Woman is Winner of Weirdest Spelling of a Name
By Andi Saxx, Emergency Humor Faux-News Bureau
Shortly after she got over the shock of learning that her name has the oddest spelling of any in Atlanta, Georgia, Gggeeennneee Winthrop pulled out her cell phone and began calling her friends and family to share the good news.
Two weeks earlier, Winthrop was persuaded by a co-worker to enter her name in a radio contest to find the weirdest spelling of an otherwise ordinary name in the Atlanta area.
"I honestly didn't think I had a chance," Winthrop, 26, said when contacted by Atlanta's POOO radio that sponsored the name search. "I grew up with lots of girls that have way more 'E's,' 'I's,' and 'Y's' in their names than I do, but it was the three 'G's' that did it!"
Winthrop explained that her father wanted to name her Jeanie, "But my mother said she wanted me to grow up to be someone special, so she turned Jeanie into Gggeeennneee, and now I'm so glad she did!"
Winthrop's friends and family cheered her on at the award ceremony, as she accepted a $50 gift card and a special memento cup with her name on it. "I feel like Miss America,"said the Atlanta native, while wiping tears from her eyes. "I feel like a celebrity."
John Jensen, A spokesperson for the U.S.A. and Canada Names Society, an organization whose charter is to study names for their cultural value and linguistic qualities, said that for the past 20 years there has been a growing trend for mothers to try and distinguish their children by giving them common names with stupid spellings. "Parents have no idea if their children will ever achieve any real success as adults," said Jensen, "so they're giving them names that will confer social status within societal groups that measure achievement against the spelling of a name."
"When polled, most adults with oddly spelled names say they get a perverse pleasure from constantly correcting strangers who mispronounce or misspell their names." Jensen adds, "They like the attention, even if it is negative."
Though loathe to admit to any bias in their hiring practices, human resource professionals acknowledge that people with unusual names are less likely to be called for interviews. Brenda Mavis of the Tambika, Nebraska branch of Human Resources Professionals for Fairness in the Workplace (HRPFW) explains, "If a company wants to be taken seriously, it can't place people covered with piercings and tattoos in front-office positions, and it can't send someone with a first name of "SparccEL" (pronounced "Sparkle") to negotiate contracts with important customers.
When asked if she felt like her name had held her back personally or professionally, Gggeeennneee Winthrop, stated she'd only benefited from her unusual name.
"'Jeanies' don't win unusual name contests," said Winthrop, whose previous accomplishments include getting pregnant and owning 27 department-store credit cards. "I mean, in my grandparents' day, I'd have had to be an astronaut or find a cure for cancer to get this much attention."
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EH reporter Andi Saxx contributed this report from Atlanta, Georgia.
