Names spelt strange ways

[Zulu Romeo]

Unfortunatly I don't think BBC is doing anything atm except reality tv dance shows and Eastenders, at least until Top Gear comes back on that's like a bad sitcom, right?

You mean Top Gear ISN'T a sitcom?!

(I suppose, to be fair, it's more like a sketch show. )

 

[iguana_tonante]

My names are spelt differently, Marc Antony (c instead of a k, no h) and my brother in Gerry Martyn (G instead of a J, y instead of an i) - I dislike my parents for even giving me those names...

Isn't Marc Antony the usual English spelling of the Roman name Marcus Antonius? (opposed to the common names Mark and Anthony)

No clue on Gerry Martyn, tho.

 

[Miss Chicken]

My names are spelt differently, Marc Antony (c instead of a k, no h) and my brother in Gerry Martyn (G instead of a J, y instead of an i) - I dislike my parents for even giving me those names...

Isn't Marc Antony the usual English spelling of the Roman name Marcus Antonius? (opposed to the common names Mark and Anthony)

No clue on Gerry Martyn, tho.

I have always spelt it Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius, that is).

Gerry/Jerry is either s shortened form of Gerald or Gerard. or a shorterned form of Jeremy or Jerome so I think the name starting with a G or a J are equally correct.

 

[Gil T.Azell]

...
Who in their right mind spells this name that way? Once when you heard a name you had a fair idea how to spell it. There were a few like Sean/Shaun/Shawn that had multiple spellings but there weren't that many odd spellings.

Does this trend annoy you?

I work with some one who spells his name Shone.
I saw one the other day Le-a (pronouced Lay DASH A )
but I thought this was going to be about dirty sounding names

 

[scotpens]

When I first read this thread the first thing I thought of and am amazed that no English have brought up is Keeping up Apperances.

I can't find the appropriate clip but the main character titled Hyacinth Bucket keeps insiting that it's pronounced Bouquet.

That reminds me of W.C. Fields in the classic comedy The Bank Dick. His character is named Egbert Sousé (pronounced soo-ZAY). Not “souse,” but Sousé -- “accent grave on the E,” as he insists. Except it's not a grave accent, it's an acute accent!

 

[Aragorn]

I've seen a spelling of Jefff.

 

[BigFoot]

^ That's short for Jeffff right?

 

[Roger Wilco]

Btw. not a strange spelling, but while surfing around recently I came across a snowboarder from Iceland who's named "Halldor" - the english commentator pronounced it like hell-door. Is that the coolest name ever or what?

 

[Miss Chicken]

I believe the correct pronunciation of Halldor can be heard here.

It is interesting to find out the the Kiljan in Halldor Kiljan Laxness' name sound similar to the the way Cillian Murphy's first name is pronounced. As the Vikings took many Irish captives I suspect that Kiljan is the old Norse version of Cillian.

Edited to add - It seems I was wrong. Kiljan is not an old Norse name.

From Irish Cillian, a saint’s name, first used in Iceland by Halldór Kiljan Laxness (1902-1998) after his conversion to Catholicism.

 

[Roger Wilco]

Yeah, I assumed as much, but the other version sounds more badass.

 

[FordSVT]

What amazes me is the fad for writing names with apostrophes and other punctuation marks.

I had a manager who had an ' in the middle of his name, like Tra'von.

In America, that's generally a black thing. I don't know exactly why, though.

Because it's their attempt at making names sound more "African", whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean. Pretty much none of them are, they're just made up names to differentiate black people from all the white "Mikes and Toms" of the world.

Imagine me naming my son "Shamillicutty" because I wanted an "Irish" name for him.

 

[FordSVT]

There's probably parents at my daughter's school who think we're nuts for mis-spelling Dora. Her name is Dara, it's Gaelic and quite common in Ireland, but of course we moved to Canada - not so common there!

Irish names are incredibly common where I live. I know a Dara, a Seamus, and even a Niall.

I'm leaning towards something traditional for my first child, both sides of my family are Irish. They're such pretty, poetic names.

 

[Rarewolf]

We used to have a customer at work called Robert Banks. Of all the names he could have made from Robert (robert, robbie, bob, bobby) he ended up Rob. Rob Banks.

Liza can be said as Lieza or Lisa, wouldn't surprise me of there are other spellings of Lisa too.

Louis is one that confuses me. Logically it should sound like Lewis, but it always seems to be louey, even when not french.

 

[Miss Chicken]

We used to have a customer at work called Robert Banks. Of all the names he could have made from Robert (robert, robbie, bob, bobby) he ended up Rob. Rob Banks.

Liza can be said as Lieza or Lisa, wouldn't surprise me of there are other spellings of Lisa too.

Louis is one that confuses me. Logically it should sound like Lewis, but it always seems to be louey, even when not french.

I have always pronounced Louis as Louey. However, I believe (though I might be wrong) that Americans pronounced like Lewis. For example, I think that that is the way they pronounce St Louis.

 

[Brian]

It is. And my friend Lou is a Louis who pronounces it "lewis". I think in general, you'll find that most Americans pronounce it that way. Except maybe for those on The Sopranos or Jersey Shore.

 

[captcalhoun]

i thought it was saint louey cuz it's French...

 

[Brian]

Saint Lewis, Mizurrey.

 

[Rarewolf]

It is. And my friend Lou is a Louis who pronounces it "lewis". I think in general, you'll find that most Americans pronounce it that way. Except maybe for those on The Sopranos or Jersey Shore.

Not Lewis Armstrong though.

 

[Rosalind]

Shakespeare
Shake-speare
Shakspeare
Shaxberd
Shakespere
Shakespear
Shak-speare
Shakspear
Shakspere
Shaksper
Schaksp.
Shakespheare
Shakespe
Shakspe

All spellings of the Bard's name that saw print between around the time when he started writing and his death. link

If I recall, the only spelling he didn't use is Shakespeare, but don't quote me on that.

I read somewhere recently that he signed Shakespeare on his last will, but I don't remember where I read that or if I just imagined it.

 

[scotpens]

What amazes me is the fad for writing names with apostrophes and other punctuation marks.

I had a manager who had an ' in the middle of his name, like Tra'von.

In America, that's generally a black thing. I don't know exactly why, though.

Because it's their attempt at making names sound more “African”, whatever the fuck that's supposed to mean. Pretty much none of them are, they're just made up names to differentiate black people from all the white “Mikes and Toms” of the world.

On a somewhat related note, I've noticed that most black guys named Richard are called Richard, Rich or Richie -- never Dick. (Except for the comedian and activist Dick Gregory). Have you ever known a black Dick?