What's in a name?
Well, a lot.
Our names are quite central to our identities, so having someone misspell them can feel like an affront. It's the most basic measure of respect to spell someone's name properly.
But what if your parents gave you an intentionally misspelled name?
Whatever the reason, an intentionally misspelled name can have detrimental effects. It could make finding a job harder, for instance.
Some countries even have naming laws for this reason.
People shared their experiences after Redditor ovalseven asked the online community:
"Redditors with intentionally misspelled names like 'Soosin' or 'Mykel,' how has it affected you? Do you regret your parents' decision?"
"Any time we'd go somewhere..."
"My brother's name is 'Dereck' instead of the common 'Derek.' Any time we'd go somewhere that had a gift shop with those souvenirs with names on them like mugs, shirts, keychains, etc he'd be pretty upset about not being able to get one with his name spelled the way our parents spelled it."
"I always felt bad and decided not to get one for myself as a result. Not sure why they spelled it that way. Never really asked."
"But considering my mom is a college grad and my dad is a 10th grade dropout I assume she came up with the name and asked him to write it on the birth certificate and that's how he spelled it."
brackenbonez
There needs to be a gift shop out there for people with misspelled names.
Wonder how much money the owners would make.
"We would frequent..."
"I have a name with a slightly irregular spelling and could never have any of the cool stuff. We would frequent a certain theme park when we were younger to visit some family, and one of my best memories is when my aunt had my name carved out of wood and painted in rainbow letters."
"I'm pretty positive it's still in my childhood room."
jennysubwoofer
It might be!
Why not check?
"Mine is spelled..."
"Mine is spelled 'Carsen' as opposed to the common 'Carson.' It really hasn't affected me at all outside of the occasional misspelling in documents/certificates etc. I have to correct."
CarsenAF
I can imagine that's annoying.
Just one letter off–ARGH!
"I was going to have..."
"I was going to have a relatively normal name, though still not super common. Then for reasons my parents threw an extra vowel in there last minute and it's been a totally annoyance every since."
"Couple it with my last name being pronounced wrong by like 95% of people I've ever met and I couldn't catch a break with my name in writing or verbally."
jennysubwoofer
Frustrating.
To make it worse, I imagine people don't even ask or try to get it right.
"My name is a less popular..."
"My name is a less popular spelling of a very common name, and people would ask for my email over the phone, then get it wrong, and then call back and yell at me because obviously I spelled my own name wrong to them."
tinypiecesofyarn
Because of course you did, right?
What is wrong with people?
"I once had a student..."
"I once had a student named Tequila. When I called her name on the roll, she informed me it was pronounced 'Te-KWEE-la.' Pretty sure that poor kid went through that crap every time she had to be identified by her written name and probably gave up at some point in high school."
twelvesteprevenge
That poor child.
That's definitely following her around her whole life.
"My name is a real name..."
"My name is a real name but not very common in America, I guess. Jeanne, technically pronounced like 'Jean,' but my mom always called me jean-e. When I moved to Colorado everyone I met called me je-Anne. I’d never heard Je-anne in 25 years, but everyone here always goes for that first."
"I was always bummed at the gas station when those keychains only had Jeannie. But other than that, no issues really."
Jefauver
There is a keychain for you out there somewhere.
It's probably in France.
"My first name..."
"My first name is actually fairly common - except it normally ends with two T's and mine ends with only one."
"Needless to say, I frequently have to explain to people how my name is spelled, and it never ceases to amaze me how many people I work with (co-workers, customers, vendors, etc) misspell my name when the correct spelling is right there in my signature block."
GrumpyCatStevens
The fact that people don't actually check signature blocks EVER is incredibly frustrating.
"Knew an Irish girl..."
"Knew an Irish girl called Aisling - pronounced Ash-ling. brought her constant hassle working in a bar in Edinburgh with a name tag trying to tell drunk people how to say it and eventually just giving up and being called Ashley haha."
DifStrokes4DifFolks
Something tells me Irish people outside of Ireland (or the U.K. at large) have a very hard time.
"My name has..."
"My name has a 'y' where it is not at all needed. It's a really common and well known name, but because of that 'y,' hardly anyone knows how to pronounce it. I wish my mom would've not added the ol' razzle dazzle."
raviolitastesgood
Perhaps now is the time to change it, no?
Or would that be too much?
Moral of the story here, people?
Don't give your kid an "interesting" or "unique" name, especially if the spelling is off.
You're just going to make life more annoying for them.
Have some stories of your own? Feel free to tell us more in the comments below!
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