For those with uncommon first names or unusual spellings of first names

[laurajetter]

Inspired by a recent thread on interesting names, I am curious about something. For those of you who either have unusual names or names that have a more unusual spelling, do you like that uniqueness, or have you found it a hindrance in your life that you wish you could change?

 

[GoofyDad869]

My last name is Schroeder - pronounced 'Sh-rA-der'. Most people I meet mis-pronounce it, and I even have an uncle who legally changed his spelling to Schraeder so people would pronounce it correctly.

It used to bug me, but not so much anymore. I wouldn't change it.

 

[chasbos]

My maiden name was Colquhoun (Kuh - Hoon)- not an easy one to say or spell.

We did always know when the telemarketers were calling though - people who knew us could pronounce it correctly.

My married name is now Bos - but when you tell people they want to spell it Boss.

 

[LoraJ]

While Lora is not rare, it is not the norm.When asked for my name, I have learned to just spell out my full name (my last name gets mispelled all of the time too) instead of saying it. No biggie. I like the spelling of my name. It's who I am and I wouldn't have it any other way.

Everyone keeps making fun of the name Apple, but I knew a girl named Apple, and that name really made her who she was. And everyone loved her.

 

[PaulaSue]

I wish my GGM never changed "our" last name spelling. It was really a pain growing up. At least I got to change it when I married.

 

[Denine]

My first name is Denine. I hated it growing up, but I like it now since no one else has it.

Of course, I will answer to just about anything. I get called Denise, Deanne and whatever else sounds close.

 

[mickeyboat]

I hated it when growing up - especially when it was coupled with a 13 letter, German last name.

I don't mind so much now. My last name is not too tough, so at least I am only spelling one name for people instead of two. And almost everyone knows who I am just from my first name.

Denae

 

[golfgal]

Both my first and last name were hard to spell, my first name being unusual and my last name having a unique spelling for a common name. It is a pain in the rear to have to spell my name for EVERYONE. When I got married I though I would not have to spell my new last name for anyone but I was wrong, no one knows how to spell our last name and it is pretty common.

There was an article in our paper about a girl whose parents spelled her name Bayli. Poor kid! The other problem is when it comes to legal documents, etc. having a unusual spelling to a name can cause problems.

 

[minkydog]

I married a Greek boy so my last name is quite exotic. I love it! However, I have a very white-bread American first name(Cathy) so that makes it easier. My son's both have normal names, John and Christian. We named our daughter Eleni, a common Greek name, and nobody pronouces it right(except our Greek friends ). She loves her name and never gets upset that she must constantly correct the spelling or pronunciation--not Elaine, not Ellen, not Illini

 

[kelleigh1]

My first name is popular in Spanish culture. Too bad I'm not Spanish. But I've always liked my name. It's Raquel...yes, like Raquel Welch. She is Mexican. I am not.

My last name is Italian...by marriage. My maiden name was among the top 5 most popular last names in the world.

People always ask me why I took my husbands name when I married...well, it makes me totally unique and because anyone who calls my house and can't pronounce it obviously doesn't know me so weeding out telemarketers is easy.

I do always have to spell both names now, but I don't mind. I do hate it when people call me Rachel though because, really, it's not that hard to figure out that CH and QU do not sound anything alike.

 

[laurajetter]

just to clarify, I was mainly referring to unusual first names.... but thanks for all of the replies so far!!

Laura

 

[VSL]

Not me but my boyfriend - his first name is a 'normal' name spelt differently (Jaymie - his parents couldn't decide on Jay or Jamie, so they combined them, although we all call him Jay) and his second name is just uncommon (which I won't post here - he's probably the only one of him in the world!).

 

[mickeyboat]

There was an article in our paper about a girl whose parents spelled her name Bayli. Poor kid! The other problem is when it comes to legal documents, etc. having a unusual spelling to a name can cause problems.

My SIL named her daughter Megan - with a strange spelling. She went to get a copy of her birth certificate in January (almost 16 years later) and it is spelled wrong. She has to go through a whole bunch of rigamarole to get is changed.

Denae

 

[m&m's mom]

I have name problems all around.
My 1st name is Marlene but it is prounced Marlaina.
My middle name, which I go by is Coral. Not Carol and not Corral (that is a pen for animals).
I do programming for our clients which means I have a lot of customer interaction and it is a GIANT pain to repeat and explain my name a millon times.
In school I got called the wrong name because I did not go by my 1st name and then everyone would mispronounce it anyway.
Needless to say, I named both of my kids to go by their first (normal) names but DH decided to call 1st DD by her middle name and it has stuck.
My last name is the name of a European country and everyone gets it wrong too.

 

[SueRS]

My mom wanted me to be unique, so she spelled my name Suzzane. It is Suzanne not Susan. I have never met anyone else with this spelling and most of the time people think I am spelling my own name wrong.

When growing up she (DM) called me Suzzie which was also weird. Now I am Sue. No one spells it wrong. Or pronounses it wrong.

Mind you I named my ds, Abraham, not exactly common.

Have a great day.

 

[goodeats]

My name is not terribly uncommon, but the spelling sort of is. My name is Alison, and generally people want to spell it Allison. I prefer the one L so I don't mind correcting people. Alison is a name with a million type of spellings, though. Allyson, Alyson, Alisyn, etc. When I go to Starbucks and they write my name on the cup, they always spell it Alicen. I don't know why, it's not that uncommon of a name.

Bottom line, I love my name.

 

[SC Minnie]

My name is uncommon in the sense that no one uses it anymore. My mother named me Mona and I hate it. It wasn't too bad before I married since my maiden name was one of the top 3 most common but I took DH's name when we married and it starts with Mo----- and is an unusual spelling. My first and last name together are a tongue twister. Very difficult when dealing with someone over the phone.

Since I disliked my name so much I always said I would name my child a common name, Catherine- she goes by the full name no nickname. I wasn't even thinking that there would be a thousand ways people were spelling it.

 

[froglady]

My first name can be pronounced two different ways (three if you speak Latin), and I don't mind which people use. It can also be spelled two different ways, and I do prefer the way my parents spelled it.

Marcia

Now, I had occassion to phone someone named Maria who pronounces it Ma-rye-a, and she DOES get testy if people mispronounce it.

 

[Otto's Doll]

My name isn't really that uncommon nor unusual, however it is pronounced wrong a lot. It is Jeanne ~ no I sound. Most people want to call me JeannIE, which I will answer to, but really prefer to be called Jeanne. My DD is Karen, but she goes by, and much prefers, Kari (that spelling of Carrie is becoming more popular). I love it, and would have named her Kari instead of Karen if I had thought of it.

 

[cats mom]

Since I disliked my name so much I always said I would name my child a common name, Catherine- she goes by the full name no nickname. I wasn't even thinking that there would be a thousand ways people were spelling it.

Yep, even if you go with a common name, traditional spelling there are probably so many variations you'll still need to spell it at some point.

Of course I contributed to that with DD.
Her name is Aimee.

She has always liked her name and the spelling but was a bit miffed that she could never find personalized stuff with the correct spelling.
I told her not a problem, just take a trip to France and she should be good. She's all for that!