Possibly risking offending some, but genuine question.

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

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

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 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!

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

X post Jalima!

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.

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

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

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 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.

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 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.