I was at the Outdoor Retailer’s Convention the other week and picked up the March copy of Trail Runner magazine pre-release date.  My heart began to race with excitement as I thumbed through the pages of the magazine searching for my name in print (the first time it will appear in a real magazine).  And then I saw it – the article that I had written… but wait a minute… that byline isn’t me it’s my alter ego Aimee.

Chances are if you even know my name, you think there is nothing wrong with the above spelling but in fact my name is spelled as follows: A-M-I-E-E.  Yeah I know – just two little letters swapped an “m” and an “i” out of place – but ughhh I was so thoroughly bummed – it doesn’t even feel like me.  I have been plagued with thirty years of incorrect spellings and I have honestly had enough.

I guess it all started with my birth.  My mother named me after her aunt and it wasn’t until I was an adult that I learned that my Great Aunt Amiee actually spells her name Aimee.  It turns out my mother spelled my name wrong on the birth certificate and cursed me with a lifetime of misspellings.

Bank statements, magazine subscriptions, pay stubs, childhood awards and trophies, medical records – nearly all spelled wrong.

Flickr:Vintage Collective

I have two high school diplomas – one for Aimee that was handed to me on graduation day and one for Amiee that I received months later after much begging and pleading for.  You see, for some reason no one thinks a misspelling is that big of a deal.  But then just try and screw with the spelling of their name and they freak!

And it is not just the “M-I” vs “I-M” thing.  A few years ago (in my former academic researchy life), I was super stoked to be second author on a paper in a fairly reputable journal, which somehow managed to botch my last name leaving the ‘L” off the end – sheesh.

Oh and then there was that time my grandmother sent me a birthday card that said “Happy Birthday Amy” and when I questioned her about it she said that she was simply in a hurry.  Those two letters must have saved her so much time…

One of my earliest childhood memories was getting a verbal whupping at home because I spelled my name A-M-Y on the back of an art project.  At age 5 I was already sick of everybody getting my name wrong and tried to take control of the situation.  My parents took it personally and lectured me on the importance of owning my name.  I think that was the first time I ever got in trouble for anything – so their words stuck and oh do I get pissed when people screw up my name.

Proudly,
Amiee

Header photo courtesy of Wickenden