# Jonathan. J-O-N. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 9, 2003, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505 "2003-01-09T14:15:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/41 "2003-01-10T03:48:59Z")
Thank you, **Jonathan Chance**. My brother could have written that. Mainly, he goes by “Jon,” but have had people write it down as “John.” As for my name… it is **Leslie**. Not Lesley (that would be another woman we know, thank you very much), Lesli, Lesly, Lezlie, etc. F\_X ---
**Author:** ![Persephone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@Persephone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Persephone)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/42 "2003-01-10T04:33:37Z")
Funny, I’ve got the reverse problem with my son’s name. It’s John. Just John. J-O-H-N. Not Jonathan. Not Jon. People think that’s strange, for some reason. That’s not strange. You want strange? MY name is strange. I go by a bizarrely-spelled nickname of my _middle_ name. I go by Cristi. C-R-I-S-T-I. It was my mom’s idea. The only explanation she’s ever been able to give is that “it was the thing to do at the time.” My middle name is Christine, quite conventionally spelled. Even has an H in it. Good thing she’s an excellent mother. Otherwise I’d be sending my therapy bills to her. ---
**Author:** ![Super\_Gnat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Super\_Gnat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Super_Gnat)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/43 "2003-01-10T04:47:13Z")
I feel for you, **Johnathan** :d&r: ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/44 "2003-01-10T04:57:14Z")
My dad’s name is John. Gets it mispelled all the time. Oh, and while we’re on the topic: It’s **Robin**. That’s right. Robin. With an ‘i’. Yes, I know that’s the “boys spelling”, and even though I’m not a boy (at least not last time I checked - and although I don’t check all that often, it’s not something that would change without my noticing), I spell my name R-O-B- **I** -N. And I’m a girl. Don’t even start on how my middle name is also non-gender specific. I know that you read my name and thought I was male. Deal with it. I am female. Talk to my parents - they’re the ones that named me. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/45 "2003-01-10T05:35:26Z")
So what is the girl’s spelling? I didn’t know there was a different one. ---
**Author:** ![robinc308](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b782af/32.png) [@robinc308](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robinc308)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/46 "2003-01-10T05:43:39Z")
**sturmhauke** , the girl’s spelling is Rob **y** n and the boy’s spelling is Rob **i** n. However, as I am living proof, there are exceptions to the rule. I have never met a male Robyn (with a y) though. ---
**Author:** ![Skeezix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@Skeezix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skeezix)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/47 "2003-01-10T05:46:04Z")
“I think he spelled it S-M-I-T-H, but he can pronounce it Chonofski if he wanted to.” George Carlin [sub]Yes, it’s spelled “Luxury Yacht” but it’s pronounced “Throat-Wobbler Mangrove.”[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Kyomara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/8edcca/32.png) [@Kyomara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyomara)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/48 "2003-01-10T05:50:52Z")
From one Jonathan to another: I feel your pain. Drives me fucking _nuts_. I have _never_ met a man named “Johnathon,” and if I ever do, he dies. How come no one ever misspells “Christopher?” ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/49 "2003-01-10T08:12:20Z")
"Jonathon Jo has a mouth like an “O” And a wheelbarrow full of surprises… Jonathon Jo has a mouth like an “O” But this is what makes him so funny If you give him a _smile_ Only once in a while _Then he never expects any money_". (A. A. Milne…“When We Were Very Young”) ---
**Author:** ![Tansu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/67e7ee/32.png) [@Tansu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tansu)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/50 "2003-01-10T12:02:21Z")
Damn, kambuckta, I was just thinking of that, and you get in there and post it already. ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/51 "2003-01-10T12:46:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robinc308 \* > \*\ ***sturmhauke** , the girl’s spelling is Rob **y** n and the boy’s spelling is Rob **i** n. However, as I am living proof, there are exceptions to the rule. I have never met a male Robyn (with a y) though. \*\* I’ve met plenty of girl Robins. Robyn Hitchcock is a man. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/52 "2003-01-10T13:16:15Z")
Wow. We should start a support group. However, mine’s just a handle. But it does bug me. Same with my little girls name. It’s ‘Kathleen’, called ‘Kate’. Not ‘Katie’…not ‘Katy’. And certainly not ‘Katty’. Just ‘Kate’. If I could get daycare to believe that (all children’s names must apparently be diminutives) I could be a happy man. J-O-N-A-T-H-A-N ---
**Author:** ![Shade](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2bfe46/32.png) [@Shade](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shade)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/53 "2003-01-10T14:09:58Z")
You think you’ve got it bad. I was christened ‘J-A-C-K’ and get called John 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Abe\_Babe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Abe\_Babe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe_Babe)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/54 "2003-01-10T17:33:27Z")
**Shade** , that’s odd. I was christened as ‘Tom’, but often get called ‘Jack’, but usually with an ‘ass’ at the end of it. A term of affection, I’m told. ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2003, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/55 "2003-01-10T19:28:10Z")
Re: Robin, there was a pitcher for (I think) the Cardinals back in the 60s and 70s, IIRC, named Robin Roberts. Now a sportscaster for ESPN with same name. Female. Used to _really_ confuse me. ---
**Author:** ![JonScribe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/3be4f8/32.png) [@JonScribe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JonScribe)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 12:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/56 "2003-01-11T00:07:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jonathan Chance \* > **We should start a support group.** Hi, my name is Jon. And people can’t spell my name. Please repeat after me: 1. We admitted we were powerless over other people’s spelling of our names and that our lives had become unmanageable. 2. Came to believe that a Power greater than ourselves could spell our names right. 3. Repeated to God, to ourselves and to other human beings the exact spelling of our names. 4. Made a list of all persons who had spelled our names wrong. 5. Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to misspellers, and to beat them senseless with a book of baby names. Anybody for coffee? Yeah, I know it’s only five steps, but why complicate things. ---
**Author:** ![Flamsterette\_X](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/41988e/32.png) [@Flamsterette\_X](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flamsterette_X)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/57 "2003-01-11T00:48:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by robinc308 \* > \*\ ***sturmhauke** , the girl’s spelling is Rob **y** n and the boy’s spelling is Rob **i** n. However, as I am living proof, there are exceptions to the rule. I have never met a male Robyn (with a y) though. \*\* I’ve met a few female Rob **i** ns in my time… and strangely enough, one male Rob **y** n. Robyn is my friend Lesley’s brother… now, is it any wonder he goes by Dan sometimes? 🙂 **sugaree** , I also thought of Robyn Hitchcock. 🙂 F\_X ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2003, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/58 "2003-01-11T01:11:12Z")
Well I used to be StormHawk, then stormhawk because I got lazy, then sturmhauke because out on the wider Internet beyond local BBSes stormhawk was already taken. I’ve occasionally had people online try to chat me up in German, but no sprecken (or typen) zie deutch. ---
**Author:** ![Jonathan\_Chance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jonathan_chance/32/701_2.png) [@Jonathan\_Chance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jonathan_Chance)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/59 "2003-01-14T12:51:23Z")
A follow up…for those with a sense of humor: [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/comics/king.htm?name=Baby\_Blues&refresh=true](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/comics/king.htm?name=Baby_Blues&refresh=true) ---
**Author:** ![MsRobyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90ced4/32.png) [@MsRobyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsRobyn)\ **Post date:** [January 14, 2003, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505/60 "2003-01-14T13:55:28Z")
I’m a female Robin, too. I spell it online with a y so as to avoid gender confusion. I’m funny that way. Robin [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jonathan-j-o-n/147505.md?page=4)