> And that brings up an interesting topic--
> people who give their children otherwise normal
> names, but spell them in a way that isn't so
> ordinary. I mean, we've got plenty
> of "Britney"s and "Ashleigh"s cropping up;
> nobody's content to just spell it Brittany or
> Ashley anymore. I even know a Marylen and a
> Jennipher who were in my school's symphonic
> band.
>
> Now as much as I like the individualistic
> spirit of the parents who give their children
> such names, it's really more of a hassle than
> it may at first seem. Often it's impossible to
> just take a wild guess at the spelling of
> someone's name, and instead we have to resort
> to asking a series of ridiculous-sounding
> questions regarding exactly how it's spelled.
> If we do just take the most obvious guess at
> the spelling, it's bound to be wrong, and the
> person in question may become rather annoyed at
> having their name misspelled, especially when
> it's done repeatedly. That's not a bad thing
> for a name that already has several well-
> established variations ("Catherine", for
> instance), but seriously-- there should be some
> sort of limit to it.

I think parents like that are completely oblivious to the trouble they're causing. It's a hassle not only to their children but to everyone else. It's annoying to have to try to remember who's Kelly and who's Kelli and who's Qhäliey or whatever. It's also very obnoxious for people whose names are spelt normally. According to Eric.com, 69% of all Erics spell their name "Eric". That means that 31% spell it, to put it bluntly, wrong. Even though my spelling is more than twice as common than every other spelling put together, people are constantly writing it with a K. It is parents who want to be clever or "different" who make it a hassle for normal folk. Grr.

-eriC "I've seen it spelt 'Eriq'. That's just evil." sleator
Tue 19 Jun A.D. 2001