Not mormon, and the name in question is no longer in use, but I can tell you exactly how this happened for me, in 1993, having grown up a Jennifer because I was born in 1972 and if you were born in 1972, you were a Jennifer, or if your mother was particularly daring, Jessica or Kimberly. Okay, fine, there were some Melissas in there, but I’m TELLING you, I was in choir in 7th grade and there were 30 kids and not only were SIX of us Jennifers (the boys were all steve, matt, jason and dave, no exceptions*) but I think three of us had the last initial. I changed my name to a funky spelling of Jamie in the 8th grade I was so fed up with it.
So come 1992, I’m young, I’m pregnant, we’re trying to decide on a name. Katie is almost right but not quite right, and then it hits me, kaylee. Now, I was a couple years ahead of this curve, I thought, but we didn’t have moms due date clubs or the internet at this point, so how the fuck was I to know?
Okay, but my kid’s dad was an expat of Georgia, and said, “No, Kaylee is too southern. The name is fine, just don’t spell it that way.”
What ensued was a long, drawn out permutation negotiation.
Kay can be spelled Kay, Kae, Ka, Kai, Cae, Cay, Ca, Cei, Quay and a handful of others I’ve mercifully forgotten.
Lee can be done Lee, Li, Lea, Ley, Lie, Ly, leah, leigh, and probably a few more.
The ex wanted god help me Caeleigh. I said it was a horrible thing to do to a perfectly innocent newborn.
Which they changed to a 3 letter name with my blessing, after living with it for 20+ years, because we showed up to their brownie troop and in that brownie troop there were:
Kailea, Kaylen, Hailey, Bailey, Catelyn, Korrine, and Emily.
And another Kaylee in first grade. God help me.
School was just LIKE that for them, all the fucking way through. So when they said they were changing their name, I was like, “I don’t blame you a bit.”
* this is only a very slight hyperbole. When I saw that there were no two kids with the same first name in my youngest child’s class, I nearly fainted. And just the boy’s names. There really were 6 jennifers in 7th grade choir. I don’t think any class I was in ever had less than 5 through all of elementary, and there were several dozen Jennifers in my graduating class. Sometimes people will ask my name and I’ll say, “I was born in 1972. Guess.”