Pronounced: "why-would-you-do-that"?

Question

I was just wondering why moms pick a name that NEEDS a (pronounced: phon-et-ic sp-ell-ing) in parentheses after the name?

Do you plan on including that every time the name is written? if yes, that would be stupid. if no, you realize you're picking a name that will be mis-pronounced all the time?

Answer 1

I hate those names. My name was almost Kateri(Ka-ter-ee). See, it really needs the phonetic spelling. But, my parents came around and named me Paige.

Answer 2

Too funny ... and yes, often sad. :(

Like when you see some obvious monstrosity such as Mahddysionne (pronounced "just like Madison"). LOL Honestly, phonetic pronunciation guides should not be necessary for horribly common names. It's so sad when parents' purposeful illiteracy reflects on the child.

Now I can understand if it's a less common, but very real, name and parents just want to ensure others have all the facts before commenting. For example, Imogen is fairly straightforward, and most with a modicum of higher education or literary interest will easily recognize it. Yet I've seen others simply assume it said IM-o-jeen, rather than IM-o-jen, on more than one occasion. I realize the misspelling trend has gotten out of hand, but why would someone drop the "e" from Imogene and still say it exactly the same? That's just odd. LOL So if I mention that -- or any other equally real, but possibly unfamiliar options -- I might make a note of the proper pronunciation. Not because it SHOULD be difficult, but because I realize it might be for someone unfamiliar with it.

And in those cases, I don't think the occasional real-life correction is such a terrible thing. After all, the world could use more well-named children, even if those names aren't dime-a-dozen top tens. ;)

Note: Spell-check actually RECOGNIZED the travesty above as a misspelling of Madison, if you can believe that! LOL Couldn't help but throw that in there! ;)

Answer 3

Yeah, they wnt people to know how it is pronounced. Some names you can look at the spelling , but it can sound totally different to other people. They do that to break it down, so people can give an honest answer. They probably will incude it all the time, so people can understand how to say it. Maybe not all the time when they write it down , if they take their child to a doctors appointment.

* I have to disagree I named my boy a very unique name and some people do come close to pronouncing it right. Most Hispanic people get it right most of the time. I like his name and would never change it. When he goes to school he can let the people know how it is suppose to be pronounced. At least he will know that he is being called. I can't stand when someone might say "hey Jennifer or John, and a lot of people turn to look around. Too many people naming their babies the same names, I like to be different. God Bless! :)

Answer 4

I glad I am not the only person who thinks this.
I understand the need to want to select a name that is unique & different. A name that stands out. But, I do not understand the need to change the name or be so creative with the spelling that the majority of people will mispronounce it constantly or need a phon-et-ic sp-ell-ing of it. :)
Unfortunately, it is the child who suffers and they had no control over the name they were given.
There are 2 girls in my daughters class in the same situation and as a result they have given them self a nickname so it is easier on everyone. Now, the name that their parents select for them is not even being used.
Hopefully, parents begin to realize this and select names that are "user friendly" :)

Answer 5

If you do need to put it in parentheses that is a name that will be mis-pronounced a lot. But, then again some people spell names so simple but pronounce it differently.

For example: This girl name is Alyssa but is pronounced A-lee-sha. And her daughter name is Laela but is pronounced La-Ella.

Picking a child's name is a win/ lose situation. You will never have the right name just a name.

Answer 6

I know, but even common, easy names get mis-pronounced often. I've heard Michael prononced Mikhail, I've heard Chris pronounced Chrees, I've heard Anna pronounced Ana, anyone can butcher any name at any time. And with the global diversity increasing every day, different names in different languages will be everywhere and the butchering will increase exponentially.

Frankly, you just have to pick what you like and resign yourself to having to correct pronunciations regularly throughout your life.

Even Tom, Dick and Harry will get Tome, Deek and Arry.

Edit: I think it's funny when someone with a completely misleading spelling gets mad when you pronounce his/her name phonetically. It's one thing to have to correct for foreign accents (like Michael/Mikhail, Chris/Chrees, Anna/Ana) but remember the singer Sade? That's Sade, right? No! It's Sharday!

Answer 7

I totally agree! Or how about the death to all vowels that's going around. For example:

Myckynzy

Lylly

Tylyr

Lyndsy

And so on and so on. Do those even look like words to you?

People, the English Language uses vowels for a reason...

Also, how about just strange spellings of now common names. I worked in the attendance office in college and there were ALWAYS a million Brittanys. Spelling it differently doesn't make her less a Brittany. However, my favorite spelling was: Britneigh. LOL, I could never say it without neighing like a horse at the end. Brit-nay-a-ay.

Answer 8

Here's the reason I hate kreatyyve spellings with a fiery passion:

My given name is Katherine, but I've gone by Kate since I was little. In junior high, I got really sick of being Kate C. "Hey!" I thought. "I can be unique and spell Kate in a different way!" So I doodled some spellings on my notebooks and played with them for a couple days. (Kait? Caite? Kayte? Caytie?) and settled on Kayt. It was similar to Kate, but looked so much coooooler.

That was eight years ago. I still use Kayt instead of Kate, but I would never ever do that to a kid. It's such a pain in the butt to correct everyone on the spelling and pronunciation. I can see Katie instead of Kate, but where do people get Kah-yit? Kat? Kitty? Kai? Kelly? I have trouble getting my work email because it's [e-mail]. People always seem to send stuff to [e-mail], so I don't get it, and they can't find my work IM account, and it's a pain in the butt.

I like underused classic names, like Daphne, Charlotte, Theodore, and Sebastian. They're uncommon enough they won't be Daphne H., but people won't close one eye and make that RCA Victor dog face trying to say their name.

I can't STAND goofy misspellings of names, and I hate using the word 'unique' to describe names anymore. Daphne will be a unique name to have, but it gives me an eye twitch to say that, because unique has become synonymous with "trendy and stupidly misspelled" in my mind. I won't get that bent out of shape if someone suggests something like Katharine instead of Catherine. I know there are a couple of ways to spell Catherine, so it doesn't bug me that much. Same with Isabelle/Isobel, Makenna/McKenna, etc. I can't stand Kathyreinne, Itzabyellyah, Mackynneah, the obviously overkilled spellings. I had a lady who was interviewing me spell my name (Katherine) as Kathyreinne. I spelled it out for her, and she laughed at me and told me her daughter's name was Kathyreinne, because Katherine looked sooo boring. I didn't get the job, and I was glad. I couldn't have looked at her with a serious face knowing what she did to that poor child. Like my dad's coworker's child: Kynduhll Pahtryshiah. It just makes the baby Jesus cry, people.

Answer 9

lol there was a post earlier about a woman who wanted to name her DAUGHTER Braydleigh...
It's not like she will be wearing a name tag her whole life!

Plus you see that in Hockey all the time. Players last names are pronounced something totally different than what it reads.
Like one players name is Towes but it is pronounced Taves.

Confusing!

Answer 10

Yea I know what you mean but parents are just trying to give their babies names that are unique so there are not like 5 other kids in their class with the same name. But if they make it to weird, that would be even worse I think.

Answer 11

I love unusual names. My name is Kisha (Key-Sha). When I was growing up, I didn't know anyone else with the same name until I was around 8 or 9. It's now a fairly popular name with African-Americas, but not so much when I was growing up. Many people, including myself, thought it was a made up name. It's actually a Russian name that means Kitten, or a Slavic name which means Rainfall. Keisha is American and means great joy.

I have to spell my name constantly because it's an alternate spelling to Keisha. Because I grew up spelling my name, I always ask people how they spell/pronounce their names. It's not a big deal. I still run across people who have never heard my name before, and we spend time discussing it. It use to irritate me, but when I complained about my name, people said they loved it.

When I went to college, I realize that people, especially teachers, learned and remembered my name first. It's easier to remember Kisha vs. 3 Tiffany's, 2 Amy's and 5 Heathers that were in my class. It made it harder to skip class, but I liked that people knew my name.