Want to give your baby a name that’s different from his or her peers? One of the easiest ways to do that is by altering the spelling.
Take a traditional or trending name, change up a few letters and voilà: a new, personalized name just for your baby.
Image: Karen Cox/SheKnows
Play with vowels
Modern parents take great liberties with “a,” “e,” “i,” “o,” “u” and sometimes “y.” Among the 1,000 most popular names for boys, there are 28 combined spellings of Aiden, Brayden, Jayden and Kaden. Most vowel swaps occur within the name:
- Adalyn, Addilyn, Adelynn
- Aiden, Aaden, Aydin
- Brayden, Braeden, Braiden
- Brendan, Brenden, Brendon
- Damian, Damien, Damion
- Grayson, Graysen, Greyson
- Jayden, Jadon, Jaidyn
- Jordan, Jorden, Jordyn
- Kaden, Caiden, Kayden
- Landon, Landen, Landyn
- Mason, Maison, Maysen
- Raina, Rayna, Reyna
- Reagan, Raegan, Regan
- Tristan, Tristin, Trystan
- Zoey, Zoe, Zoie
For girl names especially, the long “e” sound comes in a wide array of options: “e,” “ee,” “ie,” “y,” “ey” and “eigh.”
- Aleah, Aleigha, Alia
- Aubrey, Aubree, Aubrie
- Avery, Averi, Averie
- Bailey, Baylee, Bayleigh
- Emily, Emilee, Emmalee
- Hailey, Haley, Haylie
- Layla, Lailah, Leyla
- Riley, Rylee, Ryleigh
Add an extra consonant, or two
For names that end in “na,” particularly girl names, adding an “h” and/or an extra “n” creates a perfectly acceptable spelling.
- Adriana, Adrianna, Adriannah
- Alana, Alanna, Alannah
- Ariana, Arianna, Ariannah
- Eliana, Elianna, Elianah
- Hanna, Hannah, Hanah
- Liliana, Lilianna, Liliannah
- Savanna, Savannah, Savanah
Make “c” and “k” interchangeable
On the Social Security Administration’s list of top baby names, there are seven different spellings of the name Cameron: Camren, Camron, Camryn, Kameron, Kamron and Kamryn. Just goes to show that a hard “c” or “ch” can readily replace “k” or “ck,” and vice versa.
- Christopher, Cristopher, Kristopher
- Kason, Casen, Kaysen
- Colton, Colten, Kolton
- Connor, Conner, Konnor
- Carly, Carleigh, Karlee
- Kalyn, Cailyn, Kaelynn
- Kailey, Kaylie, Caylee
- Katelyn, Caitlyn, Kaitlin
The above examples include names that begin with these letters, but you could replace letters within a name as well.
- Dominic, Dominick, Dominik
- Eric, Erick, Erik
- Jacob, Jakob, Jaycob
- Mackenzie, Makenzie, Mckenzie
- Makayla, Michaela, Mikayla
- Nicholas, Nickolas, Nikolas
Keep in mind…
How you spell your baby’s name is entirely up to you, but others may unwillingly take liberties with it. Making a name unique can help your child stand out among peers, but it can also mean he or she will spend a lot of time correcting those who misspell it.
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