babynames | Hiya!

Saw this comm on the spotlight and I had to join (yes I'm another spotlight recruit)! I love names and name etymology. No babies yet to give names to, but I'm certainly having fun coming up with a list of names for my future babies!

Anyway, I'm Melissa, named after my mother's favorite female name and no other particular reason. My legal middle name is my mother's maiden name, but my baptismal middle name is Jo, which my grandfather picked out after having watched The Facts of Life and wanted me to grow up a tough female. I personally think "Melissa Jo" clashes against my Hispanic last name, which all clashes against my Asian roots (I'm Filipino, hence the Spanish-sounding last name on an Asian), but oh well.

My parents are Teodolfo Jr. AKA Ted and Asuncion AKA Onnette. Dad was named after his dad (hence the junior) and keeps threatening to sneak into the delivery room when I eventually give birth and tell the nurses that I want my child named Teodolfo, too (or "Teodolfa" if it's a girl). Mom has no idea how anyone got "Onnette" from "Asuncion" but she did tell me that she was born on the day of Saint Asuncion, which is how she got her name. Her younger sister was born on the same day five years later so she was named Asuncion, too.

There are some other uncommon names in my family--my paternal grandmother is Levita ("Levie") and my maternal grandfather and grandmother are Moises (which I assume is a take on the biblical name "Moses") and Engracia (but everyone just calls her "Grace"). If I recall correctly my grandmother Grace has several siblings with other unusual names (I think one of her sisters is Arborgenia), but honestly I can't remember all of those long names!

My dear boyfriend who I will most likely (and hopefully!) end up marrying and having babies with is Cameron Joseph, who I am a little sad never grew up to be a CJ. We've discussed names several times and found that I tend to favor uncommon, less-used names while he likes ones that are more unique or have different spellings. My favorite boy's name is Hayden, while he likes Kote (pronounced "Cody), Valen, and Asher (the last two are names he picked up from favorite fantasy books of his). I rather like Hayden Asher together. As for female names I like Allison, Ava, and Leah and he likes Madylinn and Christine.

Finally, question for the comm: what do you think of spelling names in ways that vary from the norm? Like I mentioned in the cut my boyfriend likes "Madylinn" over "Madeline," and last week a saw a girl named "M'hagnee" as opposed to "Mahogany." Opinions? Edit: Sorry, just noticed practically the same question got asked here!