Naming your child is a big responsibility. The name you give your child can determine how they feel about themselves and their own identity. Names do give us a bit of direction and also stay with us from our childhood to our adolescence and all the way into adulthood.
Names we think are "cute" as kids, may not transfer as well when our kids are now adults in the workforce. It's all about perspective.
There has been, over the last several years, a huge uptick in parents who try to be creative with their baby names and what they want to call their children. Some names are unconventional, and others are common names that have a unique spelling to them.
Whereas in the past, you may name your daughter "Ashley," today, parents try to "spice it up" by changing the spelling and dynamic by naming their daughter "Ashleigh" or "Ashlee" instead of the stereotypical way.
While some creative ways can work out and seem relatively normal, there are many names that just don't work. It leaves kids open to a lifetime of mispronouncing, bullying, and tons of confusion. Sometimes, it's better to go with something conventional.
Amber is known as "The Name Fairy" on TikTok, sharing videos helping people come up with baby names and even keep things unique and interesting. With 5.5 million likes on her videos, it's clear Amber has quite the influence.
For Amber, a lot of her distaste for baby names came from spelling names in a weird way. For example, Amber shared that "Tatum" is an acceptable name for a child, without a doubt. But, if you're going to spell it "Taedum," you are taking it too far.
Pasley or even Paisley is fine, but going over the top and spelling your daughter "Paizleigh" is that name that is going to just confuse a lot of people, especially when it comes to spelling her name in Kindergarten.
Historically, Jackson is a popular name for kids. But, giving them a completely unique way to spell it is just cruel. Jaxon can be one way to get it done. But, if you are going to change the name entirely making it Jaxsyn, you should quit while you're ahead.
It seems any names that end in "ley" have been remixed up to be "leigh." And they are constantly replacing the "in" sound with "yn." It's a lot of confusing times for kids. And, they'll never find their name on anything at travel gift shops.
Remixing names is fine, but once you take it a step too far, as Amber points out, you lose the name entirely. And, kids don't want to spend a lifetime trying to remind people how to pronounce their names. As well, you want to be sure that your own kid can spell their own name!
I am all for finding unique and creative ways to raise children, and ultimately a baby name is something personal that parents have to decide on their own. But if you think they might get bullied for it, maybe think again?
Hey, to each their own!
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