To much to ask?

So, my whole life I have dealt with a made up name my mother gave me and spend a lot of time spelling/pronouncing/explaining my name. I always said that i will never give my children names they have to constantly do that with. Well, my son is [name]Nils[/name] [name]David[/name] and I am constantly having to do all three of those things with him while telling people his name is NOT [name]Niles[/name]. So, I am looking for UNCOMMON names but ones that if you said it no one would question about the spelling.

My husband’s favorite girls name is [name]Sarah[/name] but it could be [name]Sera[/name] or [name]Sara[/name] or [name]Sarah[/name] and again, would have to correct someone.

At this time, I like [name]Ruth[/name] [name]Adeline[/name]. [name]Ruth[/name] was my Great Great Gma and [name]Adeline[/name] is DH’s aunt. [name]Do[/name] you think anyone will ever question how to spell [name]Ruth[/name]? [name]Do[/name] you have other suggestions? Am I asking to much of a name?

I love [name]Ruth[/name] and I cannot imagine anyone in their right mind spelling it wrong.

[name]Sarah[/name] is the common spelling, so I don’t see her having any issues with [name]Sarah[/name].
Also, [name]Ruth[/name] won’t have any issues ever. I have a friend named [name]Ruth[/name], and she wants to change it because she finds it too simple!
Alternate spellings isn’t a big issue if you pick the common/most known one.

[name]Ruth[/name] [name]Adeline[/name] is lovely.

I think [name]Ruth[/name] is sweet, and I would [name]HOPE[/name] that nobody would try spelling it “Rooth.” :wink: Some other ideas…hmm. Any of the other Bible names should be recognizable and easily spelled, as they have been in use for centuries. So that would give you:

[name]Naomi[/name]
[name]Anna[/name]
[name]Priscilla[/name]
[name]Esther[/name]
[name]Martha[/name]
[name]Leah[/name]
[name]Miriam[/name]
[name]Eve[/name]
[name]Lydia[/name]

…and many others. Those I’ve named are all fairly uncommon among babies today, in my experience (though I haven’t checked their ratings). Others whose spelling is well-established:

[name]Virginia[/name]
[name]Dorothy[/name]
[name]Rosemarie[/name] (or [name]Rosemary[/name], but they each have distinct enough pronunciations to distinguish which spelling you would use)
[name]Augusta[/name]
[name]Diana[/name]

Good luck! I just realized that you may be looking for boys’ names too, which I didn’t include. I think you can’t go wrong with the spelling/pronunciation of [name]Jonah[/name] on your list, but the other three on your boy’s list may give you trouble. I would choose names that have been in more frequent use. P.S. I love [name]Arwen[/name] on your list. It’s been on my list too.

[name]Sarah[/name] is the most common spelling, I actually know 8 I think… I’m not going to count, but 3 of them are good friends of mine and 1 is my cousin, the others were just classmates. The only one that spelled it differently is my cousin and it’s just [name]Sara[/name]. So you’ll be fine if you want to do [name]Sarah[/name].

[name]Ruth[/name] won’t have any issues, I can’t think of any way you could spell it wrong, maybe Rooth like tooth? but that looks dumb.

Overall sticking with classic, word names or short names is your best bet, like:
[name]Elizabeth[/name]
[name]Mary[/name]
[name]Charlotte[/name]
[name]Luna[/name]
[name]Flora[/name]
[name]Freya[/name]
[name]Juliet[/name]
[name]Grace[/name]
[name]Rose[/name]
[name]Jane[/name]
[name]June[/name]
[name]Victoria[/name]
[name]Diana[/name]

If you want something recognizable but uncommon (at least on the under 60 crowd), go with [name]Ruth[/name]. I know at least 15 women and children with the names [name]Sara[/name]/[name]Sarah[/name]. I’m guessing that the reason you’re running into this problem with [name]Nils[/name] is because people who are not name nerds have never heard of it, much less met one or seen it spelled (at least if you’re in the U.S.). You won’t have that problem with [name]Ruth[/name]! :slight_smile:

My daughter’s name is [name]Ruth[/name]. [name]One[/name] of the reasons I went with that name is because it’s short & sweet, easy to spell, no one ever ever misspells or mispronounces it, it’s familiar enough without being common on children these days.

I also like [name]Eve[/name], as my Ggrandma was [name]Evelyn[/name]. However, [name]Evelyn[/name] has become so popular in the past few years. Its actually 17 in IL. However, [name]Eve[/name] is difficult to pair with a middle. DH’s Great Grandmother was Axelina. Not the prettiest name in the world but a multisyllable girls name from family which is hard to come by in our families. [name]Eve[/name] Axelina or [name]Ruth[/name] [name]Adeline[/name]

[name]Ruth[/name] Axelina :smiley:

[name]Sarah[/name] and [name]Sara[/name] are both used frequently. My grandma’s first name is [name]Sarah[/name] and my mom told me she’s had people argue with her over pronunciation. We say it like sah-ra but some people apparently pronounce it say-ra and one of them was even trying to tell her she was saying her own mother’s name wrong!

[name]Ruth[/name] seems very safe in this regard. I can’t imagine anyone spelling it any differently or pronouncing it differently. I don’t think it’s asking too much–some people aren’t bothered by these things, but you’ve been through it your whole life and will be doing it for your son’s whole life, so I can definitely understand wanting your next child to have an easy, unquestioned name so you can catch a break.

Nobody normal will be confused about [name]Sarah[/name]/[name]Sara[/name] or [name]Ruth[/name]. I happen to love the variation [name]Sera[/name], but would require explaining here and there.

[name]Just[/name] curious, [name]How[/name] do you pronounce [name]Nils[/name]?

[name]Nils[/name] is with short S. In [name]Sweden[/name] its pronounced more like [name]Neils[/name]. But In [name]America[/name] were happy if people dont say [name]Niles[/name].