I know three Stephanies myself. But one is a pencil-pushing hump(thank you Andy Sipowicz) I have little occasion to talk about. One is a Buffista. And one is my oldest pre-Buffista adult friend.

I knoe three Stephanies too! Two I've known since elementary school, and two are in my BBG chapter. Not the same two, though.

My problem with Anfernee is that it looks like his parents just had no idea how to spell Anthony. Of course, if they weren't trying for Anthony or a variant thereof when they named him, I'm way off base, but that's my gut reaction, and my reason for preferring standard spellings for names. (A preference that is so strong that if I ever gave a son my father's middle name, Edmon, I'd spell it Edmund, because just because my grandmother couldn't spell doesn't mean I can't.)

I swear, if you yell "William!" at the playground, half the little boys come running. Same for "Brittany".

Oh, I grew up with tons of Stephanies. Not a few other Susans, too, a fact which DH used to talk me out of naming the Player Elizabeth--he said if I remembered even now being embarrassed in 6th grade when I turned my head when someone yelled, "Susan!" and then had them say, "Not you, stupid, I meant Susan Davis," I had no right to set my child up to repeat the experience by giving them a name in or near the top ten most popular.

It could still change, but for now we're waffling between Eleanor and Annabel, neither of which is even in the top 100.

When I taught school in the town where Hardaway grew up, there were a number of Laquitas, a sprinkling of Taiwans, there were more than a few Lakeesha's, spelled a variety of ways, hmm, trying to remember, seriously, a lot more odd names than not odd. I doubt he stood out that much amongst his peers at the time.

I just remembered-- I had two Marquitas in my graduating class. That was odd.

It could still change, but for now we're waffling between Eleanor and Annabel, neither of which is even in the top 100.

If someone said "Annabel" to me on the phone I'd write it down "Annabelle." FWIW.

I adore Eleanor, but then it was my grandmother's name.

Eleanor was my first choice for Joanna, but her father hated it. Said it was too old-fashioned. He then blew his cred all to hell by suggesting first "Victoria", then "Caroline."

I doubt he stood out that much amongst his peers at the time.

True. And, intellectually I know that in almost all cases of parents giving a child a creative spelling, it's not because they don't know the standard version (though I really think my grandmother couldn't spell Edmund), but that they see the unusual spelling as sort of a gift of uniqueness to make their baby stand out in the world. It just baffles me, since I'm in the opposite naming subculture, namely the Pretentious Old-Fashioned Vaguely Anglophile one.