Respellings Names

A familiar name written a new way. Respellings are where invented meanings cluster most thickly elsewhere on the internet, because a new spelling reads as a new name that must have come from somewhere.

Rankings for

17 names, rare — 25 to 99 a year, in the United States

Very Rare Rare Uncommon

Girls Boys Unisex

Fredrick Fredrick is an American respelling that ranks higher in England and Wales than in the United States — 934th against 1,730th, which reverses the usual direction for a respelling.
Boy English 94 in 2025
Shaun Shaun spells the Irish Seán phonetically for English readers, and it is the same name as John — the Irish took it from Norman French Jehan rather than directly from Latin, which is why it sounds nothing like John.
Boy Irish 79 in 2025
Alissa Alissa means noble, and the flower it resembles was named for rabies — alyssum joins the Greek negative to lyssa, madness, because the plant was believed to cure the bite of a mad dog.
Girl English 99 in 2025
Krystal Krystal means ice, and the Greeks believed rock crystal was water frozen so hard it could never melt — which is why the same word names both the mineral and the frost.
Girl American 88 in 2025
Jacquelyn Jacquelyn means supplanter, and the chain is long — it is an American respelling of Jacqueline, the French feminine of Jacques, which is James, which is Jacob.
Girl American 80 in 2025
Caitlyn Caitlyn is the third spelling of one name on this site, alongside Caitlin and Kaitlin — all descend from Catherine by way of Old French and Irish, and all three are large enough to hold separate pages.
Girl Irish 71 in 2025
Jaclyn Jaclyn compresses Jacqueline, and the name underneath means heel-grabber — Jacob was born gripping his twin's heel, and every Jack, Jacques and Jacqueline descends from that description.
Girl American 61 in 2025
Rickey Rickey means strong ruler, and its peak is the largest in this group — 3,818 American births in 1958, against 45 in the most recent year on record.
Boy English 45 in 2025
Adleigh Adleigh is a modern American girl's name with no single agreed meaning.
Girl Disputed (modern English coinage) 52 in 2025
Nichole Nichole means victory of the people, and the compound is political — the Greek joins a word for victory to one meaning the citizen body, so it describes a public triumph rather than a personal one.
Girl English 46 in 2025
Ashlee Ashlee is the third spelling of one name on this site, alongside Ashleigh and Ashlyn — all descend from the Old English for an ash-tree clearing, and the ash was the tree spears were made from.
Girl American 38 in 2025
Kaitlin Kaitlin reached English through Irish, not from it — Catherine went into Old French as Cateline, into Irish as Caitlín, and back out again respelled.
Girl Irish 35 in 2025
Earnest Earnest respells Ernest, and the Germanic behind it is not mild — eornost meant vigor in battle, seriousness of the deadly kind, long before it settled into the sense of being sincere.
Boy English 25 in 2025
Debra Debra is a girl's name, the phonetic respelling of Deborah, from the Hebrew for bee.
Girl Hebrew 31 in 2025
Lynda Lynda means lime tree, from Spanish and Germanic roots that disagree — the pretty reading comes from the Spanish linda, and the tree from a Germanic element, and neither is settled.
Girl American 30 in 2025
Michele Michele is a girl's name, the single-l spelling of Michelle, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God.
Girl French 28 in 2025
Kayler Kayler is a modern American unisex name whose origin is disputed.
Unisex Disputed 28 in 2025

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