Crazy Names

I have a 3^rd great-grandfather with a one syllable surname that I have found spelled in the following ways: Keef, Keefe, Keeffe, Kief, Keif, Keiff, Kieff, Kieth, Keith, Kieef, Kieffe, and Keiffe.  The only version I have found “set in stone,” is Kieef, which appears on a couple of family gravestones.  Thank goodness for computer databases that search for similar spellings at the same time.

I wanted to introduce my kids to the idea that they might find their ancestor’s name spelled any number of ways in historical documents.  To do this, we held an "Craziest Name" competition for our weekly family night activity.  The object was for each person to come up with as many spellings of their own given name as possible.  The only rule was that the spelling had to sound like the person's name if pronounced phonetically. We all had a great time laughing and groaning as we shared our lists of names.

Following are a few unusual spellings of my daughter’s name, Jessica. 

• Jesuka                                        
• Jessekah                                         
• Jesakuh          
• Jhesyka                                      
• Jhessycka                                        
• Jessuhkuh       
• Gesica                                        
• Gesika                                            
• Ghessica       
• Djessika                                     
• Djesikuh                                         
• Ghessuhckuh

Go ahead, try coming up with crazy alternative spellings for your name.  It's a lot of fun!