Everyone believes they pick the perfect name for their baby. In recent years there is often a desire to be ‘unique’. This might mean an unusual spelling such as KVIIIlyn/K8lyn =Kaitlyn. The names with the most alternative spellings are, apparently, Caden with 52 alternatives including Kayden and Caeyden, and Aaliyah with a whopping 89 alternatives such as Alaiya, Eliya and Aleigha. Some alternatives to a traditional spelling bear little resemblance to the original so that Ian/Iain/Ioan also includes various spellings such as Ayaan, Ehaan or Aiyaan. I can see a trend to keep adding vowels until the name seems original and unique enough. Of course, the proud parent could just drop vowels altogether and have Mykl (pronounced Michael).
We are all familiar with the ‘unusual’ names that celebrities choose for their offspring. Frank Zappa called his daughter Moon Unit in 1967 and she still carries the name although David Bowie’s son Zowie now goes by the more regular name of Duncan Jones. Not to be outdone, mere mortals have also jumped on the ‘weird’ name bandwagon. Talula does the Hula from Hawaii was made a ward of court in New Zealand to allow her to change her name to something more ‘normal’. She had refused to tell anyone her real name, instead going by ‘K’, one of the 12 letters of the alphabet not in her original moniker.
New Zealand’s Department of Internal Affairs have blocked chosen names such as 4Real and Mafia No Fear and yet somehow let Number 16 Bus Shelter be attached to an unsuspecting child. Perhaps, like Brooklyn Beckham, the name had some meaning as to place of conception.
As I have delved further back into my ancestors, many of whom share a small group of names that were passed down from parents and grandparents, I have also discovered some unusual spellings. Isobel can also be Isabel, Isabella/Isobella or even Isabell/Isobell. Margaret can be spelled Margret on one document and Magrit on another. I have found several versions of Catherine, including Kaithring, Kaithren and Kaithrine. Henry can have two Ns and even no R. Surnames also have a habit of changing spelling which causes problems searching for documents. Most of these differences were not down to a trend in creating unique names but more likely to do with the literacy level of the writer. Whoever was recording the names may not have known how they were spelled or guessed phonetically based on what the parent had said.
Today I came across a very unusual name in a marriage record from 1834. The marriage was recorded in both the bride’s and the groom’s parishes. In one they are recorded as James and Penelope but in the other as James and Pnellypay. From what I can gather it is a unique spelling in Scottish records so if you are looking for both a traditional name and a unique spelling your baby girl may become the first Pnellypay in Scotland in the last 200 years.
Significantly Different 