Babies being given unusual names.

Actually it’s not just unusual names that need spelling!
Think of Lindsey.

With an ‘a’ or an ‘e’?
With or without a ‘d’?
An ‘s’ or a ‘z’ with perhaps a ‘y’ or an ‘i’ at the end?

Urmstongran

I always think of Lindsey with an e is female, Lindsay with an a is male (I have met both)
I also met a Linsey and a Linzi!

My S had a girlfriend many years ago whose name was Sheila, I suppose it still is.
One of my friends who always thought herself a cut above everyone else announced one day that her Son had a new girlfriend whose name was Shelagh, NOT the common spelling as my S’s girlfriend had.

? a better class of sheilas; were they ozzie ?

I do feel a bit sorry for the teachers in reception who have to remember all the children's names really quickly. Must have been easier when you had a couple of James, a couple of Katies, Emmas Gemmas Jacks. The newest babies all seem to have names that haven't been used before so Ardens & Eiras & Navys & Aliunas & Nevas & Kalia-Raes & Treys. However do they remember them all? I would have struggled even with the traditional names.Do like unusual names though & wish I'd been more imaginative naming my own.

As 'sheila' is a name of Irish origin. Shelagh is probably nearer to the original spelling.

This happened a lot in the late 19th century in England. Caitlin became Kathleen; Mairin became Maureen, Noirin became Noreen, Sile became Sheila.

The Anglicisation of foreign names, which we do to this day.

I do know a Sheelagh - perhaps her mother wanted to make sure people knew it was Sheela

I know two women called Eira too, it's Welsh, but I haven't come across any little Eiras so far.

Caoimhe anyone?

Caoimhe is an Irish name and reasonably popular in Ireland at the moment. It's pronounced Kweeva.

? Yes

I expect someone somewhere has spelt it Kweeva.
Neeve and Shivawn are not that uncommon!

I knew of a lady who was the youngest daughter in a huge family, and her parents had run out of ideas, so she was registered and Christened 'Girl'.

I find that great-grandparents names are coming back in style. We used to tease that my MIL's sisters sounded so old fashioned; Mary, Millie and Nellie. Now those names are very popular again.

Grandparents will have to wait a generation I think. No babies with Susan, Debbie, Cathy, Linda or Pam that I have heard of recently!

My family is mixture of French/British, so my parents tried to pick names that could be pronounced in both. My sister Martine always hated her name because she was the only one around, always had to spell it, and my parents berated her for not rolling her r's properly. Granted it does sound much nicer with a french accent, but it is more common now, and she has grown to accept it.

There's a thread running on mumsnet at the moment about the name Shay, and some posters are dismissing it as chavvy and common.
This is seriously annoying Irish posters who are pointing out that names like Shay, short for Séamus, and Liam and Conor, also regularly regarded as 'common' on mumsnet, are actually perfectly respectable and traditional Irish names.

I have to admit, as an Irish person, it does rile me when our lovely old names such as Kevin and the ones I've mentioned become really popular in England and then seem to acquire a chavvy reputation.

My DGS has a name which is quite a common boys name in Ireland, but a girls name in the US.

I was given an unusual first name and we also had an unusual surname, so I was often having to spell both. Also, the two names did not really run together. I was teased at school about both my names and dreaded the first day of a new school year when the teacher went round the room asking our names. When I said my name the whole class tittered and, as a shy little girl, I was so embarrassed. My parents were lovely and I'm sure had I told them they would have done something about it. When I left school I changed to using my second name which helped me but now my parents are gone I sometimes wonder if they were upset about that as I never asked them. When I had my own babies I gave them simple (but nice) names that no-one could tease them about. I think children are not so cruel these days as many of them have unusual names and (hopefully) no-one laughs at them.