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| Mon, 03-27-2006 - 11:49am |
modern naming conventions.
My friend's son (7) was in a youth theater production, and I went to see it this weekend. During the intermission, I was looking through the program, and here is a sampling of the girl's names...
Kylee
Kylie
Kyleigh
Kaleigh
Caylee
Kayla
Kaelah
Kaylin
Kalyn
Karlee
Carly
Carlie
Carrie
Karee
Kacey
Cassie
Kaitlyn
Katelynn
Caitlyn
and 5 Savannahs
When I was a kid there were lots of Jennifers, but they were all spelled the same. These girls have names that sound the same, or very similar, on the playground, and there are so many spellings, some of which don't even make phonetic sense. I have even seen other variations on the spelling of these names that weren't in the program (ie Kiley, Caitlin). Do the parents spell the names all these ways because they don't know how they are spelled, or because they want their children to be different or stand out from the crowd? Do they realize that their kids are only standing out from the crowd by having to spell their name over and over for the rest of their life? The names are all so similar.
Just wondering.
And I have to say I feel sorry for the teachers trying to keep all these girls straight!

There is something that I didn't truly understand until I went to my oldest DD's open house in kindergarten. On the bulletin board were posters that each child had made of their names. There was a "Christina T." and a "Krystina L." There was a "Nicky S" (Nicholas) and a "Nikki T" (Nicole). There was also a "Madison B" and a "Maddisyn J". What I realized is that spelling is completely irrelevant in school. The kids hear their names being called throughout the day, whether it is from teachers or other students. You can't differentiate between a teacher calling on "Christina" or "Krystina." Spelling a name differently doesn't make a child stand out in a classroom. It only serves to make them have to spell their name for the rest of their lives. JMHO
BTW - I am not saying that it is bad to have an iniital tacked onto a name. I grew up being Michelle F. and never had any problem with it. I was actually glad I didn't have an odd name and appreciated being able to find personalized things with my name on it.