Ok, so I am constantly fighting with a old freind of mine about how a name should (and is) a unique name. She 100% believes in the tryndee spellings (one of her names is [name]Natalee[/name] and another is [name]Jakob[/name] [name]Rylee[/name]) and i believe that if you want a name to be unique, pick a unique not overly popular name! [name]Just[/name] because you spell [name]Natalee[/name] with 2 e’s doesnt mean she still wont be [name]Natalee[/name] G. because there are other Natalies. And she doesnt get it, she believes its unique and gives a personality. Then she says names like [name]Eloise[/name] are frumpy and that she would never call my child [name]Eloise[/name], only [name]Elly[/name].
So now, i want to know everyone else’s opinions on name ‘uniquness’ and the correct way to get to it. I get very frustrated sometimes because it sounds silly to me to think that spelling a name diffrent makes it unique; mostly because a whole lot of parents spell them the same way, uniquely of course (example, 3 diffrent people naming their daughter Addysin to be unique, its the typical unique spelling of the name [name]Addison[/name])
So what are your opinions and thoughts on this?
Thanks! 
My view on “tryndee, youneek” spellings is this, while our language is written and spoken, names are primarily spoken, therefore all spellings of any given name are said the same. Let’s say your name is [name]Addison[/name]. When you introduce yourself you say “[name]Hi[/name], my name is [name]Addison[/name]” and the person hears “[name]Addison[/name]” not A-d-d-i-s-o-n, though because this is the accepted spelling, they register this spelling. However, if your name is Addysin, and you say “[name]Hi[/name], my name is Addysin” it still sounds like [name]Addison[/name] and the person you’re introducing yourself to does not know, nor do they care, that it’s spelled differently, and your name is just like every other [name]Addison[/name] out there. And, like you said, when your child is in school with three other girls named some form of [name]Addison[/name], they still will be Addysin G. My final thought on this issue is that unique spellings are being used more and more, making them less and less unique. I’m completely with you, pick a name that has history and background and that isn’t in the top 100 and your child will be unique. Moreover, some of the most unique, special people I know have extremely ordinary, normally spelled names.
I strongly dislike the argument that a “y” will feminize a name. Why add a “y” to [name]Emerson[/name] to feminize it while you could just pick a feminine name? It just utterly confuses me.
And finally, if your friend insults your taste in names, and insists on calling your child (or future child) [name]Elly[/name] not [name]Eloise[/name], simply say “her name is [name]Eloise[/name], not [name]Elly[/name].” People used to always nickname my sister [name]Robby[/name] or [name]Bobbie[/name] and my mom would always correct them and say “Her name is [name]Robin[/name]” which almost always set them straight.
I hope that helps!
All of my kids have popular names, and my daughter [name]Emma[/name] is the only one in her class. But, there are 4 Emilys. 2 are spelled [name]Emily[/name] and 1 is [name]Emelie[/name] and the other is [name]Emmalee[/name]. They all still have to go by [name]Emily[/name] X. [name]Just[/name] because their names are spelled differently doesn’t mean they really have a unique name. They’re still one of 4 people with that name in their class.
God bless.
[name]Chrysta[/name]
I agree. If you want a unique name, pick a unique name. My name is misspelled ALL the time, and it’s spelled the original, widely accepted, only-spelling-currently-ranked-in-the-top-1000 way. It’s just a pain in the butt to have to spell your name constantly to everyone.
I’m not totally against alternate spellings, though. If, for example, you prefer the look of [name]Sofia[/name] to [name]Sophia[/name] or [name]Giulia[/name] to [name]Julia[/name], or want to honor your heritage, and it is a LEGITIMATE, LINGUISTIC variation that is well known and not terribly complicated, then I say go for it. It will definitely be misspelled sometimes, but it’s not that hard to explain that it’s [name]Sofia[/name] spelled with an f or [name]Giulia[/name] with a Gi. It’s a very well-known variation. Spelling it Sohfeeyah to make it “more unique”, however, is just confusing and unnecessary. It’s too hard to explain “It’s Sohfeeyah, with an h, two e’s, a y, and then another h.”
I think the same goes for names where variant spellings are more popular than the original or the original is confusing to spell. [name]Aiden[/name], for example, is more popular than [name]Aidan[/name], even though [name]Aidan[/name] is the original spelling. So I wouldn’t be against a parent spelling their child’s name [name]Aiden[/name] to save him the trouble of having it constantly misspelled. [name]Kiva[/name] or [name]Kieran[/name] might be much easier to wear than [name]Caoimhe[/name] or [name]Ciaran[/name] because the pronunciation is so far from obvious with the original spelling. So I guess what I’m saying in this long, rambling reply (sorry it’s so long) is that intention counts- if it’s a well-recognized, legit variant or an alternate spelling that will make your child’s life easier, rather than harder, I’m okay with it. But I’m not a fan of names like Jeweleeyah that are invented solely to be different.
I agree with you on uniqueness criteria. An odd spelling is just that, an odd spelling-- it does not make a new or unique name. My niece is Isibel, a common and popular name spelled one letter off. If she wants her name spelled the way it is on her birth certificate she will [name]FOREVER[/name] have to spell it out loud and correct people.
No name is absolutely unique, just where you live has a lot to do with what you perceive as popular, unpopular, unique, trendy, old, “frumpy” etc. I prefer meaning to uniqueness for that reason!
As for unique–I would personally prefer, for example, an uncommon name like [name]Xenia[/name] to an odd spelling of a common name like [name]Emmaleigh[/name]!
Wow! Thanks for all the great replys:) It’s nice to know im not weird for disliking odd spellings as a way to unique a name. I do agree with an above poster in saying that certain ‘misspellings’ are OK, if its a heritage thing or something along those lines.
I would be interested to hear someone on the other side of the spectrum though:)
Thanks again for all the replys!
I totally and completely agree with everyone. Following a huge trend is not unique in any way! Misspellings of names are one of my worst pet peeves. To me, it just says that the parents don’t know how to spell.
I have no problem with legitimate spelling variations, though, especially if they reflect a particular heritage of the family.