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Hi, I have always been curious what the difference is with a name such as Joanne if you spelled it that way or Jo-Anne or Jo Anne, I know Joanne is obviously 1 word, but what is the difference between Jo-Anne and Jo Ann as first name, same with say MaryBeth, Mary-Beth, Mary Beth.....I'm not using these names but like I said I'm always curious why they are hypenated or 2 words as opposed to 1 word...my friends wife's name is JoAnne like that looks "wrong" to me like it should be Joanne :shrug:
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I agree with Claudia -- the spelling of these names is a matter of personal preference.
With the particular example of Joanne, though, I think it's probable that one could say that those who respell this as two separate names, with or without the hyphen, are emphasizing that they are reinterpreting the name as being a blend of Jo and Ann rather than just a French form of Joanna. So I think the Jo-Anne, JoAnne, etc. spellings probably are even more likely to be thought of as feminine forms of Joe or Joseph than the original spelling Joanne is.
With the particular example of Joanne, though, I think it's probable that one could say that those who respell this as two separate names, with or without the hyphen, are emphasizing that they are reinterpreting the name as being a blend of Jo and Ann rather than just a French form of Joanna. So I think the Jo-Anne, JoAnne, etc. spellings probably are even more likely to be thought of as feminine forms of Joe or Joseph than the original spelling Joanne is.
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Yes, and you also occasionally see spellings like JoeAnn and Joe-Anne which prove that parents are thinking this way.
This message was edited 11/21/2018, 8:10 AM
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This is a matter of personal preference only; in my experience there is no difference in pronunciation whatsoever among Joanne, JoAnn, Jo-Anne, Jo Ann, etc. They are simply different "spellings" of the same name, just as Katherine, Catherine, Katharine and Kathryn are various spellings of the same name.
The US Social Security names database (https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/) eliminates hyphens and other punctuation marks, as well as capital letters other than the initial. So if you search the database you will not find JoAnne or Jo-Anne, only Joanne. What's more, a name like Jo Ann will be recorded simply as "Jo."
I found through my own research that the name Ann Marie appears less popular in the Social Security data than it is in reality, because there it is reduced to "Ann" even though most women with this name use the full name, Ann Marie.
The US Social Security names database (https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames/) eliminates hyphens and other punctuation marks, as well as capital letters other than the initial. So if you search the database you will not find JoAnne or Jo-Anne, only Joanne. What's more, a name like Jo Ann will be recorded simply as "Jo."
I found through my own research that the name Ann Marie appears less popular in the Social Security data than it is in reality, because there it is reduced to "Ann" even though most women with this name use the full name, Ann Marie.
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