Lets talk spelling!

Misspelled names are one of my biggest pet peeves. Ask someone why they chose to spell their child's name a certain way and you will get any number of reasons. "Madyson is so unique compared to Madison. It makes her stand out." "Codee looks so feminine!" "Changing the -son ending to syn, sin, or sen makes it feminine." "We spelled Kyle, Cyle because all of our names start with "C". I have seriously witnessed people making similar claims on various internet baby naming forums. There is no reasoning with people who have this type of mentality. Here are some of my most hated misspellings..

Unnecessary letters:
Jaxxon/Jaxsen/(One "X" will suffice. You don't need an "X" and "S" because the "X" replaces cks)

Maddison, Addisson, Maxx , Robb etc

Blayke, Jaycob, Jayson, Brayden, Grayce , Shayne, Zoey(We know how to pronounce it. Stop making yourself look illiterate.)


Not enough letters:
Bret, Mat, Nicol, Ema, Clair, Mathew, Noa, Tod etc

Spellings that don't make sense ...
Kalob(Caleb)
Alivia(It's not "A", it's "O" or ah)
Tra(Supposedly, it's pronounced like Trey)
Dontra(Supposed to be DON tray)
Carlye(Supposed to be Carly)

Male names that are spelled to look "feminine"
Anything that ends in son changed to sin, syn, sen etc
Jaymes
Kodi
Finlee
Layne
Kellyn
Dillyn
Brendyn
Preslie

Girls with boy names

People always ask me why I have a name like Dylan or Taylor on this blog. If you see a name like this that appears to be normal, it was probably a girl's name. I can't even begin to describe how much I hate when girls are given male names. I see nothing wrong with a name like Dylan or Taylor for a boy, but not for girls. People always give lame excuses as to why they want to name their daughter Carson or James. (Yes, people are naming girls James these days) Common excuses are: It's a "family" name. It sounds "girly" to me. Surnames are "unisex". A big LMAO goes out to that one. (FYI, surnames are male and many have male meanings like son of. There are exceptions like Jane but that's another story) Another common excuse that people give is that they want their daughter to have a unique name. Hello? If boys and girls have the same name it's actually more popular than using an uncommon female name like Iris or Frances. Some women claim that they would use a "unisex" or female name on a boy or a girl but they never do. They would name their daughter Michael in a second but they would never name their son Madison. And my personal favorite.. "I want my daughter to have a strong name." AHHHHHHHHH!!!!!! The feminist inside of me dies a little every time I hear that line. There are so many beautiful, strong, FEMALE names out there. There is no need to give your daughters male names. If you truly want your daughter to have a unique and strong name, go with an underused female name like Veronica, Portia, Matilda, or even Anne. Your daughter will not be one of several boys and girls with the same name. She will most likely be the only little Sylvia in her entire school. She will have a name that is timeless. She will not be stuck wearing an outdated name for her entire life. If you absolutely must call your daughter Joey, Charlie, Sam or Alex. Name her Josephine, Charlotte, Samantha or Alexandra. You can still use the nicknames and you daughter will have a dignified, feminine name that will never embarrass her.

Ugly names for you to mock

CapriLee
Braylynn
Brycelynn
Tommie
Draytin
Eterniti
Nykalus
Henley
Tazyn
Tiedyn
Shayne
Baxlie
Syncere
Shade
Kambree
Kutter
Shayne
Tatelyn
Parker Robyn
Scottlyn Elise
Karsyn Reighlyn
Heyleigh Sue

Haiven Janelle

Cobee Glenn
Teagan Ryleigh
Rocky Ethyn
Logan Nicole
Kinleigh Breeann
Tadam Joyce
Bro'Derian Norkevian

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm all for people using names that represent their background, but lets be real... What is with people name their kids Ireland? Americans who have very little Irish blood love to use Irish surnames for girls like Murphy, Reagan, Riley, Kennedy etc I'm not saying you have to be Irish to name your child Ryan or Siobhan but please stop using surnames and faux names for your children. Don't go around claiming to be proud to be Irish and then giving your child a hideous name like Irelynn which a real person from Ireland would never use.

Celebrity baby names

We all know that celebs have been giving their kids ridiculous names for years. Frank Zappa was one of the first celebs to give his children wacky names. His kids are Diva, Moon Unit, Dweezil, and Ahmet. Ahmet is actually a real name. It's the Turkish form of Ahmad. I bet he feels lucky. Bob Geldof and Paul Yates named their kids Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa(That's one child), Fifi Trixiebelle and Pixie. Paula also had a daughter with Michael Hutchence named Heavenly Hiraani Tiger Lily. John Mellencamp and his wife, Elaine have two sons named Hud and Speck. John alson has two daughters from a previous marriage named Teddi Jo and Justice. This trend is still going strong today. Chris Martin and Gwyneth Paltrow have a daughter named Apple. Nicolas Cage has a son named Kal-El. Pete and Ashlee Wentz have a son named Bronx Mowgli. I could go on forever.. The interesting/sad thing is that non-celeb parents are influenced by celebrity baby naming trends and the celebrity world in general. The name Miley was never on the baby name charts until 2007 when it broke onto the charts at #278 out around 1,000 names. It will be fun to see how this name does for 2008 when the naming stats are released some time in May. Miley's actual birth name was Destiny Hope. I say was because she legally changed it to Miley Ray Cyrus last year. Miley came from a nickname her father called her. (Smiley) It got shortened to Miley and the name stuck. I can't imagine naming my child after some other child's nickname. What is wrong with people? Don't these parents realize how embarrassed their daughters are going to be in the future when they realized they were named for a teen Disney star? It wouldn't be a bad thing if it was a common name like an Ella or Penelope. One of the problems with names like these is that they date the child to one time period. Everyone knows how old a woman named Shirley likely is. The same thing will happen to all the little girls named Miley when they get older. They will be stuck with a ridiculous fad name. It's like being forced to wear the same hairstyle or trend for your entire life. Can you picture yourself wearing skinny jeans for life?

Pageant Names

Have you ever noticed that the children in child beauty pageants have bad names? I think some of these parents view their children as "stars" so they give them "unique" aka crappy names. I heard a real winner during an episode of WE's Little Miss Perfect. A little girl in the pageant was named Clayson Cody. First and middle name. Can I get a big WTH? There is a similar show on TLC called Toddlers and Tiaras. Both shows featured children with unsual names so I did a google search and found other "unique" names. Disclaimer: I am in no way judging the children, the parents or the pageant. I'm only commenting on the names.

Random names from various pageants I found from a google search:

(They're all girls)

Kaydance
Mawnika
Sheridan
Irish
Story
Bryce
Lynzi
Emaleigh
British
Camber
Claisyn
Quaedyn
Hudson

UPDATE!

I'm making some changes to the blog. I'm changing the layout and content a bit. I am hoping to update the blog more often. Drop me an e-mail and let me know what you think.

ilovenames@comcast.net