s/o Kolten is NOT you-neek!!

shari_rngleson · December 2009

it is the german form of Colton and there is absolutely nothing oddball about it!!

it is NOT made up! sorry, but i had to get this off my chest.

turkishdelight · December 2009

Unless you are living in Germany then many people are just going to assume that Colton became Kolten for unique-ness sake. People are going to automatically try to spell it with a C and he's going to have to correct people often.

shari_rngleson · December 2009

turkishdelight:
Unless you are living in Germany then many people are just going to assume that Colton became Kolten for unique-ness sake. People are going to automatically try to spell it with a C and he's going to have to correct people often.

sorry but this sounds so uneducated to me! i do not live in Germany and i have no german background and i know this.... so there must be others.

there are people from german, spanish, indian, jewish, malaysian, etc cultures in this country so should we just get rid of all of their culture's names so we don't confuse you??

angelika78 · December 2009

My name is Angelika...yup with a "k"...it is the German spelling of Angelica and pronounced with a hard "g." My entire life I have corrected:

A. The spelling of my name...yes, with a k. Yes, I am sure. No, really, I know how to spell my own name.

B. The pronunciation. Yes, I am sure it is An-Gel-i-ka not Anjelica...yes, I am sure. No really...I know how to pronounce my own name.

It is exhausting...and yes, people are dimwits sometimes and don't realize there are different ways to spell and pronounce things, but that doesn't make having a "unique" (albeit completely legitimate German name) any easier!

carolinag · December 2009

i guarantee you that 99% of american's are going to think it's w/a K for uniqueness sake. i also bet that 9 times out of 10 that that is the case in the us. maybe there are some legitmate germans using it, but i think most are just people who like cre8tive spellings.

and fwiw i'm german and i still wouldn't spell it kolten. this isn't germany.

nooniesgal · December 2009

People will think it is a creative spelling. No, not everyone will know it is a German spelling. I just think if you are already defensive over it, then you should just make sure you are up for the challenge of defending it. If you love it though, just use it with pride without a description of origin attached.

krissyh21 · December 2009

From a Kristine with a K - there are worse things that can happen to a child then to give him a commonly spelled C name with a K.

My mother chose the K because she liked it, no other reason then that. I survived. Yes, it is annoying not to beable to just say Christine and be done with it when calling companies that require my name... Sometimes if it is something not important I skip that part.

I know people are dimwhits and can't spell simple names that are commonly spelled, my maiden name was Harvey and needed to spell that out a lot of times. Life goes on.

I think people should honor their heritage. It makes a lot more sense to have meaning to a name then to choose one that is cookie cutter.

wheelenl · December 2009

In a world where Aidan becomes Aaden, and Corbin becomes Korben, most people will assume Kolten is an invented spelling. I would assume that, and I'm well educated with a lot of stamps on my passport. And I live in one of the most German cities in the U.S.

You can spell it however you want; you can't control how people in the United States in 2009 will react to it. The question is, does it bother you? It seems to, so I wouldn't spell it that way.

We really like the spelling GRAEME for Graham. It is the Scottish spelling and the way DH's friends with the name spell it. But then we realized, DH's friends live in the U.K., and we are in the U.S. So, we went with Graham.

sunnyday016 · December 2009

Sorry, it may be the German spelling but there are enough people who spell their child's name uniquely that Kolten is right up there with Kaydin and the like. Those are the people who have ruined it for ya.

andrea922 · December 2009

If you are this defensive now I can't imagine how you will be if you actually name your child this and you constantly get asked 'Oh, why did you spell it with a K?", which is a nice way of saying "Why did you spell it so crazy?". Because you give people way too much credit in assuming they know Kolton is the German spelling of Colton.

Either spelling is NMS anyway.

shari_rngleson · December 2009

andrea922:
If you are this defensive now I can't imagine how you will be if you actually name your child this and you constantly get asked 'Oh, why did you spell it with a K?", which is a nice way of saying "Why did you spell it so crazy?". Because you give people way too much credit in assuming they know Kolton is the German spelling of Colton.
Either spelling is NMS anyway.

GIRLS, this is not my name choice -i am simply responding to the Colton/kolten post where a few referred to Kolten as "You-neek" and "oddball"` which i thought was pathetic.

i am simply stating that it is not. so for those that did not know, consider yourself educated !

CarBuck · December 2009

"Consider yourself educated" ?

I'm rolling my eyes so hard it hurts.

Thanks for the German lesson.

caeliesmom · December 2009

Yawn. When will the debate over kre8tyve names end?

ubermoose · December 2009

Really, this is a sticky one. I'm very pro-heritage. I also know that picking a non-standard US spelling when one lives pretty exclusively in the US sets one up for questions. It's not an insurmountable thing by any means, and if people want to use these spellings, I can understand and respect that.

What's not fair is to expect everybody to automatically assume it's not a unique spelling chosen for the pure uniqueness of it. It can be hard to sort the Kristoffer's and Kolten's from the Kaleb's, Krew's, Kaden's.

My suggestion, if you do choose a non-standard US spelling, be prepared to answer questions tactfully. If you choose to meet every "hmmm, that's an unusual spelling" with a snarky vent or snooty history lesson, then you should reconsider the name. If, though, you can cheerfully explain, "actually, that's the original German/Gaelic/Hebrew/Spanish spelling" and take mispellings with a grain of salt... go for it.