Am I the only one who likes most of the odd names? Some of the alternatively spelled names are a little annoying, but I like original names. Whether completely invented or otherwise. Common names are so dull (including mine). One of the reasons to have a name is to help differentiate you from others. Weird names really serve that purpose. More Tevins and Tashina Rainbows please. Fewer Johns and Daves…yawn.
I think this is an understandable sentiment, but the problem is the kid has to live with it for the rest of their lives (or at least until they are 18 and can legally change their name). Sure, naming your kid Yurglamu Astaroth may turn out great if they happen to have an extroverted personality, and they can play off it for evermore, but unfortunately you can’t guarantee that, and it’s just as likely they will be bullied at school and become a shy recluse (not that there’s necessarily anything wrong with that, but - don’t make such life-changing decisions on behalf of your kid if you can help it).
Speaking as someone who will have to name our firstborn in a few weeks’ time (joint decision of course), we have more or less decided to go with a common, easily pronounced and spelled first name, and an unusual middle name with an even more unusual spelling that has a particular resonance for us (but still easily pronounced and spelled). That way, if the kid decides they don’t like one or the other, they can simply not use it and go by the other one. OK, which one is actually used will still largely be determined by us for the first few years at least, but at least we are giving them the chance.
Well, that’s the theory anyway - of course it could still backfire horribly in practice. My view is that kids will find some way to tease each other about their names no matter what they are.
I know Encarnas and Resus by the truckload… my childhood BFF’s Mom is a Resu. Perfectly fine Hispanic names (which covers Filipino as well).
My first name is THE stereotypical common girls’ name, and my last name is a common simple noun. I still have to spell my name out for people constantly. This idea that nobody should have to spell their name out is not consistent with reality.
Shouldn’t it be Modgnik Laitselec? Wait, I probably shouldn’t give anyone ideas.
Yeah, our situation is our last name is akin to, say, MacKillan. And at least 30% of the time, people will spell it “MacMillan,” just because that’s more common. And in my head, I’ll be a little, “WTF, where did you get that M?” But I don’t give anyone a hard time, or really get upset. So I can’t imagine deliberately choosing a name that’s impossible for newcomers to spell/pronounce, then getting huffy about it!
Personally, I gave my kids top-100 names (but not top-10), then gave them middle names that absolutely positively pass the “Supreme Court Justice _________” test, just to be safe.
My advice? Nicknames. Give your kid a normal, boring first name, and then *call *them something more unique. That way, the kid can alternate between the two according to the circumstances - for instance, nickname for friends, real name for job interviews.
Myself, I have a normal (if old fashioned) first name, but everyone except for my accountant and dentist calls me by my nickname - my name in a foreign language - and has done so for years.
any teachers want to chime in here? what is the ratio of odd names vs normal names in your classes?
My brother and I, while not twins, have rhyming first names. I always thought it was weird that my parents did that. Although if I was a girl our names would literally only be 1 letter apart!
For instances like this, and for Michael (Michelle) that was mentioned upthread, I wonder if the parents care more about their weird-ass spelling than the kids. I have to write down names sometimes for drink orders at my work, and if I get a Jason or something I just write it the way I know it unless someone tells me. So I wonder if there is a ration of parents who go “NO! it’s JAYCEN!” and the actual kid who says “Jaycen, Jason…whatever you know it’s me”
I always wondered about the spelling of Rachael Ray, the television chef personality. Rachel would be the usual spelling, and somehow when you add an extra A it’s still pronounced the same.
I went to school with a kid that had the last name of Baergen, and they insisted it was pronounced “Bear-Again” with three distinct syllables.
That one always gave me a doubletake. Freaky AE spellings.
But that’s only true because, in association with some of what’s being discussed here, we no longer have a common culture in which everyone feels they can assume they know how to spell “Mary Woods” or whatever your name is. Once the number of Jaycens out there reach a critical mass, people can’t assume when they hear “Jason” that that’s how it’s spelled. So even if your name is spelled Jason, you still have to spell it out.
It doesn’t seem to have hurt Ms Moss. Anyway here ya go.
There’s way more that’s freaky about Rachael Ray. The ae spelling is somewhat common, I went to school with a girl with that name and she was a bit insistent on pointing out the spelling. See also: Kimberly / Kimberley.
And in saying that state where everyone knows how to spell everyone else’s names never existed in the first place. Nor is it likely to exist in today’s diverse societies.
At least we don’t live in China, where names are not phonetic at all.
I know a Joey. J-o-i-e. Pronounced Joey.
Do kids, who aren’t otherwise bullied, bullied because of their name?
I know of a pair of brothers who are named Kelson and Bryon, after two characters in the Katherine Kurtz Deryni novels.
Oh heck yes. Kids make puns out of names, plays on words, and so on. One girl in grade school, who didn’t like me, persisted for a while, on the playground away from teachers, in calling me “Dead Lice” My given name has some of the same letters and sounds.
My wife is a teacher, and I have seen her class lists. Of course, her situation is not quite fair because she teaches in a diverse area of the S.F. Bay Area. So many of her pupils are the kids of Asian immigrants, largely Chinese, Vietnamese, and Indian. Many of them have strange names by our English-speaking standards, especially the Indian kids. By their own standards they may be perfectly ordinary.
For some reason my daughter’s class is chock-full of the children of immigrants from all over the world (although, to be fair, she’s one too*). Names run the gamut from Amarachi to Zainab, although there are a couple of British kids with Gaelic names mixed in there too. Everyone wants their child to be special.
*The last parents get-together we had, we spent the time comparing experiences dealing with embassies - American, Russian, Sri Lankan, Somali, Nigerian, etc. What a world.
You just erased my school years from kindergarten to 12th. Well, OK, in kindergarten most of us couldn’t spell. But since we learned.