Sander, Zander or Xander? S, Z and X Spellings for Boys

Photo Courtesy of Laura Morita Photography

In her regular Monday Nameberry post this week, Abby from Appellation Mountain wrote about different ways to choose an unusual name. Number five on the list is respell a name, to which she adds this caveat:

"Warning: this can be a VERY controversial approach to creative naming!"

Yes. Yes it can. Because ask people what their top naming peeve is and almost everyone will say "yooneek" names. Names where the spelling has been altered so much that it is non-recognisable and the pronunciation is almost impossible to interpret. So the lesson is to tread carefully when altering the spelling of a name.

However there are a few simple changes that are more readily accepted, the main one being interchangeable letters. An I to a Y or a C to a K for example are fairly commonplace. Maybe not universally loved, but accepted.

Take names starting with an S. Maybe there's one you like, but think it would look much cooler if it started with a Z. Or maybe you think it would look stronger and more exotic if it started with an X instead. Not sure what I mean? Here is a list of names that appeared on the 2013 SSA list (meaning they were given to more than five children) where the name is exactly the same but differ by the first letter - the aforementioned S, Z and X.

You may hate them, or maybe you'll find some inspiration. 

First up is the list for the boys. The girls list will follow soon.

	Sael		Zael		Xael
	San		Zan		Xan
	Sander		Zander		Xander
	Savien		Zavien		Xavien
	Savier		Zavier		Xavier
	Savion		Zavion		Xavion
	Savior		Zavior		Xavior
	Sion		Zion		Xion
	Syaire		Zyaire		Xyaire
	Syler		Zyler		Xyler
	Syon		Zyon		Xyon