"You know what they say, A after K period"

In my life I've never been able to buy any personalized pencils, pens, or bicycle license plates like my brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends could ! Why? Because apparently not enough people use the spelling R-e-b-e-k-a-h. Ever since I've been using word processing programs spell check constantly put that little red line under my name, trying to force me to change it to "the other way." I'm so glad they made it possible to add words to the dictionary in Word! I think my own grandmother even spelled my name wrong until I was 3! (I don't know if I can actually prove that, but I think I remember seeing a birthday card from one of my early years for a granddaughter Rebecca, apparently born on the same day as me, Rebekah). These are things I came to accept years ago. I doubt my Mom and Dad realized what they we're doing on that eventful May eleventh, back in 1984 (their names are Dan and Debbie), but I'm sure it affected them too when I was too young to speak, or spell rather, for myself.

Ever since I was around 15, I've had to spell out my name for anything and everything. Think of a time when you've had to give your name over the phone or to an office receptionist for some reason, most likely a lot of people are like me, and they have to spell out either their first or last name, so why am I complaining? I'm not the only one, right! Now, I have to spell out both my first and last name, and correct the pronunciation of my last name, something I quickly stopped doing because it did no good. But I guess that is no one's fault but my own for getting married and legally changing my name.

I have no solution for my last name. As my husband's grandmother, Jane once said "for the rest of your life you and your kids are all gun [sic] be named toolos...or tooloose..." (remember it's spelled Tullos), but as for my first name, Rebekah, there is a bigger issue to deal with. That issue is the debate of K's versus C's. I am no linguistics expert, but according to my research the letter K was around first, from the Greek letter Kappa. When taken into Latin, Kappa was changed to the letter C, and many uses of K disappeared. However, the rule was (and should be) that K is used when it is followed by rounded vowels, such as the letter /a/ (like in the name Rebekah, for example). The Romance languages (e.g. Spanish, Italian, French) chose C over K, and so did the Celtic languages (e.g Welsh, Irish, Scottish Gaelic). English, is the only Germanic language to use the hard C in addition to K, but I think most people agree that the English language has terrible phonetics. So to me, the solution is clear. Those that speak English should take a vote and and either chose between the two, like the Romantic and Celtic languages have done, or establish better rules for their use, especially following the rule I just made up: "you know what they say, A after K period!"

I realize that there will be no vote, no real solution, but people can take the time to ask how to spell others' names. Never assume you know how to spell someone's name. Have you noticed what they're naming kids these days? I repeat, we have to stop assuming we know how to spell people's names! If you're like me and you have a name spelled "differently" I think you will agree that it means a lot and says a lot when someone does or does not spell your name correctly. I know it is something that I will think about when naming my children in the future.