Thursday, March 18, 2010

What the H?

I have a dilemma. Keep in mind I am a major over analyzer and I have A LOT of time on my hands to over analyze these days (someone still wants to eat every two hours all night). Speaking of that someone, the dilemma lies in how to spell his nick name.

We spelled Jonathan without an H because 1)we like it better that way 2)it's already a long enough name and 3)that's how it's spelled in the bible. So we thought that we should also spell Jonny without the H. I was worried that if we did Johnny, then people would assume there's an H in Jonathan. Well, I am having major second thoughts.

Here are my reasons:
1)I think I like it better with the H

2)Everyone assumes there is an H and I don't want to spend the rest of his life telling people there's no H. He will ALWAYS have to spell out his last name, he should at least have one name that people can get right. I like to set people up for success when it comes to name spelling. I am not into creative name spellings like Ashleigh and Jaxon. I like traditional names and traditional spellings. I don't like how Jonny comes up on spell check. Johnny doesn't.

3)All the famous Johnny's have an H. Carson, Depp, Cash, Appleseed, "Johnny Be Good," "Johnny Angel," the mean guy in Karate Kid and my personal favorite, Johnny from Dirty Dancing. As in, "Oh Loverboy, and if he still doesn't answer, I simply say, 'Baby. . .'"

Here's one of my drawbacks (don't worry, I know it's a little crazy). My friend Jenni went out of her way to be sure to spell Jonny the way we were spelling it on the darling nightgown she had made for him with his name on it. I love the nightgown and I love that she made sure to spell it right. Because spelling people's names correctly is important to me. As much as I love the nightgown, I don't know if it's a good enough reason to leave his name spelled that way. Nate assures me that it is definitely not. He is the one who came up with the spelling of Jonny in the first place, but he says he doesn't care how we spell it. I'm sure he just wants me to decide and quit talking about it. Seriously, can you imagine being married to me? I can't.

So that's my dilemma. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time with it. When I think about it I get a pit in my stomach and when I go to write it with the H I can't bring myself to do it because I haven't officially decided yet. I'm sure you can see which way I'm leaning, but I'd love your feedback. I really wish I had thought about all of this BEFORE he was born.

14 comments:

Melissa said...

If you like the "H," just do it with the H or you'll be worrying about it for the rest of your life, wishing you had done it that way to begin with. By the way, you still need to pick your portraits :)

Kelley Gubler said...

I would say don't stress to much, because I have one of those simple names that everyone and their dog spells wrong and I'm totally over and I don't really care (and I'm a girl and girls care more than boys). So I'm saying that little Jo(h)nny probably won't care either. Personally, though I like the "h".

Nash said...

i am sure my two cents doesn't mean much but i am a HUGE name analyzer. believe me it's a nightmare when we have a baby.
BUT. paul sounds like you in that he's very traditional, i am surprised i got the kids names i did.
i wanted to spell kennedy with one "n" but he was adamant about it with two. i didn't want it associated with the kennedy's BUT it's so much easier this way. people KNOW how to spell it. i think that jonathan is already a longer name so adding H won't change it enough to matter. also you could just call him JON???
and just spell it jonny, although i admit it does look like it's spelled wrong. see i can go on and on. i love figuring out names. just don't NOT use the "h" because of the nightgown, he'll outgrow that and it's a good story. you sound like me though, so i am sure you are still not sure. AGH! it's hard. good luck. i think i prefer the "H". pam and andrew just names their boy John and call him johnny.

JoLee said...

Hey Michelle, I think that if you like Jonny then go with Jonny. Most Johnnys with an H were probably named John not Jonathan. I don't think that Jon is a very unusual way to spell the other shortened version of Jonathan. If that's what your Jonny decides he wants to go by later in life it'll just add more continuity.

The Morris Family said...

I say spell with with the "H." Most Jonathan's that I know spell it without the "H" and still use the H when they write their name John. I don't think there is anything wrong with it. Heck, my daughter is named Amelia and we call her Mia. Don't stress too much. I do agree though that he will always be spelling Jonny for people if you omit the H. Whatever you decide will be okay though Michelle!

The Morris Family said...

And as far as the nightgown goes, if anything you'll have a good story to tell him about the dilemma when he is older and sees a picture of himself in it. Don't stress!

Nicole said...

It is so frustrating that my mom named me Nicole, then started calling me Nicki later on and spelled it with a "ck"...NOBODY spells my name right, but you know what? I really could care less. They spell Christensen wrong too. So go with what you like best and don't worry if people spell it wrong. I wish my mom had just kept calling me Nicole! My philosophy with names from my experience is name them what you intend to call them! I run into various people from my past and some know me as Nicole and some know me as Nicki and sometimes I feel like I am two different people! But then again, its not a big deal. I think its more uncomfortable for others than me...sometimes people don't know which one to call me!

Natalie said...

Oh I LOVE IT!! Names (and their spelling) are seriously SUCH a big deal!! I think it's worth making a big fuss over. However, I have no opinion as to do it with the H or not....it's simply whatever feels right to you. He's your precious one...and yours alone. Just choose which one makes you feel good....and the one that looks good when you write it too. Good luck! Hope you get some peaceful sleep soon!

jtibs said...

Add the H if you want it to be easier to spell- you could maybe change one of the n's on the nightgown to an h.....if its lowercase it might not be too hard.

J & M Shumate Family said...

Ok...I'm married to a Jon. I am constantly correcting the spelling of his name to people. It is spelled incorrectly on tons of junk mail we get and other important documents too. I wish his parents had just spelled it "John." SO...do what you want, but I'm all for using the most common spelling possible...trust me...I have experience in this category. (Seriously, have you ever seen anyone with a name spelled any weirder than mine?) I say spell it Johnny. Is it crazy to spell his full name with an "h" too? That way everything is just uniform. GOOD LUCK!

Jenni Coberly said...

You are TOO cute!! Being the Jenni that gave you the night gown I would say you definitely should NOT worry about that. His little legs will be shooting through that thing in no time...and we can always order you a new one with the new spelling if you decide. :) So, I'm Jenni with and "i". Yes, I have to always tell everyone that it's an "i", but I LOVE being different!! My friend was a Jon and everyone that he cared about spelling it right did because we new it was J-O-N.

Really you have to do what you like. I do like the look of the name better with an "h", however, I think if you are going to have an "h" in the nickname you should have it in the real name...because it is just a shortened version of his name. If your child's name is Amelia and you call her Mia that is totally a different name...Jonathan and Jonny is the same...does that make sense.

We should have discussed this over dinner last night. :) We changed Morganne's name spelling about a week after she was born. It was a pain, but I haven't ever regretted it. Not to say that you should change the name spelling. :) I just feel your pain. Good luck and don't even think twice about the night gown. You are so funny!! I just love you!!

Grose Fam said...

here's my two cents, go with what you like the best and roll with it. We nick named Genesee...Genna and people always spell it with a J but its what we liked the most. And right now he's young enough that you can try it one way if you don't like it changing isn't going to affect things too much.

Ashby said...

I think I'm in the minority on this one, but I prefer Jonathon spelled without the H. For me when I see a guys name written Jon, I know right away that it is short for Jonathon. To me, the H in John signifies that his name is just John, not Jonathan. I say keep it the way it is.

Sue said...

Oh Michelle:) I'm with you, though...I care about spelling names correctly. It just seems like a whole other name/person spelled differently. Personally I like the look of the name spelled with an "h". I am partial to Johnny also because it is the name of my son-in-law:)
GOOD LUCK!!!