I have a pretty classic English name (think something similar to Elizabeth, Maryanne or Josephine) with a wacky/ non traditional spelling (think Elysabeth, Merryanne, or Josaphine).

I am currently going through a lot of life changes, including a new job and moving. In the last 3 weeks I have had to have my new lease corrected twice, and two peices of paperwork for my job redone. This year I had to have two freelance contracts redrafted, one of which the company never got around to redoing. In the Fall I won an award and the organization had to reprint my certificate because my name was spelled wrong keeping me hanging around long after the ceremony when everyone else had gone home. I had a relative's will contested because my name was spelled wrong in it multiple times in multiple ways. I could go on, but I have had infinite other issues with my name both on mail, jury duty, in school, etc.

If you are considering a name that is common, please please please just use the most common spelling. As I sit here a week away from moving and ten days away from reporting for work, waiting for ANOTHER document to be reissued in the morning, I can't help but wish my parents had chilled out a little in the moments after my birth. Your child may never thank you, and you may feel like you lamed out, but trust me- they will curse you when they are awake late at night freaking out because nobody can spell "Charlot", "Luise" or "Melany".

Sincerely,

"Penelopee" or "Jeorgeina" or "Belle Linda"

Edit: I changed Elisabeth to Elysabeth to prove a point. I'm sorry Reddit family, it was late and I forgot to put the disclaimer!

Edit 2: My parents are English speaking, I was born in an English speaking place, nobody was intending to honor a heritage or a family name when they chose mine. My name has many variations of spellings but my parents didn't choose any of the common ones. I have never met another person with my spelling and only know of one person (a celebrity) with the same spelling. I do understand that some names have lots of "normal" spellings or spellings that are correct in multiple languages. This is not the case. I don't think parents should avoid cultural names by any means. I do think parents should strongly consider using the most basic spelling of the name they chose if given a choice.

I'm not going to legally change it because that would just add to the problems and confusion. A name change isn't a magic wand and there are years of double documents and issues that come up. Plus my mom would be sad. If I knew the problems would go away that's a consequence I could live with, but MORE confusion and a sad mother sound like a worst case scenario.