Real made-up names... http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576 Spuggey Lots of people make up or deliberately mis-spell names for there characters. Does anyone out there REALLY have a name that, as far as they know, their parents just made up? Because I've never actually met anyone that does. (My parents went traditional and named me after my great-grandmother.) Sat, 26 Nov 2011 10:28:02 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_851638 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_851638 Keladryie In Australia a lot of the people I went to school with and now work with have names their parents made up. Or at least guessed at the spelling. Sheril-lee. Kazalia. Ruujaz. Shaz. Indigenous Australians (at least up here in Arnhem land) love using the letter z, and most names are quite unique and pretty darn awesome. My name is Katharine, which is pretty normal. At least, most people think so. A few try to correct me on the spelling (to Katherine) or tell me my name's spelt incorrectly, or ask why I bothered to change it, etc etc Katharine Hepburn's spelt this way for crying out loud. So are a lot of people. It's really not that odd. My parents only picked the spelling because they prefer it over Katherine/Catherine/Kathryn. Sat, 26 Nov 2011 10:34:50 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_851697 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_851697 oceansong99 People THINK I have a made up name. Shira. It's actually a relatively popular Hebrew name. My son's name is Dillon, which people think is a made up spelling. It's not, it's just a more traditional spelling of the name. Sat, 26 Nov 2011 11:33:39 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_852165 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_852165 Lonaneomaflame I had a friend names Zhea, which I believe was madeup and my friend Tarecka said her name was made from random letters. Mine is very unorigional my kids are unique but not made up my hubby has not agreed with that, maybe our next kid.... Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:10:21 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_853599 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_853599 Beccah I made up my daughter's name, I suppose, as I'd never heard it before, but it is a name in slavic languages with a different spelling. Her name is Elyja. Sat, 26 Nov 2011 14:16:11 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_853647 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_853647 KatBrown I have a friend named Kayleigha, she says her mom made it up because she liked "Kaylee" and "Leah" Sat, 26 Nov 2011 18:26:14 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_855968 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_855968 Aeth I know a couple of people with names made from each parent's top choice, merged together - Shara (Sharon/Tara), and Brayden (Brandon/Aiden) being two I can think of off the top of my head. I think I looked once and they both exist as names on their own though. Sat, 26 Nov 2011 19:11:45 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_856399 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_856399 Spuggey I got told I'd spelt my middle name wrong once. A teacher told me, when I was about six! I went home and checked my birth certificate and found I'd spelt it right. My teacher wanted me to spell it the English way, but all my names are Italian! Sat, 26 Nov 2011 19:56:17 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_856944 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_856944 Spuggey ...names for THEIR characters. I shall whip myself in penance for that grammatical abomination.... Mon, 23 Jan 2012 13:43:06 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1085106 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1085106 Bookworm140 I have a friend who's last name is Smith. He wanted his kids to have unique names so all the kids have made up names. Not rare, he and his wife made up the names. Mon, 23 Jan 2012 19:31:24 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1086023 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1086023 Earthsick My family's surname was misspelled when my grandfather moved from Burgenland to Lower Austria, making the spelling unique. (Therefore I won't post it online.) Of course people who actually know this name misspell it because they know the original spelling. Well, I'm used to it by now. Either people can't spell it or they can't pronounce it. It's always awesome for me if people manage to get it right on their first try (the pronounciation part, since writing it seems kind of impossible for most people who never heard it before) Tue, 24 Jan 2012 04:14:18 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1087373 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1087373 crazygirl9310 I guess you could say my cousin's name is made up...it's supposed to be Katelyn, my aunt and uncle screwed up the spelling so it's actually Katielyn. We call her Katie but when she's in trouble it's Katelyn. In one of my roommate's classes last semester there was La-a, which is supposed to be Ladasha, you pronounce the '-'. Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:09:11 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1087570 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1087570 MissAngelAdorer A lot of people get my name wrong—including myself. I pronounce it like the more popular spelling, though the meaning's the same. But they're different. I can't tell you how much I wish that I'd been named the more common spelling; would save me a lot of trouble. (Not saying my name.) Tue, 24 Jan 2012 10:00:09 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1087712 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1087712 alysdragon There was a girl in my class at school called Kaya, which, it turns out, is a name, but her dad had just named her after the Bob Marley album, with all connotations taken into account. It's more commonly spelled Kaia, though. I also has a friend called Eoghan (pronounced Owen) which is apparently a very old Gaelic spelling of the name but is essentially impossible to pronounce from a sight reading. I've also had a fair bit of stick for my name; people a) assume I made it up, and b) have real trouble spelling it; generally, they just insist on pitting an 'e' on the end, (Alyse) then pronouncing it Al-ees, which would be correct, if my name were spelled like that, but it isn't... It seems to be a habit among older men who want to stress how strange and eccentric I am with my weird name; which is stupid - it's Alys: you say it how it is spelled, and spell it how it's said - ie, identically to Alice: okay it has different letters, but the phonemes are the same. Less common mistakes are Alyce and Aiyes, the latter of which I don't even begin to understand. Tue, 24 Jan 2012 11:44:58 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1087901 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1087901 BloodRoseAngel I knew someone at school once called Amberleigh - a melding of Amber and Leigh I would guess 8D I've never met anyone since with that name so I guess it was made up. My name is pretty average, but people still have trouble spelling it. My mum decided to go for the easy spelling - Rebecca - to save confusion, but people ALWAYS write 'Rebbecca' or 'Rebbeca'. I wish she'd spelt it Rebekah, I think that looks nicer. XD Wed, 25 Jan 2012 17:10:31 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1091196 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1091196 Spuggey I always thought Rebecca was a much nicer spelling of that name! Sat, 28 Jan 2012 16:08:50 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1097921 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1097921 bookmonster My name's Chantal. Though everyone spells it Chantel and there's usually none of those souvenir stuff with the spelling Chantal. Someone I know has their middle name on facebook Shontelle. I don't know if this is their real middle name or one they think looks pretty but it's pronounced almost exactly like my name is. Sat, 28 Jan 2012 17:40:12 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1098204 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1098204 lemming_the_lemming A lot of people assume my name, Max, is short for Maximilian. It's actually just Max, not abbreviated in any way. Actually, my parents originally intended to name me Merlin. Not made up, but still not exactly a common name. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 06:35:45 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1102072 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1102072 Labyrinth Rose My name's Casey, which is really quite common, but I feel it worth mentioning that the name Wendy was invented specifically for Peter Pan. Prior to that, it wasn't a name. Fri, 03 Feb 2012 19:43:58 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1113454 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1113454 Angryman Yep, that is true. And whenever I think of that, I can only wonder if people would start naming their sons after one of my characters: Pauj. Eh, they'll probably think I just misspelled Paul. I don't know why they would, seeing how this story doesn't have any Pauls in it. Whatever. As for people in real-life, I graduated with a girl named Jessica. Not surprising, as there were several girls named Jessica at my school. So this Jessica decided back in our sophomore year (I think) to start spelling her name Jessika. It's been a few years since I last really talked with her, but every once in awhile on Facebook, I'll see that she has commented on a mutual friend's post, and her name is now spelled Jessyka. That sounds like Jessica, uh, Jessyka alright. Sat, 04 Feb 2012 01:52:47 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1114409 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1114409 Earthsick Someone at my work has "Kaya" as their surname. She's half-turkish. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 00:23:59 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119239 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119239 crazygirl9310 Kaya's the name of an American Girl Doll, she's a Native American and her story takes place in 16?4 in the midwest Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:54:55 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119866 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119866 crazygirl9310 My full name is spelled Rebecca, same with most other Rebeccas I know, I spell my nickname Beka though like Beka Cooper in the Beka Cooper series by Tamora Pierce, pretty much everyone who has met me after the spelling change (4-5 years ago) gets my nickname spelling right, but I've never seen them spell my full name, so it'll be interesting to see what happens. My close friends before/during the spelling change took a couple of months to switch over to Beka completely, my grandmas have no hope, my aunts and uncles try, but I give family a free pass with Becca/Beka. My aunt is the most amusing though, she spells it Becka which looks beyond wrong to me. Of course, 4-5 years of writing Beka and Becca looks wrong to me. I don't mind my full name being Rebecca since it looks so uniform in lowercase letters, but Becca looks un-uniform and too long the 'k' gives a nice little break up of the uniform looking lowercase letters. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 11:59:57 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119872 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119872 crazygirl9310 So naming my kid Merlin! After Josiah of course...so that'll be Josiah and Merlin and their other siblings (maybe I should throw an Arthur in there!). Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:02:49 -0600 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119875 http://www.nanowrimo.org/en/forums/off-topic/threads/43576?page=1#forum_thread_comment_1119875