I was thinking about this today as I work with multiple spellings of Katelyn. I started considering which names had the most different accepted spellings. An interesting trend emerged, they are all primarily female names on the face of it.

Here are the ones that immediately popped into my head. These are names and people I know/have worked with. I'm in education so I've seen my fair share of naming. Please add the ones you think of

Katelyn

• Caitlin

• Caitlynn

• Katlynn

• Catelin

• Kaitlin

• Kaitlynn

• Caetlynne

Kristen

• Kristin

• Christen

• Christin

• Christyn

• Krystyn

Baylee'

• Bailey

• Bayleigh

• Beyley

• Bailee

Candace

• Candis

• Kandice

• Khandes

• Candys

Marcus

• Markus

• Marquis

Makayla

• Mckayla

• Maekayla

• Makaela

• Mikaela

• Michaela

• Mikayla

Nicholas

• Nickolas

• Nicolas

• Nikolas

In my time around the English-speaking internet I have encountered numerous names which appear to be very similar, but spelled differently and also seem to be pronounced similar enough that I'm struggling to tell them apart. A few examples (sorry if I made any mistakes there):

Jaclyn, Jacklyn, Jacqueline, Jacquelyn

Ashly, Ashley, Ashleigh, Ashlea, Ashlee

Christine, Cristine, Kristine, Christinne

Nick, Nik

Riley, Rylie

Chloe, Khloe

Abby, Abbie, Abbey

Sofia, Sophia

Kathy, Katie, Katy, Cathy

Alise, Alice, Alyce

Kaylie, Kaylee, Kailey, Caylee, Kailee

Madison, Madyson

... etc.

Is it just due to people from different cultures immigrating to English-speaking countries and leaving the original spelling as it is? If so, how to tell what is the "correct"/"default" English spelling? And are there differences in pronunciation?

Or does the spelling depend on the continent/region (like some are Australian, some British, some American, Canadian, etc.)?

I'm just not sure how to make sense of it and how to tell the difference between such names. Hopefully it makes some sense.

Strangest