Possibly risking offending some, but genuine question.

I can understand where you are coming from. We went the traditional route. My oldest has a biblical name of four letters. Easy to say. Easy to spell. Funnily enough it was shortened when he was little. The younger one has a longer name. 11 letters. A traditional biblical name The older one gave him a nickname because he couldn't say it as a tot. Its never been shortened by anyone in the family. Its really weird.

My closest friend is a primary school teacher and she tells me that they have an Elli-May; an Elli-Mae and an Ellie-Mae in one class plus a Cicillee. She's waiting to see what September and a new intake brings! It seems to be mainly the girls names that get mangled apparently.

I totally agree with your thoughts. Hate it when I see a new baby and there is no clue as to whether it is boy or girl as dressed all in white,with white pram accessories, so seeking a clue ask the name and still no wiser , recent examples-Ari and Zurie.

I remember saying to my daughter I didnt mind what she called her expected child as long as it was obvious what the sex was and I didnt need to learn to spell it, she named him William, no doubt there then.

Maybe because they are putting their mark on it so to make it sound not 'run of the mill'. Just speculating here, but maybe quite a few Amys around but only one Aimee.

I am the opposite - it annoys me when people take a traditional name and simplify it! Australians do this regularly.

So Niamh becomes Neve or Neeve!
And Siobhan becomes Shivaun
Aisling become Ashlyn

Grrr

The name Aimée is a baby girl name. The name Aimée comes from the French origin
DD has a friend called Aimée

To be fair, quite often there are foreign influences in names. Aimée is actually a French girls' name, a saint no less, and Zurie is African.
As our population is made up of so many nationalities, I guess more and more strange sounding names will creep in.

X post Jalima!

DD's name could be spelt one of two ways - or three.

I do have trouble with Irish names as there's no clue to the pronunciation from the spelling. Unless I've heard them spoken I can't even guess how to say them. African names seem to be easy as mostly phonetic.
You can't go wrong with Bob!

Isn't Aimée the French spelling, meaning 'beloved'? I knew a rather grand lady, born about 100 years ago, whose parents spelt her middle name that way.
When teaching, (for a long time!) I was always fascinated to see the new register with the children's names. My first class had several Susans, Lindas, Davids, and Stevens. Parents right through society usually chose conservative, unremarkable names. More recently parents often want the name to be a bit different, to stand out.I've met delightful girls named Cheyenne and Apache, not related!
Teachers sort out the similar names as I once sorted out in my class Susan Foster from Susan Forster. The school I went to had two Gillian Smiths.
I did smile to myself on meeting gorgeous new baby Emily, spelt Emmëleigh, I'm sure the teacher coped!

I know just what you mean we had a Shirlee live next door

I heard a Cicely say she was named after a place in Italy, she may have been joking!

One of our basset hounds was called Aimee - man's best (female) friend.

My sisters daughter is called Aimee , she chose it because it means 'Dearly Loved' or 'Beloved'.

I dislike odd spellings of normal names like Jaxson for Jackson or Xyennah for Sienna .

I support different names and I don't mind a slight twist to an old name but when they are completely different to the point of ridiculous then I think it's not cute, the poor child having to spell name every single time and then perhaps have to explain origins or get laughed at is just unnecessary. I used to make children's personalised pillowcases so had a variety of names but 15 years ago they weren't as varied as now. The one I do remember was a variation of Jamie (boy) that was Jammie, poor sod must now be 20 and with a host of nicknames. When I was double checking the spelling for the gift the mother had not realised it sounded like Jammy (dodger) but just thought it was funny. Oh well

DGD is called Isobel. There is an Isabel and Isabelle in her class. All are traditional spellings of a traditional name, although hers is the Scottish spelling and the last is French.

What about Catherine?. Even before all today's creative spellings you could spell it Catherine, Katherine and Katharine.

Aimee is the French spelling of Amy and should be pronounced Aimay

When I was teaching I had one class with a Kyle,Kylie,Keira and a Caila. Another year I had a Marrianne, Marrionne,Maryam and a Mariella. All of them absolutely delightful children but remembering their names did stretch the little grey cells somewhat!

I thought Cicely was a well-established name...

It is Ana but this little girl's name was spelt Cicillee.

Sorry, I was replying to Elred's post.

A friend of mine since Grammar school days is called Kay. At the start of each school the new teacher would ask us all our names. She would say "Kay" and the teacher would say "Yes dear, but what's your name?" "Kay" Teacher (a little less patiently) "Not the initial dear, what is your name?" "Kay" Teacher (tersely) "Yes dear, but what's your actual name? Katherine? Karen? Katy?" "KAY" With a particularly obtuse teacher this could be spun out for ages

I am with you Phoenix. Apart from the French version of Amy (which I do think is pretty) I have also seen it spelled Aimie, Aimiee, Amie, Aimy, Aymee ... probably just for the sake of being different I think, although sometimes I do wonder of the parents can actually spell! And this is just one example among many of a 'simple' accepted spelling that is played with. My turn to duck ...