By Susie Mesure
London - Is it the ultimate proof that illiteracy rates are soaring? Or is it simply evidence that text speak is taking over? Either way, classic spellings of traditional names such as Laura and William risk being consigned to history as scores of parents take the English language into their own hands when naming their children, creating misery for teachers and potentially scarring their offspring for life.
An analysis of the top 8 000 girls' and boys' names registered on birth certificates last year shows that parents are increasingly eschewing spellings that their parents would have recognised in favour of making up their own phonetic versions.
For hundreds of children born in 2007, Samuel became Samiul; Laura, Lora; Connor, Conna; and Anne, An.
Some view the phenomenon as evidence that lazy spelling in emails and on text messages is now mainstream; others wonder whether new mothers and fathers are just careless. Witness the 10 parents last year who took the trend for hyphenated names such as Lily-May or Ella-Louise to the extreme end of the spectrum by opting simply for Lily hyphen. (That's Lily- on the birth certificate.) Or the six boys named Cam'ron.
One baby born last month was called Flicity, according to the online parenting club Bounty, which will at least stop the child from wearing out the number-three key on her mobile phone in years to come.
Experts have warned that odd spellings bestow no favours on the child. Albert Mehrabian, a psychology professor at the University of California who has conducted much research into the impact of irregular names, found in one study that "less attractive characteristics were attributed to individuals with less conventionally spelled names".
Professor Mehrabian added: "Unconventional spelling connoted less masculinity for men and less femininity for women more anxiety and neuroticism were attributed to those with less common names."
John Dunford, the general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said that it was possible that new mothers and fathers had lost the ability to spell forenames. He added: "Some of it is genuine misspelling; some is parents looking for a unique way to spell a name and some is just carelessness. It makes life very difficult for teachers taking the register and completing forms."
Official records last year show that for girls, 23 different versions of Isabelle or Isabella, ranging from Izzabella to Yzabel, were registered, while for boys some parents pared names back to the bare essential: single letters.
Just think how quickly the JJs, Cs, CJs, Ts, TJs and AJs born last year will one day be able to key their names into their future mobiles. - The Independent on Sunday