Baby Naming 101: Spell It Right!

In the never-ending quest to be unique, some parents today think the best way to do that is to use "kreeaytiv" spellings. I'm going to flat-out say it: spelling a name incorrectly is not cute.  Yes, I'm calling it "incorrect" not "creative."

If you think I'm being harsh, I apologize, but I know that many of my fellow name-bloggers would back me up on this.

Professor Kara is in the classroom.

Ponder for a minute. What are you doing to your child? Yes, it might seem cute to see a baby named Braylynn or Kaedynn, but what happens when they grow up and need to apply for a professional job? There are people who argue that a name should have nothing to do with their intelligence and credentials for said job, but could you really imagine the President of the United States being named Aiedynn Kristhian Smith when Aidan Christian Smith would be so much nicer?

Imagine 50-60 years from now when a whole new flock of babies are being born (hopefully with some really great vintage names, if this cranky old lady has a say), and the children of the 2010s are brand-new grandparents.  "Let's go to Grandpa Leeum and Grandma Abygayle's house!"  Liam and Abigail are wonderful names in and of themselves, but they're not so wonderful with those unnecessarily complicated spellings.

Keep in mind that these are real spellings from real babies born in 2012. I'm not just making these up!

While I understand that we are free to express ourselves any way we want through our children's names, I only wish it would be taken more seriously.

Misspelling a name is not cute. It does not automatically make the child unique from his peers. Considering that names are used verbally so often, the "unique" Klohie really is no different than all of the girls named Chloe. The difference is that Klohie will have issues for the rest of her life having to spell it to everyone she meets, and all of the Chloes won't.

Even more confusing than that are the following real misspelled names. Some of them don't even seem like a name! See if you can guess what it is supposed to be:

Boys:  

Celebrating 60 wonderful years together:
Rhyley Jaxxyn Miller and his lovely
wife Serynity Kaydynse Miller.

Nope, sorry, I refuse to picture it!

Izaiya
Koltynn
Graisyn
Zakori
Jysaiah
Kuper
Shaughn
Markeise
Sylys
Jailon
Icker
Daviyon
Kamaury
Khyri
Jaxsten
Akiles

Girls:

Awbree
Madylyn
Kleigh
Aerionna
Mikaelah
Miaya
Juliyanna
Skarlet
Lundynn
Jenesys
Trenidy
Jizel
Kynzley
Preslea
Deissy

Personally, I'd rather be unique by finding names that are actually rarely used. Its even better when they have a history behind them and one or two standard spellings.

There are many wonderful names that don't even rank in the Top 1000 like:

Minerva #3936
Eugenia  #4492
Andromeda #4565
Augusta #4693
Eloisa #4844
Helene #3851
Bryony #8661

Leopold #2184
Benedict #1736
Amadeus #2431
Viggo  #3680
Richmond #3952
Indiana #4032
Ewan #1245

I could go on and on. I'd much prefer these rarely used names to anything that has been tinkered with. Sophia will always be better than Sofeeya, even if it is the number one name in the country.

Above all else, remember that babies grow up to become a wide variety of people. What seems cute at the time may totally clash with who they become. For an extreme example (and some giggles) could you imagine this man named Braxxtyn or Gavynn or Loukas?

I would name him Isaac (not Izzak)

What do you think about this issue? Do you think it is fine that parents are running amok and refusing to use tried-and-true spellings? Do you think there should be some kind of baby-naming-movement that strongly, but lovingly, imposes correct spellings on new parents?  Where do YOU draw the line?

Let me know in the comment section below!