought that they had decided on [name_f]Hayleigh[/name_f] but dad was the one who filled out the birth certificate, and either he forgot or he made something up on the spot
[name_f]My[/name_f] parents chose my middle name after they’d done the birth certificate (which in the US is a rush deal) and that name was on everything until freaking Homeland Security decided that people could only be called by their original birth certificate name. [name_f][/name_f] I was 65 years old and they erased my name of 65 years. [name_f][/name_f] I still use it, but it’s officially an “aka” now. [name_f][/name_f] Grr.
[name_f]My[/name_f] mom has a name popular for her generation that typically ends in -y along the lines of [name_m]Christy[/name_m], [name_m]Tracy[/name_m], [name_f]Sherry[/name_f], ect. and her parents wanted to spell it with an -ie ending. [name_f]My[/name_f] grandpa accidentally left the -e off so it was spelled with just the -i and they decided they liked it so much they kept it. [name_f]My[/name_f] grandpa does still spell my moms name wrong though.
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I also have a friend that had a nurse miswrite her babys name, which was supposed to be [name_f]Scarlette[/name_f], as [name_f]Charlette[/name_f] instead. She decided she liked [name_f]Charlette[/name_f] better but changed the spelling to [name_f]Sharlette[/name_f] in the end
I know someone whose parents wanted to name him let’s say [name_m]James[/name_m] [name_m]Jonathan[/name_m] – a first name they liked + a family middle name. The family member being honoured in the middle spot misunderstood and thought it was going to be the first name. They were so touched that his parents switched the order so he was named [name_m]Jonathan[/name_m] [name_m]James[/name_m].
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This friend just welcomed his first baby boy and named him [name_m]James[/name_m] – so at least the original first name got its outing in the end!
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I also know someone whose father misspelt her name on the BC (was originally Roisin). They liked the new spelling and slightly alternative pronunciation and kept it. She’s the only one I’ve ever met!
Slightly different but I had a friend whose surname got transcribed wrong (or differently) when they moved country [name_f][/name_f]- it’s still essentially the same name, just a different ‘English’ spelling to the one their family had intended [name_f][/name_f]- think like [name_m]Muhammad[/name_m] vs. [name_m]Mohammad[/name_m].
When my Grandma was born, my Great-Grandad (her Dad) was tasked with registering her birth. First born daughter, proud first time Dad, they had obviously discussed first names but hadn’t sorted out the middle. So, my sweet Great-Grandad comes home after registering her name, my [name_f]Nanny[/name_f] (Great-Grandma) asks what he put down. The first name as they discussed. Right, no problem there! What about a middle name? He gave my Grandma, my Great-Grandma’s (his wife’s) first name as the middle. What a lovely tribute to his wife one might think. Not according to my [name_f]Nanny[/name_f] who despised her first name with every fibre of her being! She was born in the mid 1910s and her first name was one of the slightly clunkier names often associated with that era. Along the lines of [name_f]Doris[/name_f], [name_f]Gladys[/name_f], [name_f]Phyllis[/name_f], [name_f]Edna[/name_f] etc. What made it ten times worse was that my Nanny’s middle name was a very traditional one, [name_f][/name_f] think [name_f]Mary[/name_f], [name_f]Ellen[/name_f], [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] etc. A way safer choice of middle! Suffice to say, when my Grandma’s brother and then sister were born, my [name_f]Nanny[/name_f] had final say on the naming front!
I worked with [name_f][/name_f] a little girl whose mother meant to name her [name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f] but didnt know how to spell it and put Alaylah, but she still goes by [name_f]Aaliyah[/name_f]. (The only reason I know is I had to teach her to spell her name) [name_f][/name_f]I also know quite a few (older) men whose birth certificate just has their initial as the middle name. Some of them know what the initial stands for some of them dont. [name_f][/name_f] Like [name_m]John[/name_m] D. [name_m]Smith[/name_m].
A mum once told me they didn’t realise that a double T is typically used for the name [name_f]Scarlett[/name_f]. She wrote [name_f]Scarlet[/name_f] when registering her daughter’s birth and decided to keep it that way.
This happened to my sister! [name_f][/name_f] [name_f]My[/name_f] parents intended to use Eilene (E!leen), changing the spelling to mimic/honor my grandmother’s name, Arl£ne. [name_f][/name_f] I’m not sure how it got switched, but when I was about 11 (my sister would’ve been around 7), we looked at the birth certificate (presumably at school enrollment? [name_f][/name_f] Not sure), and they saw that her middle had been spelled the traditional E!leen. [name_f][/name_f] We had all been misspelling it for years
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It was never corrected to Eilene, but I know my sister still prefers that spelling even though it was never legally her name
[name_f]My[/name_f] mother in law’s parents had agreed on the name [name_f]Diane[/name_f]. Her dad went along to register her birth but was told by the registrar that there was no such name as [name_f]Diane[/name_f] and his wife must have meant [name_f]Diana[/name_f]. Dad just agreed with that and his wife was not happy. Mother in law was always known as [name_f]Diane[/name_f] but she was legally her whole life [name_f]Diana[/name_f]. To add to mother in laws annoyance her last name before marriage has silent letters in it. Her parents on registering her for school let them know she was known as [name_f]Diane[/name_f] at home. Despite this when calling out the register the class teacher insisted on calling her [name_f]Diana[/name_f] and pronounced the silent letters in her last name so mother in law then aged 5 didn’t realise the teacher meant her. Parents were asked to come into school as the teacher thought she might be deaf as she never answered her name. Her parents explained why and the teacher from then on called her [name_f]Diane[/name_f].
A male relative was named Christi@n but his dad must have been tired when proofreading the birth certificate, because it officially said Christin@ [name_f][/name_f]- whoops! They had it corrected when he was little, but it’s still a good bit of family lore.
[name_f]My[/name_f] grandparents chose the name [name_f]Catherine[/name_f] for my my mum but when my grandad went to register her birth, he couldn’t remember how they’d agreed to spell it. Luckily the registry office was on [name_f]Katharine[/name_f] [name_f]Street[/name_f] so he ran down the road to look at the sign, and that’s the spelling my mum has had for almost 60 years!
Not exactly a mishap but my friend was born a premie and her parents couldn’t decide on her name. They left the hospital without choosing, and her birth certificate said [name_f]Baby[/name_f] [name_f]Girl[/name_f] LN until she was 9 when her parents finally got around to legally changing it!
I knew someone who was supposed to be [name_f]Katelyn[/name_f] but the nurse wrote down KateIynn with two Ns and by the time they noticed the mistake they felt it was too late and not worth the trouble to get it fixed even though they were annoyed about it so they just went with it.
I just talked to a friend who is moving states, and they’re having all kinds of headaches with her elderly mom’s ID because her birth certificate says B3ttie while every single other piece of paperwork says [name_f]Betty[/name_f].
[name_f]My[/name_f] friends dintended to name [name_m]Theo[/name_m] daughter [name_f]Maria[/name_f] [name_f][/name_f]. But when the birth certificate came back it said [name_f]Maia[/name_f] [name_f][/name_f]. The R was dropped [name_f][/name_f]. [name_f][/name_f]They call their daughter [name_f]Maia[/name_f]
I know a girl who was named by the nurse because her mom was out of it. The nurse named her K@ren, but she goes by a nickname from her middle name (€llie), which I believe may have been the original name her parents had decided on.
[name_f]My[/name_f] dad used to tell a story of his friend, who was born while her father was overseas in the military, and the mother wanted him to be there when they named her, so she was named “Baby Girl” on the birth certificate as a placeholder. But they forgot to change it and didn’t realize until she went to get her driver’s license!
Not a dramatic mishap but my grandfather’s middle name was spelt incorrectly on his birth certificate which always used to make the family laugh when he was still around!
