could you SPELL that, please?

PTERQUIE (tur-key)

Today's thought is about people who have common first names, but whose spelling of the name is anything but, and people who have unordinary names.

Every so often, my husband and I think about cool names for pets.  We apparently have too much time on our hands or have really bad sense of humors because it's one of our favorite pastimes.  Our favorites as of late are Jeffrey, Scott, Victoria and Beverly.

One day, we decided Turkey would be a hilarious name for a dog.  As if picking out dog names wasn't weird enough, we took it a step further and decided how we would spell it.  This is what we came up with:  PTERQUIE.  The "P" is silent.  While this activity of ours was a total joke to Dustin (the hubby), I decided IF (and that's a BIG if - I'm not a huge dog fan) we got another dog after our current puppies (Sammie and Tod) have gone on to the next life, the dog's name would be PTERQUIE.  We'll see if it ever happens.

When it comes to naming children, is it just me or are names getting WAY out there?  For example, Gwyneth Paltrow has a daughter named Apple and Ashlie Simpson named her son Bronx Mowgli.  Sure, apples are delicious and Mowgli was an important character in the beloved Disney classic The Jungle Book, but does that mean they make good names for people?

I think there should be an unwritten law that people need to practice a bit more common sense before choosing a name.  In my book, this would include a few things.  First, the name should be a good, solid name.  A name that isn't too weird and one that the child can grow into.  A name may be way cute when the child is young, but you've gotta consider if it would still be cute when the child is an adult.

Second, the spelling of the name should be considered.  I cannot even tell you how many ways I have seen the name Kennedy spelled (Kenidi, Kenedie, you get the idea). As a person whose maiden name was constantly misspelled and mispronounced, believe me when I say it gets SO OLD having to spell your name wherever you go.  And, don't even get me started on all my awards or trophies I won that all had my name misspelled.  So annoying!

And, third, consider if the name rhymes with a four letter word or could make your child an easy target at school.  I'm a big fan of the name Tucker, but am pretty certain I couldn't go through ever naming my son that.  Of course, you can't plan your life around what bullies could potentially do to your child, so maybe this step isn't as important as the others.  But, I still think it should be considered.  

Thoughts?