Possibly risking offending some, but genuine question.

My pal Ralph Cholmondely-Featherstonehaugh was complaining about this trend recently...

42 years ago in my first class I had 6 Sarahs. All were spelt the same way. So some of today's more unusual names might at least avoid that situation.
My own pet hat is names with apostrophes, for example D'Jon (pronounced Dijon and named after the mustard).

School is definitely the place to see lots of weird and wonderful names. I always ask children how to say their names or, if they have a long one, I'll ask what they are called. The increase in calling children by initials e.g. AJ makes me laugh and the desire to have foreign names resulted in one poor lad being called Seven - to be pronounced Sven! The poster who put about Elly-May Ellie-Mai, Elli-Mae etc variations could have been teaching my last year's class. It's even more confusing when Jude and Jude are a boy and a girl.

Grannynise I love the 'named after the mustard'. Perhaps Mum or Dad were hot stuff!

I agree. The parents can't spell. That said, my mother didn't spell my sister's name properly either.

As a teacher I noticed that all the correctly spelt names were in the top sets and the made up names and misspelt ones were further down.

Was it sad to have a burden round the neck from birth - or a spur to achievement? For some it might have been the push to prove themselves and do well. My sister did well for herself.

I think many parents insert a quirk just to be different. Some are hard wired to a dream name and if someone close in the family 'beats them to it' albeit innocently they find it hard to settle for an alternative. Certainly happened in my family.

My grandson is Albert (Bertie) and my granddaughter is Mabel, then we also have a Layla, a Peter-John (named after his grandfather) and a Sanmarie ( a typical South African name combining the first 2 names of her maternal granny, Susanna Marie) I am South African and have now lived n the UK for 15 years, and also dislike the "contrived" names, though it is worth mentioning that some South African names are even worse !

One of my grandsons is Lachlan, a Scottish name, his paternal grandfather wasn't happy with the choice as he said it was 'a highland name' and they are not from the Highlands. He is the only one in his school although there is a Lochlan(Irish) in his year. I am a Rainbow and Guide leader and have had allsorts of spellings over the years for various names although at the moment all have many lovely old names such as Olivia, Emily and Sophie.

To add to the variations of Catherine my best friend at secondary school was Kathryn. I have sadly lost touch with her but believe her married name is Price. So Katie Price!!!
My husbands family were Ukranian and our favourite name for a boy was Zenon but we didn't want him to have to always spell it as (well as his Ukranian surname) so we made it his middle name.

My granddaughter had a friend named Gorga, not Georgia, and I always felt that I wanted to call her Gor-ga.
Still I think that the worst name I have heard I read on the internet. A young woman in the USA called her baby Asshole, pronounced Ash Holy. Can you imagine what would happen when the child started school?

Human nature perhaps? My DS is Huw...

We lid on Northumberland and have a lot of place names ending in sick with the w being silent worst name spelling I saw was Derwick (Derek)

Lived in (auto correct shouldn't be allowed on a spelling forum grr)

ethelwulf
You and I must know the same 'Rafe Chumley-Fanshawe'!?

Did you know the name Tiago is James in English and the disciple we call James, is called Tiago.
Hence the place Santiago, capital of Chile is St James. Santiago and Tiago are common names in many latin language speaking counties but rarely heard in UK.

So sometimes the spelling depends on the language. Other times because the parents can't spell!

Lilyflower when you say "All the correctly spelt" names do you mean names that you considered to be correctly spelt? Just because a name isn't spelt the way you expect it to be doesn't necessarily mean it's not the way the parents want it to be

My boys have unusual names partly because, as a teacher, all the common names had connotations for me, none of them terribly good. Although there are times when they have found it frustrating, there are times when it has positive results. It is always a conversation opener for the boys so breaks the ice...particularly with the girls! Secondly, when I ring their schools, etc., people always know who I am talking about without having to specify their classes or which one I am enquiring about. That saves a bit of time.
The frustrating times are when the Passport Office, my boy's work place, etc., refuse to believe his name can be spelled the way it is so change the I for an L. Once people have seen it, they always say the name wrong no matter how much you correct them and because I mispronounced it whilst he was growing up, the Welsh always say it the correct way rather than the one he responds to. However, if that is your biggest problem in life, I reckon you are doing quite well!

I assumecshe meant thectraditional spelling.
I came across alittle girl called Desstannee (Destiny) and also know a girl called Shanece (made up t her mum. )
I do agree that children with similar names are a nightmare for teachers sometimes. I remember two girls in the same class called 'Lisa' - one pronounced with a hard 's' and the other a soft one (Leeza and Leessa) and i suppose it vould be pronounced Lyza as in Eliza. They got really upset if you got the wrong pronunciation. So did Sophie versus Sophia, and Ellie and Ella. With so many classes and ao many names it could get difficult even with traditional names! Anthony with the soft th sound pronounced was another pitfall.

I don't find the OP in the least offensive but I do find it very small minded and possibly xenophobic. Aimee is French (Aimée). It is a perfectly good name. There was a never a moment when names were decided and set in stone. My daughter's name is spelt the old English way - we liked it so why should someone else think their opinion matters a jot? My DGS has a French name with a very Aussie pronunciation. What will people choose to be judgemental about next!

DH , when visiting children 'educated otherwise' met Ariston. His parents liked the white goods!

I have known many children with unusually spelled names including Jorja, D'wayne, Krysteen & Kristel. I would concur with the anecdotal evidence that the children with the 'created' names or 'creatvely ' spelled names tended not to find learning as easy as others with more conventional names. of course there were exceptions Glorya was a real high flyer. As a result of my teaching encounters my DDs, who had a long family name, we chose short first names and traditional spellings.

When my brother was born my gran told my mum she didn't like the 8 letter name chosen as it would be shortened to 3 letter version. She was the only one who ever called him by the shorter name.

I've got an adorable Amy in my life. She has never shown any interest in changing the spelling, but it she did I don't think I would mind too much and would regard it as just a phase. But, as others have said, there are many variations of the name Amy anyway.
I have a neighbour called Jane who has recently inserted a y into the centre... Jayne. I think it's a bit daft, but I can't get up the energy to really care too much about such things.

Oh for goodness sake lighten up GGMK2! How ironic that you wonder what people will choose to be judgemental about next, when you say that you find these posts to be "xenophobic" and "small minded"!

School maybe the place where unusual names are difficult but it is Midwives and Health Visitors who have to tactfully say, "And how are you Spelling that."

A reporter called "Candida", can't remember her surname, said she was lucky. Her father wanted to call her sister and her "Gonorrhea" and "Syphilis" because he thought they sounded lovely!!! She felt she had had a lucky escape... I think so too