Children, Parenting, People, Society

Changing the Spelling of Children’s Names: Unique or Pretentious?

My name is Amanda, not Ahmandah.
My name is Amanda, not Ahmandah.
My name is Amanda, not Ahmandah.

Is this baby’s name spelled Amanda or Ahmandah?

On my Facebook feed this morning I came across a page that one of my friends had liked. It was a picture of a beautiful baby girl, and mentioned her name: Jorja.

I’m assuming that is pronounced the same as Georgia. This drew my attention as I have always loved the name Georgia, so to see it spelled Jorja stopped me in my tracks. I can’t seem to get my head around changing the spelling of a well established name. Why do people do this?

Is it because it makes their child unique? To make them stand out from any other children in their class of the same name? Or is it because they themselves want to be different?

Do expectant parents sit down and consider how the name they give their child will affect them as they grow up? Do they consider the implications of spelling a child’s name Jayceson instead of Jason? Or Emmilliee instead of Emily? Or Mykel instead of Michael?

Are they aware that a lot of people will immediately think negatively on the different spelling, putting it down to pretentiousness on the parent’s part? Are they also aware that their child’s name is likely to be misspelt for many many years?

For those who don’t know, my real name is Amanda (yes, that is me as a bub in the photo above). Out of interest I thought I would look up different spellings of that name, and to be honest I’m a little horrified! What came up was Ahmanda, Amandah, Amannda, Amanndah, Amannedah, Ahmannda, Ahmanneda, Uhmannda, Uhmanda, and Uhmandah. Uhmandah in particular has me shaking my head. I just don’t get it!

Also, why is it acceptable to change the spelling of names, but not the spelling of other things? Like tayble, or pilloh, or even frydge? I get that changing the spelling of table to tayble would confuse people as for centuries it’s been table, but how is that any different to changing the spelling of common names? There are some words that are spelt in a down right stupid way I’m sure we could all benefit from respelling as we see fit.

I am not a parent, nor am I likely to become one, so this whole process of naming a child is completely foreign to me. I’m genuinely interested to find out the motivation behind this.

Now excuse me while I go eat my buhnahnah.

Do you know anyone who has changed the spelling of a common name? If so, what was their reason? Did YOU change the spelling of a name? 

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  • Detachable Princess

    *snort* buhnahnah. Thanks for a giggle so early!

    • iamevilcupcake

      Would you have that before or after the ohranghe?

      • Pelican Pie

        Apparently we used to say, “Can nye havva nowwange?” (please)

  • https://kikiandtea.com/ Tamsin Howse

    Well I think we should be able to change the spelling of regular words if we can change the spelling of names regularly. And the first one I’d like to change is definitely to definately please.

    My name can be spelt Tamsin Tamsyn or Tamsen. But that’s just if you want it to sound like Tamsin. The name is actualyl the female form of Thomas and as such can also be Tamasin, Tamasina and Thomasina. While I hate my name, I’m very glad I’m not Thomasina.

    • Monique Fischle

      NOOOOO!!!!! It HAS to stay definitely. My biggest pet peeve grammatically is when people spell it definately. Even typing that makes me shudder.

      • https://kikiandtea.com/ Tamsin Howse

        What about diarrhoea, could we get rid of some of the extra letters in that?

        • Monique Fischle

          In my job, I write about diarrhoea fairly frequently (unclean water leads to etc, that kind of thing) and I’ve gotten the spelling down pat after a fair few months of having to check all the time, I don’t want to have to re-learn haha

          • https://kikiandtea.com/ Tamsin Howse

            You’re no fun.

        • Pelican Pie

          Dyer rear?

          Hemma royds?

          Bronickal choobs?

          • Pelican Pie

            Sorry. Off-topic, but I couldn’t resist…

  • Monique Fischle

    First things first, how freaking adorable is baby you! Thanks for including the photo!

    I really don’t like changing the spelling of names to be ‘different’. But if that’s what people want to do, that’s their prerogative I guess. With so many people doing it, in the near future, it won’t be strange at all to have Danyell’s and Jesikah’s in the work force, the normally spelled ‘Emily’ will be the odd one out.

    I really want to name my children names that have only one ‘classic’ spelling. I have always really liked the name Emilia, but I don’t want people to think I’m trying to put a spin on Amelia, I liked it because it’s in Shakespeare’s Othello.

    • Kris

      My kid names are from Shakespeare too. Having grown up with one of the myriad ways of spelling Kristie and having to spell my name all the time, I felt a bit slack calling her “Katharine” but at least people can still pronounce it easily and know she’s a girl. Also, she can shorten it if she wants to a heap of nicks.

      • Monique Fischle

        There are so many different spellings of “Katharine” though, I know of Catherine, Cathryn, Katherine, Kathryn and now Katharine. I think it’s a beautiful name and they aren’t outrageous spellings, just different.

        I’ve recently started to have to spell Monique which I find weird, I didn’t think there would be more than one way to spell it!

        • Kris

          It’s Katharina in The Taming Of The Shrew (hence Kiss Me, Kate) and Katharine Hepburn. At least it’s after awesome people. Much like I know an Arya and a Khaleesi. Probably wouldn’t choose Khaleesi as a name for a kid myself, but at least they’ll all be able to tell people they’re named after awesome chicks! Not sure how that applies to Jaxxoeen…

          • Heather

            My daughters name is Arya it is actually a popular Indian name meaning noble. My husband is Indian. The problem is people think I named her after Game of Thrones and I really didn’t. It is just a nice Indian name. I have seen lots of different ways of spelling it but Arya is the Sanskrit spelling.

  • Melissa Savage

    First, a note. Until about 400 years ago, English did not have set spelling. People spelt their own names differently when they wrote them at different times (see for example William Shakespeare who didn’t consistently spell it that way himself. Heck, there are spellings in use today that are different from ones that were in common use 50 years ago. The language changes and our spelling and grammar are not as fixed as we like to think.

    Secondly: this debate slides into classism and racism really quickly. A lot of the time it comes across as making fun of people from working class backgrounds or different cultures. Jorja is not very far from the legitimate Spanish spelling of George, Jorge. I have no idea if her parents have that heritage and I’ll come across like a real dick for making fun of that if it’s true.

    Finally: it’s none of my business. Names are really personal and everyone has very particular reasons for naming their kids and themselves in the way they choose. With luck, one day I’ll be naming a baby, and I know there’ll be people don’t agree with me, but I won’t care and I’ll have my reasons for making the choice I do. I hope people pay me the courtesy of not commenting, as I have avoided commenting on their choices. It’s important to remember too that no matter the name, these are actual real people, and so maybe take a breath before dismissing them based on their name.

    • Monique Fischle

      I tend to agree with you. There are lots of names that aren’t my favourite, but I like to think that people put in a bit thought when naming their children and if that’s what they choose, then good for them.

    • https://kikiandtea.com/ Tamsin Howse

      I kind of like the idea of English not having a set spelling. The book my name came from (The Return of the Native) varies what they call their character as well between Tamsin, Tamasin, Thomasin and Thomasina.

      I don’t think Cupcake intended to be making fun of these names.

    • iamevilcupcake

      You are right. Firstly about how this debate can slide into classism and racisim. I’ve seen it on another website where it becomes this massive “bogan bashing” post. This wasn’t the aim of this post however. I’m just trying to understand the thought process.

      Also names are really personal. I’ve heard many stories of people who LOATHE their names and are angry at their parents because their parents wanted to be different. I was in no way judging people, I’m just super curious as the reason why they would do this, giving a child a name that is going to get them bullied. Surely you want to give your child a name that is easy to spell and isn’t going to cause the child torment at school?

      • Melissa Savage

        Yes, i will probably name my kids fairly classic names, because i have a particular set of cultural mores ingrained into me that says that is the right thing to do.

        I think the whole weird name thing is an interesting commentary on how individualistic we’ve become as a society too. A hundred years ago most people had one of about ten names. Reading English history, for example, you need a diagram to keep up with all the Elizabeths, Annes, Catherines and Margarets. It was the last name or title that mattered. Now we have great self esteem and high hopes of social mobility for our kids, so we name them so they stick out a bit.

        All very interesting and I’m not having a go at you, just trying to tease out some of the issues behind this ever-popular debate :)

        • Kris

          You know, though, Katharine will stand out because it’s a traditional name. She has been at kindy with a wide variety of cultures, so that’s come into play a bit with her little mates, a few Jet/ts, Chase, Taylors, but also a Eugenia, a couple of Lilys, Khaleesi. I freely admit to not liking bogan baby names, but I think that too comes from having grown up having to spell my name because it was trendy when I was born, along with Kirsty, so I used to get in trouble at school for not answering to Kirsty. Most of the “unique” names that people come up with though just look like they can’t spell. And whether people like it or not, that matters.

  • Maryann

    As someone with a first name no ever gets right, although I like it, and family name that most people give up on (it is Dutch) I think parents should think of how the child will deal with any name given to them. It is a parent’s right to choose the name but I have often found that parents with classic/ordinary names go all out to create a unique name for their child. Perhaps it is because they always wanted that type of name. The fact is first impressions count and we do make judgements based on name if we know nothing more about them, although this usually changes when you know someone.

  • Imogen

    I have a unique name (at least, it was more rare when I was younger… I think it’s coming back around now?). I believe that the name actually came about because it was a spelling error in one of Shakespeare’s folios: He intended it to be ‘Innogen’, but someone wrote ‘Imogen’ and it stuck. Personally, I love having a unique name, and I have had a million different misspellings and pronunciations throughout the years. There’s something deep inside me that likes having a rare name and thus, there would be no other option but to name a child similarly. That could be part of the thought behind people naming children in unique ways? For me, it’s all about identity. Perhaps it’s because my training is in linguistics… but I have a passionate belief that language should be flexible and I just love how language and words evolve as history unfolds.

  • Jessica Chapman

    I’m a Jessica, one of the many in my generation, I never answer to my name in public until the third time to save embarrassment, I was always known by my name plus the first initial of my surname (to differentiate from the other three Jessica’s in my class), and in fifty years it will be the new old lady name (like Mabel) but there is an upside, I never have to spell it to anyone, ever. I don’t know why you’d want to take that away from someone with a common name, because if it’s pronounced the same way spelling it differently doesn’t negate the downsides.

    Should I ever be responsible for naming a child I will keep a close eye on naming trends and try to give them something not in the top ten. Not a different spelling of something in the top ten.

  • http://marketingstorytelling.com/ Rhonda @ Mktg Storytelling

    I think we need to respect that we all come from different cultures and races. I come from a country where the nation consists of various races and backgrounds. So over there you’d go to school with people whose grandparents or great- grandparents come from different continents.

    Names you’d hear are mainly from France, England, Italy, Spain, China, Japan, and the African countries. Most people who pick a foreign name don’t change spellings, they use names from their cultures or traditions.

    Perhaps because we’re in an English speaking country (Aus) then it’s more noticeable. But the laughing and making fun of people’s cultures to me is pure ignorance (I’m talking general public, not pointing fingers at anyone here).

    But I’m sure my French friends in Perth wouldn’t change their names just to make race-bashing Aussies happy.

    However, the thought process for the younger generations hasn’t changed, from my observation. I think it’s as fair as before, because back in the Elvis days for example, people named their kids after their idols. So today we’d get your Kanyes and before that Aaliyahs. I think it’s creative to design a name, as long as people can pronounce and as long as no one’s going to tease the kid. After all, names like Jessica and William were invented. No one complains about those.

    • iamevilcupcake

      At no point did I mention cultural names. This article is about common names whose spelling is deliberately changed. It has nothing to do with where a person is from, and everything to do with why someone would change a name that everyone knows, and knows how to spell.

      • http://marketingstorytelling.com/ Rhonda @ Mktg Storytelling

        Your question was “what was their reason” for changing spelling of common names. So yes, some people change the spelling because of their culture and where they are from. E.g Michel to Misel because they are Creoles.

  • fender4eva

    Start complaining, when we call you Kuppee…….. 😀

  • Maree Talidu

    I think a lot of people expect to be praised for choosing such a ‘cool’ and ‘unique’ name for their kid and don’t actually think of the frustration it potentially causes for the child.

  • TeganMC

    My name is a pretty popular name and my surname is pretty well known and yet I still have to spell both for people. I always have. I don’t think spelling something uniquely automatically means there will be frustration as my name is spelt the ‘normal’ way and yet I still have to spell it for people. My son’s surname is a woman’s name with an s on the end and I see to always have arguments with receptionists that yes, that is his surname.

    I think there is always going to be people using different spellings of names. It’s more the names like hashtag that I have an issue with!

  • Ozgirl

    I grew up with a girl (now an adult in her 40’s) who chose to change the spelling of her name to Kymm. Yep. She named her two kids normal enough :-)

    On the topic of names in other languages I love the french version of Matthew – spelt Mathieu and pronounced Mat-Chew (or similar…)

  • Emily_M

    I know a girl named ashley spelled ashleigh

  • Emily_M

    I know a girl who’s name is spelt Ashleigh instead of Ashley.

  • Mazi

    I try to be careful with these alternate spellings. I once knew a Trefor…. We all thought the had a speech impediment or was just from Penrith. Turns out Trefor is the Welsh version. Of Trwvor and the correct spelling. Since I have started hanging out with a lot of Cornish and Scots martial artists I have learnt to check if that is a Celtic name first…. Personally I would like to use some of he Pre-Norman names used by he Saxon kings… E.g. aethelbreat. But my better half just presumed I was talking in my sleep