Misspelling revisited

I wonder if I sounded a bit critical of parents who make up special spellings. That was not my intent, but I couldn't help wondering if it made it more difficult for the children.

Then I thought about my own children's names, and I realized that most of us have to explain spelling and/or pronunciation some of the time, even when they are "good, old-fashioned" names with what we might think are standard spellings.

Elizabeth is sometimes spelled "Elisabeth," and I know Erin is sometimes asked if her name is spelled with an A (Aaron).
It seems obvious to me that "Aaron" spelled this way is a boy's name, but apparently not everyone finds it obvious.

Hawaiian naming rituals

From http://understandingoccults.com/category/naming-rituals-rites/:

"In Hawaii, the entire family participates in the name-giving. A child's name may be based on special events, people, or places, or created by the parents based on an incident at birth.

Traditional Hawaiian names are long and have very picturesque meanings. Some of the loveliest Hawaiian names are those that come to a relative "from heaven," in the form of a dream, omen, sign, or inner voice."

Misspelling names

As I was thinking about mispronounced names, I started to think about my "almost neice" Caleigh.
That's a fine spelling (I think this is the correct Irish spelling, actually), but have you noticed how many variations of this name there are?

Kaylee
Cayley
Kaeleigh
Kaelie
Kaili
Kaylley
Kaylea
(This is just a small sample of the spellings I found!)

New parents often want to bestow names that will be unique and that will make their children stand out, and many choose unique spellings of the "good old names."
That makes it complicated for teachers, and grandparents, and often even for the children themselves because they have to continually explain the spelling.

Mispronounced names

Given how important our names are to our self-images, having to constantly correct others wrt spelling or pronounciation must be very hard, especially through childhood.

The story of my friend Chyrisse comes to mind.
(Perhaps you can't tell, either, just how to say Chyrisse: It's pronounced Shur-eese.)

She and I spent most of our school years in the same classrooms and I heard many stumblings and butcherings that poor Chyrisse had to correct.
The most common pronounciation I remember is "Krissy."

Very annoying for Chyrisse, but she was and is a strong-minded person.
I can imagine there are children who found it even more distressing than she did, and who suffered ill-effects.

Please share your stories of having your name constantly pronounced incorrectly.

Native American naming rituals

There are many different groups of First Nations peoples in North America, so it stands to reason that there would be many different naming rituals.

According to http://understandingoccults.com/category/naming-rituals-rites/ and http://www.garynull.com/documents/nativeamerican.htm here are a few:

The Delaware: A person's true name is a sacred gift, and only visionary name-givers are allowed to choose it.

The Shawnee: Two name-givers ponder various possibilities during a night vigil. The next morning each name-giver offers one name to the parents, who choose the one they will give to the child.

And this story describes choosing for a grown person who has already "made a name for himself":

"Legal names are given, but Native American names are earned. Gabriel Horn gives a personal account of why and how his Indian name was chosen: "By the time I graduated from college, I had already done my battles for the people. I had protested against stereotypes of Native Americans, I had fought for a Native American literature course on campus, and I had asked for participation in the United Nations. My immediate family believed that I had earned a name. The name came to my uncle, a traditional Cherokee man, who had a vision of a white deer coming to him and singing my name. He knew it was to be White Deer."

Nicknames

I’ve had a ton of nicknames, but none as permanent or perhaps as powerful as a name like ‘Killer Kowalski’ seems to have been. Walter Kowalski, an ex-wrestler, passed away recently. He got his nickname because of an unfortunate wrestling incident. Once he had it, the name stuck with him. It became a powerful influence on how others saw him. Fans jeered at him and threw things at him. He was even forced to have escorts to help him get into and out of the ring.

He retired in 1977 and opened Killer Kowalski’s School of Professional Wrestling. Walter originally called himself "Tarzan", but the “Killer” label is what really made him stand out and become famous.

What nickname(s) have you had that stuck with you? Did you think the nickname was fair? Did it bother you? Who gave it to you? Do others still refer to you by your nickname?

Implications of your name

When I was born my parents were originally intending to name me Christian or Jacob. They liked these names for a variety of reasons. But, they decided these names might have strong religious implications. There were other names too. As new parents, they worried a great deal about what others first impressions would be when they heard my name. I guess all parents do. Ultimately, they named me after my father.

Marianne Bertrand, a researcher who teaches at University of Chicago, has done research on the implications of our names. More specifically, she has looked at how particular names can hurt your chances, or give you an edge, when it comes to looking for work. The results of her research showed that names that sounded ethnic tended to be discriminated against. In her research, she found that job candidates with ethnic names were contacted less frequently than other candidates.