Recently I've been working with a Haileigh. I have to stop and think when writing out her name.
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SubscribeWhy do some people take a perfectly good name, and complicate the spelling of it?
For example, Amy, becomes Aimee? (that spelling always makes me want to say it with an extended "eeeeee" sound )
Tin helmet on standby ready for all the Grans with daughters or granddaughters called Aimee.
Recently I've been working with a Haileigh. I have to stop and think when writing out her name.
One of dgd's little (girl)friends is called beau. As someone who speaks French, I find that spelling very strange for a girl!
Slightly off topic - I know a Joan who was meant to be Carol, but her father was sent to register her, and had forgotten the chosen name by the time he got there. Instead of going back to check with the mother, he plucked a name out of the air, and that name just happened to be Joan!
I am a genealogist and when finishing a project, I ask clients to give me details of their children/grandchildren etc to add. I HAVE to ask not only for spellings, but also what sex they are, as I often cannot tell...
recently had one that was called JAE-JAY !!
Jennifer, is that spelt with a G dear? Grr no I spell it the proper way
My gd hated her name so much that she changed it to Lizzie, her middle name and would only answer to it it. How about Twinkle, Stardust, Moon or even Cloud. All names I have met in an alternative area of Somerset.
My late father was in his coffin before my mother found out his proper name! I kid you not! He had been called Willie his whole life. I was the one who filled out all their paperwork for them as mum and dad were not great with that sort of thing. I therefore knew his 'proper' name was Wilfred. Mum saw Wilfred on the name plate of the coffin and insisted it was wrong. Even his younger brothers assumed he was William. I actually had to fetch his birth certificate to show them all as the undertaker was getting tetchy with me insisting it was the right 'proper' name and mum and his brothers saying it wasn't. If I'd realised the angst it would cause I'd have told them to have the name plate as plain 'Willie'. My husband has always been known by his second name. My daughter has a Spanish name. She loves it. However when she was at school a very snobby teacher told the class that parents who can't give their children anything else give them a moniker that will stand out. I was beyond mad. I chose my daughter's name as it was the name of a very dear friend.
A mother has won the right to remove her child's middle name which she says has unfortunate connotations. It is against the father's wishes, has cost thousands and she was granted legal aid.
I wonder why.
Not so long ago there was a news article about a man who had apparently ' duped' his wife into accepting the name Lanesra for their new born girl. This 'romantic' and 'unusual' name was actually the name of his favourite football team spelt backwards. The mum saw the funny side - good job!
www.news.com.au/lifestyle/parenting/babies/the-hilarious-story-behind-this-baby-girls-name-has-gone-viral/news-story/f997f81fe96f7519a0dfc1e93b09f7f7
We named our second daughter Laura; a few years later friends named their daughter Lora, because they liked the name. When I see these strange spellings, I usually say quietly, "Mother couldn't spell then"!
Must admit I do wonder about the intelligence of the parents who named their daughter Shardonnay.
We are all being ever so polite. I remember the hoo-ha created a few years back on another forum when people suggested some names screamed "chavvy" or were just plain 'common'. I think Mumsnetters were up in arms because some of the names they'd chosen for their children hit the lists.
Oh I know we shouldn't judge. But we do.
Especially in America there seems to be a wierd tendency to give kids (particularly boys) names of inanimate objects. I first noticed this when reading Stephen King's Pet Semetary, where the little boy is called Gate.
Why?
Whatever next? Fence? Tree? Wheel?
And, BTW, I never finished the book and haven't read any Stephen King since.
Not that I am trying to avoid housework today or like it ...
There could be more to all this naming malarkey than we know ladies:
www.sciencefocus.com/feature/psychology/namesanything
Just saying ...
GD1 is Josée, pronounced the Spanish way, though I don't think it's a girl's name in Spain. She is forever having to explain that she isn't Josie or Josephine. Luckily all the other GC have 'normal' names, easily spelt.
I saw a game on facebook a few weeks ago where you took the first three letters of your father's first/Christian name and the last two of your own name to come up with a new 'name' for a child (poor little devil). In my case, Charles + my own name produced 'Chayn'. I'm waiting to hear if it takes off Weel, if you can have 'Gate', anything could happen...
Well, not weel.
My father was known to family, friends and colleagues as Jim. This was neither his first nor middle name. Nor was his name James. He is first name was actually Ernest. Blinko's game makes me Ernne the Unpronounceable or Jimne the Cricketing Sweep! Or Sweeping Cricket.
A friend's DH was from a Francophone country, their DD was Josiane. Frequently her teachers assumed Josie-Anne, so did I!
A Genny was often asked why she spelt her shortened name Iike that. She wasn't Jennifer but Genevieve or possibly Geneviève!
In my case, Blinko`s game produces Lewne, I don`t think it`ll take off. If I use my middle name it comes out as Lewis, my father`s actual name.
The naming of some children borders on cruelty. Life is hard enough wihout having to spell your name all the time and if you have a nice ordinary name you can go easier through life.
GIve your children classy names like Kate's mother did so that they can fit any role and it looks good on their degree certificate or on the heading of their business correspondence.
Give them a name they can grew old with. Some babies are named as if they will stay 6 months old.
On the subject of names - whatever happened to good old names for dogs like Rover, Rex, Fido, Spot, Bruno, Lassie? Or Tiger, Misty, Ginger, Puss for cats?
Dogs (and cats) these days seems to have proper names that children may have.
eg Harriet, Poppy, Maisie, Beatrice, Bella, Max, Jack, Oscar, Sam
I worked with someone whose cat was called Colin. And recently on Facebook, someone had lost one called Roger. DS1 until recently had an aged moggy called Monkey.... I won't go into the reasons.
Our cat was an RSPCA rescue cat - named ' Tiger' but such a wee scrap of a thing and no stripes when we first got her ...turns out she is a tabby after all, but you would never have known as she was just a matty grey all over. She was semi-ferrell when we got her and would scratch your hand to bits to get a treat held out to her. So, we thought ' savage tiger ' ... Lily Savage ... tiger-lily .... and Lily she is! A lot calmer these days . I do sometimes feel a wee bit of a blush coming on when I find myself telling someone about her and they say 'Oh that's my daughter / mum / sister's name'!
My nephew's cat was called Milo - until their first baby came along, a boy, and they decided they liked the name so gave it to their son, and their cat has become 'cat'!!
I always think of that chocolately malt drink - Milo
chocolately - is that a new word?
Krystle is one name that springs to mind.
Surnames can be a bigger problem. Many Russian immigrants are the beginning of the 20th century, and German refugees in the 1930s anglicised their names to render them less prey to bullying and racism. This practice makes tracing one's family rather difficult!
My father kept his surname intact, but no one could pronounce it and when I was at school I was teased and bullied about it but never wished my father had anglicised his name to fit in.
Still, I think that's a different issue. Sorry to wander off topic a bit!
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