I'm probably overthinking this.

[topazionheart.livejournal.com]

Let me ask something - how do you pick a name's spelling?

A lot of the names I like are Mongolian, as it's part of my heritage and I like the meanings in them. But a lot of those names have uncertain spellings; in Cryllic they've got only one, and it's easy enough for people to figure out how to say your name in Mongolia because they're used to those sounds, but abroad you begin to run into problems.

Borood, for instance, is pronounced boro-od, not bo-rude like people assume. Khair isn't said like care, it's more like ka-hair. And even in Mongolia nobody can spell Jamuka the same way twice. (Jamuqa, Jamukha, Jamuqha, Jumukaa...) Then there's the double a's that seem to trip people up in Ayulaan and Tsusmaa, which I've never understood why that's hard, but it is for people. As is the kh = q rule in antiquated Mongolian names.

So how do you pick a name's spelling? How do you decide whether to go with, say, Khairzurkh or Qairzurq or Kaairzurk? Do you think names spellings should be changed to make the pronounciation clearer or they should stay in their traditional spelling?