Devon, at the Pollywog blog, links to an article in the Daily Mail (UK) headlined "More parents using txt language to make their child's name gr8":
Abbreviated versions of traditional Christian names are appearing on birth certificates along with "original" ways of spelling which even include punctuation marks.
Anne has been changed to An, Connor to Conna and Laura to Lora.
There were reportedly six boys who were named Cam'ron instead of Cameron, and according to the online parenting club Bounty, one girl born last month was born Flicity.
Yes, the kree8tiv baby namers are still spawning: where is natural selection when we need it? And they still appear to be under the misguided impression that the fruit of their loins is no different than, say, Fruit of the Loom. According to Bounty spokeswoman Pauline Kent:
“Some of these new and different names are a way for parents to give their children a unique identity.
“It is similar to the thinking that goes in to naming a new brand of product for example - something to make them stand out from the crowd.”
Devon nails it:
Maybe so. But a can of peas with a stupid brand name won’t be seeking psychotherapy 30 years from now.
By the way, the phenomenon is neither recent nor confined to the British Isles. The Bad Baby Names Blog (one of my faves) commented a couple of years ago on inappropriate punctuation in names like Cashmir Mone'y ("I like the apostrophe in Money. It really lends some class. Well done, Mom and Dad!"), Messiah Dee'Aira Nicole ("The eschatological and the scatalogical meet in one terrifying name") and--ta-da!--E-li'-sha Hez-e-ki'-ah-Abram.
You think you're having a hard time with that? It's even making computers lose their bearings, reports Nancy Callahan of Nancy's Baby Names.
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