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Help[Opinions] Re: Leigh, Leah, and nicknames
in reply to a message by hebeCotogna
I think Leah could have the nickname Lee or Lea, but not Leigh.
Leigh looks masculine and rough to me, and it also feels wrong to use a 5-letter nickname for a 4-letter name!
I don't think Leigh is appropriate as a nickname for anything that doesn't already have "leigh" in it (like Ashleigh or whatever). But Lee could be used for any name that starts or ends with that sound (Leonie, Leandra, Liana, Cecily, Rosalie, Natalie, Ainsley... pretty much anything.)
Even if I liked Leigh, it would still look too contrived and adding all those awkward letters goes beyond just spelling a nickname slightly differently than it is in the name. Nicknames like Annie for Anabel (which only has one n) or Lily for Liliana (which has no y) are reasonable and don't stick out too much, but Leigh for Leah or even just Leigh for Ashley instead of Ashleigh would look really awkward.
And the person would constantly have to explain "Yes, I know my name is short for [something without 'leigh'], but I spell it L-E-I-G-H." And then people would probably spell it Lee anyway.
A lot of people don't take nickname spellings seriously at all (I think some people see nicknames as a purely verbal thing so they think it doesn't matter how you spell them) and even if you go by 'Jennie' or 'Sammie', they're going to spell it 'Jenny' or 'Sammy' because that's what comes naturally to them and they don't really comprehend the fact that a nickname can have a correct and incorrect spelling as long as it has the right sound. If it's a hassle to get people to spell my mom's name Terri instead of Terry, then it would be even worse trying to get people to spell your name Leigh when it's short for Leah. You'd basically have to introduce yourself as Leigh L-E-I-G-H form the start and not use your full name at all.
If you really want Leigh I feel like you'd need to use it as a standalone or else go for one of these https://www.behindthename.com/names/pattern/*leigh or https://www.behindthename.com/submit/names/pattern/*leigh* but personally I think none of them are good. Ashleigh isn't too bad especially if you live in the UK, and I could maybe tolerate Leighanna. Leigh by itself is better than almost all of those.
Leigh looks masculine and rough to me, and it also feels wrong to use a 5-letter nickname for a 4-letter name!
I don't think Leigh is appropriate as a nickname for anything that doesn't already have "leigh" in it (like Ashleigh or whatever). But Lee could be used for any name that starts or ends with that sound (Leonie, Leandra, Liana, Cecily, Rosalie, Natalie, Ainsley... pretty much anything.)
Even if I liked Leigh, it would still look too contrived and adding all those awkward letters goes beyond just spelling a nickname slightly differently than it is in the name. Nicknames like Annie for Anabel (which only has one n) or Lily for Liliana (which has no y) are reasonable and don't stick out too much, but Leigh for Leah or even just Leigh for Ashley instead of Ashleigh would look really awkward.
And the person would constantly have to explain "Yes, I know my name is short for [something without 'leigh'], but I spell it L-E-I-G-H." And then people would probably spell it Lee anyway.
A lot of people don't take nickname spellings seriously at all (I think some people see nicknames as a purely verbal thing so they think it doesn't matter how you spell them) and even if you go by 'Jennie' or 'Sammie', they're going to spell it 'Jenny' or 'Sammy' because that's what comes naturally to them and they don't really comprehend the fact that a nickname can have a correct and incorrect spelling as long as it has the right sound. If it's a hassle to get people to spell my mom's name Terri instead of Terry, then it would be even worse trying to get people to spell your name Leigh when it's short for Leah. You'd basically have to introduce yourself as Leigh L-E-I-G-H form the start and not use your full name at all.
If you really want Leigh I feel like you'd need to use it as a standalone or else go for one of these https://www.behindthename.com/names/pattern/*leigh or https://www.behindthename.com/submit/names/pattern/*leigh* but personally I think none of them are good. Ashleigh isn't too bad especially if you live in the UK, and I could maybe tolerate Leighanna. Leigh by itself is better than almost all of those.
This message was edited 9/18/2023, 2:47 PM
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Replies
Oh thank you for such a detailed response! I definitely think all of that is true, when talking in person people will spell nicknames however they please XD and I was worried that a major spelling difference would feel a little odd in writing as well.
It really is interesting to me, because I was leaning towards Leigh as the nn because I thought it looked much more feminine than Lee (Lee brings to mind Bruce Lee to me more often than not XD) and Lea is difficult to tell if it’s [lee] or [leeuh] out of context 🤔
Anyway, thank you for your thoughts!
It really is interesting to me, because I was leaning towards Leigh as the nn because I thought it looked much more feminine than Lee (Lee brings to mind Bruce Lee to me more often than not XD) and Lea is difficult to tell if it’s [lee] or [leeuh] out of context 🤔
Anyway, thank you for your thoughts!
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