BEETROOT!

Yikes, Mackayla is a very weird spelling of a good old name, Michaela, the feminine version of Michael. I suppose these wacky spellings arise when people have only heard a name and never seen it written. Hey ho.

I know someone whose Gd is called Shayla. I presume this is a version of Shelagh/Sheila, a name which, spelled in the Gaelic way is Sile – the letter combinaton 'si' sounds like 'sh' in Celtic languages.

I also had a KC and a JK.

I had business dealings with a man who had changed his name by deed poll to Blake 7 He had kept his ordinary surname though.

I have heard of a number of kids with two letter names such as TJ. Some parents seem to choose to spell a name differently even though it sounds the same as usual. The letter K gets put into a lot
I can understand with names that are essentially from another language say Welsh or Gaelic.

I am still puzzling over the gender of a child named Crimea I encountered at work but never met. We were supposed to put the gender on the form as we took a referral I never did find out on that one.

I had visions of any further children in that family being called Sebastapol or Stalingrad, Marengo, Paschendale,the Somme etc.

At least with these strange names, there's less danger of duplications in classes. Our primary school class had five Elizabeths (or versions like Betty), four Ann(e)s, three Margarets. I may have forgotten some, but there were only 20 girls in the class. The boys were more varied.

I was n a course once with a Family Planning nurse who said she fully anticipated the day when a child would be called Chlamydia.

Reminds me of Wayne and Waynetta Slob who called their daughters Frogmella and Spudulike (Spud-u-lika). Waynetta liked Spudulike because it was 'exotic'.

I worked with a man called Christopher who had a twin sister called Christine, I often wondered whether their parents called them Chris and Chris or Topher and Tine. I hate names with incorrect spellings based on what the parents have heard, names such as Shevaune (Siobhan) and Sharn (Sian). Also not keen on multiple letters such as Aimeee. Really dont like names based on brands such as Levi, Chanel, Nike. While parents are free to name as they feel fit, I do wish they would give thought to that child in adulthood.

I met a doctor's daughter named Retina, also Ace, Spike, siblings Rainbow and Sunshine (known to classmates as Thunder and Lightning) together with Cheyenne Tequila, Wisdom and Dannyboy.
Asking a hippie the name of his tiny son, a babe in arms in the year of the Queen's Jubilee, I was introduced to Jubilee River, his toddler sister was Tree.
Still trying to work out T**a the abbreviated herb name! I was named after an area being fought over in 1940, the only older namesake I've encountered was named after a sunken battleship!!

Erm, I think the name Levi came many centuries before the sports brand!!

Think 'Gone With The Wind', Elrel

Unless I've got it wrong and it actually gives you wind

Surely it's Tarragon shortened to Tara!!Elrel

In my family Terry and Tony's mother had to tell teachers that their names were not abbreviations. Eddie's is but the teacher who wrote Edward on his exercise book was asked to correct it to Edmund. Just met a cute Alfee!!

Sorry merlot crossed post.

I can't get it either, even with your clue, Merlot!

If it's so rude that it needs asterisks, how can a chlld be called it?

Oops, I'm sure your post wasn't there when I typed mine, annsixty!

OK merlotgran, I get the short form, like it. Still musing over longer original - have a leaflet from Jekka's herbfarm somewhere, will have to look. I remember in The Archers that Robert Snell's daughter Coriander became Caz in her teens! Emmeleigh with an umlaut over the second e, pronounced Emily, and Sea4th, Disney ...
On a different website someone mentioned Australian twins named Benson and Hedges, allegedly.

I was just going offline to tidy papers, maybe find the herb leaflet, more types of Basil than expected there. Friend's lovely granddaughter is Apache, a surprise initially but original
Of course - not so obscure a herb as expected, I like it! As well as Saffron or, as I've encountered, Saphron, I've met a Cinnamon. An elderly neighbour was Lascella, Lassie for short, from the surname Lascelles but I've forgotten why.

Tradition in fishing villages around here is to have double barrelled first names-often run together-and the full name is always used. So you get StephanieLouise or MichaelJohn. The other problem is there are the same 3 or 4 surnames common to the area. Can get very confusing.

At my son's school there was a family with daughters Saffron and Hebe. They were both lovely girls and so the names have very positive connotations.

They are lovely names.

I like the idea is using both Christian names. Might try it on the grandsons.

My son knew identical twin girls at his school who were called Clairette and Clairetta

of. not is.

Not sure about Hebe. GAI would be tempted to call her Hebe Jeebie