Reminds me of the article about black Americans visiting Africa and being devastated that they weren't "welcomed home" but rather just treated as visiting American tourists.
I worked under someone at an old job who named his son Jaxon. And kept pictures Jaxon drew and signed on the wall of his office. So every time I needed something from him, I would have to see Jaxon's name in his office. And I hated it.
Because you hate your child but don't believe in abortion. Just yesterday, I avoided spelling my preferred email on a phone call because a company already had a different address on file.
Ex and I once joked about this subject. We decided it'd be funny to named an unwanted child Paisley.
Hm. In my experience, -eigh has always been pronounced -ee. In most cases, Leigh is a homophone of Lee, as it comes from an English word meaning “meadow”, and you’ll find many pronunciation guides that confirm this. Not that I find it all that intuitive, I would have assumed it to be pronounced -lay myself, like sleigh or eight. English is dumb like that, and if you or anyone else wants to pronounce it -lay, nothing should stop you.
It's to add a little uniqueness, and avoid them being the 14th Erica in the classroom, but not going so far as to not give them one of the "normal" names.
Or they just think it looks prettier. It doesn't have to be about accomplishing something beyond "I like how that looks".
You'd be surprised how little it actually matters. It just means they have to spell it for people occasionally.
My name isn't common here, but it's also perfectly well known and spelled in the traditional sense.
I have to spell it for people, and often use a middle name for takeout orders. That's about the extent of the burden of having an unusual name.
My last name is also perfectly common, and I need to spell it as well.
I've seen a lot more "burden" on people with alphabetically late names, since they often are last in line for stuff.