Investigation uncovers frequently mistyped names in Britain: Find out if your moniker is often misunderstood as a spelling error.
Your Savior in Text, but Not Always Right
From saving you from embarrassing typos in messages to catching mistakes before you hit 'send', autocorrect can be a blessing. But, as we all know too well, it's not infallible. Some hilarious errors include transforming 'Googled' into 'fondled' or even 'f***' into 'duck'.
Now, a study from 'I am not a typo' (IANAT) has unearthed surprising findings. It turns out, 43% of popular baby names in the UK are autocorrected or wrongly marked as such. Young folks aged 16 to 24 bear the brunt, with almost two-thirds experiencing such name corrections.
Curious about your name's status?
Experts at IANAT fed a list of baby names registered in the UK in 2023 into Microsoft Word, set to the English (UK) dictionary. Their findings? Ottilie is the most commonly corrected girls name, while Zaviyar tops the list for boys.
Tests on the iPhone notes app reveal Ottilie is autocorrected to 'Otto lie', and Zaviyar is flagged with 'no replacements found'. Other names for girls that often get corrected include Ayzal, Aiza, Imaan, Fiadh, and Iyla. Meanwhile, Zayaan, Teddie, Finnley, Kiaan, and Izhaan are among the frequently corrected boys' names.
These findings were released alongside the publication of IANAT's "100 Incorrect Baby Names" book. Last year, the team penned an open letter to tech giants, urging them to rectify autocorrect issues.
Campaigner Cathal Wogan, in a stirring statement, said, "Parents spend hours deciding on a baby name, but 43% are now autocorrected or wrongly marked. This issue deeply affects and upsets millions of people."
He further added, "We want Tech Giants to correct autocorrect and spell-check spell-check. This needs to be fixed."
The IANAT campaign contends that while the number of typos is increasing, many popular baby names are still considered 'typos' by the technology, favoring the famous over the numerous[1].
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"Is Big Tech favoring the famous over the numerous? What we do know is that 43% of baby names are still typos, which means our job is not done yet. We've been left on read by the Tech Giants for one year. And we will not stop until the issue is solved," says Wogan.
[1] IANAT, "I Am Not A Typo" (IANAT) research, personal communication, January 2023.
Science delves into the autocorrect errors affecting popular baby names, revealing that 43% of the UK's baby names are either autocorrected or flagged as incorrect.
This study conducted by IANAT highlights the technology's bias towards famous names over the numerous, thereby prompting the need for tech giants to fix the autocorrect and spell-check functions in lifestyle and technology applications.
