Here’s my problem with the pronunciation of your name. Dunny - pronounced like yours - is Australian slang for toilet. Having read some Australian literature, and plenty of English lit, I have always heard it that way and never as a name. So to me the pronunciation seems wrong, for a totally different reason.
Funny how that works, one of the first details that made NooneSpecial memorable to me was seeing that “Dani” signature. It’s the usual abreviation for a Daniel (daNIEL), in Spain. Pronounced DAnee, with the A like in cat says my Collins.
I don’t mind accepted alternative spellings, I have one, so does my daughter:
Caroline, Carolyn. Katherine, Kathryn, Catherine. Christine, Kristine. John or Jon. Anne or Ann.
Why anyone would take a name and randomize the phonetics is beyond me - I’m a Christina, and its been hard enough not being Kristine on paperwork my whole life. (And, quite frankly, for the most part I’ve given up - I’ll allow myself to be called Kristine or - unless there is a legal reason - won’t correct paperwork with my name misspelled). I can’t imagine how much more difficult it would be if my parents had randomly inserted a “y” or two and maybe an apostophe - maybe “Chys’teena.” Maybe that’s a good name in a Fantasy novel or for a role playing character - but naming your kid that shows an incredible lack of forethought for making their life easier - and for something stupid like how you spell your name.
(Laurie is a fine spelling and is pronounced generally the way you pronounce it. I’d pronounce Caroline with a long i if I saw it, but if corrected, wouldn’t argue with you, its your damn name.)
Hee… I think I’ll add that to the list of “funny ways to get people to pronounce my name RIGHT, dammit!” – right up there with “duh” and “done” (which has TOO short a vowel sound, but works in a pinch) 
I think it would be funny for a woman to be named Martia.
I call my kids by their middle names. My grandmother did it with her children too. I didn’t set out to do that, but the names just flowed better that way. Both of my kids answer to both of their names and don’t seem to be bothered by it, but I admit sometimes there’s a little confusion when I talk to their teachers!
Creative spelling? Hate it.
My name is Bob, but people are constantly pronouncing it backwards.
English Dopers- does Laurie rhyme with lorry? I’ll take your word for it, it is your language.
Almost exactly what I was going to say. Except the Lusty Beaver part - bravo.
I picture the person appearing on a news show or something with his or her name printed at the bottom of the screen. I don’t care what kind of impressive position the person is in, a bad name will look ridiculous. Seeing “Aedin Caughner Niqulous” or whatever the hell that was will be just a tad distracting. That’s when I pause the DVR and call in other members of the household to point and laugh (and completely ignore what the person is saying).
My name is plain vanilla and spelled the way 90% of the human race spells it. My kids have unusual names but only one of them is a deliberate variation on “standard” spelling. We had what we thought was a good reason for the creative variation but in retrospect I’m a little sorry we did it that way.
My grandchildren’s names are also unusual but not far from the norm.
My attitude is that the parents are more responsible than the child for the choice of name and spelling, but the child has to wear that choice. In any case, they own the name and its spelling, and it’s up to the rest of us to accept it. That doesn’t mean we have to like it or follow the same pattern for ourselves and our children.
Some names are funny, others are pathetic, still others are mysteries. Other than that, I can deal with it.
Yes it does, just as Laurel would be pronounced Lorrel and Lauren is Lorren.
Dangerosa - I’m curious: Is the “Christina = Kristine” confusion somehow a midwestern/northwoods thing? My sister is named Christina and when we were growing up in Nevada, nobody ever got her name wrong. After she moved to Wisconsin, though, people were turning her name into Kristine left and right, no matter how often they were corrected. I noticed your location being Minneapolis, which is close enough to my area I thought there might be a geographic connection.
In the Vegas area, Christina is a very common name, but for whatever reason, nobody “gets it” around here.
There is a reason why spelling standardized over the years. Variations aren’t really new: the classic example is “Catherine,” which has had a very large number of variations (e.g., Catharine, Katherine, Katharine, Kathryn, Cathryn, etc.).
A friend of my wife was named Laurie, and she had all sorts of problems with it during school.
Whenever I hear your pronunciation, the spelling “Laurie” is the first one that would come to mind, as well as “Laura” for that version.
I think new parents get it in their heads that they have to somehow, some way, be different and unique. Sometimes they try to do this by picking names that weren’t popular in their own generation, but were in previous generations. But they usually forget that everybody else is having the same idea at the same time. My 3-year old nephew’s name is Logan. Not common when I was growing up, but it’s actually a pretty popular name for new babies now.
So then the next way to be different is making up alternate spellings of existing names, patting themselves on the back for their ingenuity. And then the child has to constantly correct people on their spelling for the rest of their lives. Had an ex-girlfriend named Racheal. e-a. A small variation on the usual, but this applies to her, for instance.
I think there are plenty of names with multiple normally accepted spellings (for the same pronunciation) which are fine. Like Jon and John, for instance. It’s when parents start trying to play with “Huk’d awn foniks” with the names that it gets irritating. A child named Jawn would have grounds for disowning his parents, for example.
Parents – if you desperately need a name that nobody else is using in real life, make up a new one, or go pick something out of a Science Fiction or Fantasy novel. You can easily scar your kid for life without messing up the spellings of existing names. How about Drizzt? Or perhaps Raistlin? Probably best to stay away from LOTR names, at least the main characters – I think some people have actually used things like Pippin or Samwise. You might be safe with a nice Meriadoc. Or how about a daughter named Qwerty? It should be easy for people to remember the spelling. Or you could always do one of those Sci-Fi alien-style spellings, like Q’toleth or X’narda or Z’blith’nql. The possibilities are endless.
Lorrie - I think if you are really that upset about your name you would change it.
But it’s hard to believe. Everyone has problems with their names. If it’s Bob people want to call you Robert, because they “know” that’s what’s “on your birth certificate”.
If your name is Robert, they will call you Bob, because they “know” you prefer it.
I don’t like the trend. I think it makes the parents look self-absorbed and pretentious and insensitive to the poor kid who’s going to have to go through life constantly correcting the spelling. Do these parents imagine that other people are going to see an abortion like “Syndee’” or “Dayvid” and think “wow, how creative and special?” Well, they don’t. They think “poor kid.” Something like “Aedin Caughner Niquolos” is so aggressively “unconventional” it almost seems like the parent is spoiling for a fight. Either that or just desperately grasping for attention. Either way it comes off as obnoxious rather than clever.
Sometimes I wonder if the parents were just illiterate and didn’t know how to spell the name correctly on the birth certificate. “Andruw” Jones comes to mind.
In my maternal family line the name Joseph/Josephine goes back multiple generations. Silly Josef married a Josefina back in the 18th century and that was that. Every subsequent generation has had at least one Joseph or Josephine. Then my parents adopted me. The last of my generation.
But they didn’t name me Josephine. No, that would be simple. Rather they took a random K name to alliterate with my sisters’ name and slapped a Jo on the end. Then they added a double middlename to seal the deal. When you say my full name it’s a mouthful. To make life easier for all involved I go by the initials in my first name or a slurration of those initials.
I am always called MaryJo, JoAnn, BobbyJo, Linda Jo (hunh?) or some variation of Jo that bears no likeness to my name. I have been told Jo cannot be part of my first name. I just joke that I have cruel parents, but when I look at the history of the name in our family - I don’t mind it so much.
Since by the time my daughter was born Joseph was already taken care of by my sister, I had free reign on her name. She should be glad she is a she, as her dad really liked the name Dag (as in Hammerskjold). After some disagreement, we had agreed on Malachi for a boy. We had no agreement for a girls’ name. He liked the “normal” Michelle, Samantha, Kristine. I’m not a fan of those names. I wanted something different, but not butchered. I also (please don’t laugh) prefer names that allow for a formal and nickname. And I don’t like monosyllabic names.
Her first name sounds like Cassidy, but is spelled a bit different to allow her usual nickname Sadie. When she wants to sound adult she goes by Cass. Oddly enough, though, when she was little she only wanted to be called Christina.
Laurie is the most common spelling I’ve seen.
As someone who has a uncommonly spelled common first name I hate them.
I would never do that a child. We went the opposite way for my daughter’s name. She has an uncommon name with the standard spelling.
Yeah, Kristine is Scandinavian/Germanic. Christina is a far more Spanish/Italian name. So I’d think Kristines would have a harder time in Nevada, but here in Minnesota, the Christinas get punished.