# What's worse: "creative" name spelling, or "creative" name pronunciation? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2015, 12:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699 "2015-06-05T12:51:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/21 "2015-06-06T01:00:09Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > I have a niece who gets upset when people call her “Sarah” instead of her name, “Sara”. Come to think of it, though, she may just be BSing her Uncle. > [@Procrustus](#): > > aren’t they pronounced exactly the same? Yes, they are to everybody in the world except her. But she says she can hear that “h” on the end. ---
**Author:** ![Arrendajo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arrendajo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arrendajo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/22 "2015-06-06T01:25:31Z")
In terms of pretentiousness, atypical pronunciations of standard spellings are the worst. It dooms the kid to correcting the pronunciation of his name every single time a person learns for the rest of his life, or until he leaves home and changes his name into something less pretentious. I see – and say the names of – 60 or 70 babies every week, so I’m on the cutting edge of baby name trends and pretentiousness. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/23 "2015-06-06T01:28:33Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > My pet peeves are all the horrible mispronunciations of Caitlín and misspellings of Siobhán. It’s fine to leave out the diacritical marks, but pronouncing it [Kate-Lynn] is bad and spelling it “Shavaughn” is worse… > > So I voted “equally” > > [Relevant Key and Peele sketch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw) The Kate-lynn pronunciation is quite reasonable given the usual standards of English spelling, and the Shavaughn spelling is much clearer than the original to most gEnglit speakers ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/24 "2015-06-06T02:20:53Z")
How is The Athlete Formerly Known As Bruce Jenner Pronouncing her new name? On the news, all I hear is “Kate-Lynn.” ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 3:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/25 "2015-06-06T03:44:35Z")
If I tell you how my name is pronounced, regardless of how it is spelled, why would you say it differently? I just told you how to say it. I had this happen at my doctor’s office last week. I told the receptionist my name three times, spelled it for her and then gave her my date of birth. Once she got the DOB she _immediately_ said my name wrong to me. This is why I angrily correct people. It’s your first time mangling my name. I’ve been hearing it mangled for 46 years. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/26 "2015-06-06T04:09:50Z")
> [@Reeses\_Monkey](#): > > If I tell you how my name is pronounced, regardless of how it is spelled, why would you say it differently? I just told you how to say it. Playing Lucifer’s Barrister – because I promptly forgot after you walked away and just read it off your name badge or the form in front of me and said it the way its spelled? No excuse for the exact instance you mentioned; she may well be an idiot. But if its happened for a lot of years some of the surprise and indignation should have worn off by now. Consider me curious and be warned I may not respond until Sunday; are you talking first name or last name? My last name is simple - two syllables and five letters. And in a month I can count the number of people who get it right/say it correctly on one hand. And I’ve had long-term friends who almost never get it right even after having been corrected many times. It happens - it’s just nothing to get upset or surprised about. It just makes it all that much special when someone gets it totally right - pronounces it in the Cyrillic alphabet instead of the English/Latin one. ---
**Author:** ![dinahmoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8797f3/32.png) [@dinahmoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dinahmoe)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/27 "2015-06-06T04:49:33Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Nothing in names bugs me more than Megan being spelled Meghan. Where do you stand on “Meaghan”, pronounced MEE-gan? I have had this name for 45 years. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/28 "2015-06-06T05:01:03Z")
I think they’re both bad, but went with creative spelling because I can learn an alternate pronunciation (Im looking at you, Candace pronounced Can-DAY-see) but I can’t unsee the eyeball stabbing spellings. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/29 "2015-06-06T06:19:48Z")
I pronounce it FRONK-en-steen. ---
**Author:** ![nicole1912](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9de0a6/32.png) [@nicole1912](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nicole1912)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 11:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/30 "2015-06-06T11:18:44Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > aren’t they pronounced exactly the same? I would pronounce them differently - the first a sounds different. In Sarah, it’s an “ai” sound, like in air, (unlike the second ‘a’, which is short), while it’s an “ah” sound in Sara. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/31 "2015-06-06T13:25:04Z")
> [@gallows\_fodder](#): > > i feel like you’ve committed some sort of heinous violation of the Social Contract if you give your kid a conventional name with a weird pronunciation. Like if you choose to name your kid James but spell it Jaymz, you might trip some people up, but most English-speakers will look at that name on a list and pronounce it right. If you name your kid James but pronounce it Jah-meez, there is no one on this blighted planet who is going to figure that out and you’ve now doomed your son to 90 years of correcting every single person he ever encounters in his lifetime. Not to mention that every person he encounters is going to thinks he and/or his parents are backwards illiterate hicks who can’t even pronounce a basic name. I think that’s worse than thinking you’re a try-hard special snowflake. I don’t think they are illiterate hicks, to me they come across as pretentious assholes. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/32 "2015-06-06T13:26:21Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > I pronounce it FRONK-en-steen. Do you also say Frode-rick? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 2:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/33 "2015-06-06T14:02:53Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > My pet peeves are all the horrible mispronunciations of Caitlín and misspellings of Siobhán. It’s fine to leave out the diacritical marks, but pronouncing it [Kate-Lynn] is bad and spelling it “Shavaughn” is worse… > > So I voted “equally” > > [Relevant Key and Peele sketch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd7FixvoKBw) In the U.S. it IS pronounced Kate-Lynn. If you want to pronounce it any other way you will be committing a “horrible mispronunciation.” Sorry, but that ship has sailed. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/34 "2015-06-06T14:47:45Z")
I wouldn’t use the terms “pretentious” or “atrocious”, but they both give me pause by the same small amount. ---
**Author:** ![bengangmo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@bengangmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bengangmo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/35 "2015-06-06T15:52:54Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > Yes, they are to everybody in the world except her. But she says she can hear that “h” on the end. They’re pronounced differently. Sara has short, hard A. Sarah has longer vowel sound. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/36 "2015-06-06T15:57:18Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > They’re pronounced differently. > > Sara has short, hard A. Sarah has longer vowel sound. My son says roughly the same thing. In my world, though, they are completely interchangeable. And while I can hear a very subtle difference when he says the names slowly and carefully, I am not able to tell which is which if he says just one in isolation. ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/37 "2015-06-06T16:07:58Z")
I like some innovative pronunciations and some innovative spellings; I find others unattractive, because some sounds are pleasing and others are jarring; likewise, some letter combinations are unexpected and clever and lovely, and others are crude and ugly. I like the former and dislike the later. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with giving your kid an innovative name. It’s a huge multicultural world out there and name variation is tremendous even if you stick only with people who have traditional names in their own culture–because cultures mix a lot now. And names are always changing. The residents at my grandmother’s nursing home all have their names posted on their doors, and THOSE are some weird ass names. Honestly, I think it’s worse to give your kid a name like David Michael Brown, Juan Garcia, or Alejandro Hernandez. These are so common. It can be hard to find a person’s email, say, if the organization has 20 Jose Gonzalezes. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/38 "2015-06-06T16:18:52Z")
If you’re going to get creative with names or spelling or both, write out the name and then look it up in the dictionary and ask educated people to read it, so you won’t name your kid Chimera, Maleria, Euretha, or Mariwanda. ---
**Author:** ![Reeses\_Monkey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reeses_monkey/32/2885_2.png) [@Reeses\_Monkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeses_Monkey)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/39 "2015-06-06T16:28:53Z")
My first name is the one people get wrong. Ironically, my parents spelled it phonetically so that I wouldn’t have this problem. My maiden name is Davis. No problems there. ---
**Author:** ![opmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/9d8465/32.png) [@opmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/opmike)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2015, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699/40 "2015-06-06T16:52:47Z")
> [@bengangmo](#): > > They’re pronounced differently. > > Sara has short, hard A. Sarah has longer vowel sound. To the majority of the English speaking world, they are pronounced EXACTLY the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-worse-creative-name-spelling-or-creative-name-pronunciation/721699.md?page=3)