I got a kick out of this story about the way that instant messaging and email phonetic spelling have changed the way Australian parents spell children’s names. I often joke with my wife that we should have spelled our son’s name Sigh-Man, rather than Simon. I guess we were just not cool enough to choose an alternate spelling like Siimon, Symon, Simun, Symun, Simin, Symin, Symyn, Ciimon, Cimon, Cimun, Cymun, Cimin, Cymin, Cymyn, Scimon, Sciimon, Scymon, Scimun, Scymun, Scimin, Scymin, Scymyn, Cy-Man, Si-Man, Sci-Man, Psi-Man, Tsai-Man, Sai-Man, or the above mentioned Sigh-Man.
Alternate spellings of other common names include:
Alex-Zander
Cam’ron
Jaykob
Lynkon
Siimon
Chriss
Jaymz
Emma-Lee
Rhyleagh
Abbigayle
Ameleiyah
Bre?anna
Jazmyn
Kai-leigh
Krystalle
Sofiya
According to the report by McCrindle Research, Biblical names are currently in decline with the majority of the current selections having ties to current celebrities (e.g. Prince William, Olivia Newton-John, Sophie Monk, Jessica Simpson/Alba, Sienna Miller), their children (e.g. Mia Hewitt, Danish Princess Isabella) or popular fictional characters (e.g. Thomas the Tank Engine, Charlotte?s Web). Other less-popular names following similar trends as well, some of which are inspired by celebrities (David Beckham, Harrison Ford, Kostya Tszyu, Carmen Electra), historical figures (Socrates), and miscellaneous phenomena (Chardonnnay, Experience, Fern, Storm).
HT: Joanne Jacobs
