By Chris Cosci

A name is one of a person's most important features. We use our names as a way of identifying ourselves to others. Names range from common (John Smith) to not-so-common (say, Chris Cosci) to grossly unfortunate (Holly Schmidt - say it out loud).

The problem for most of us is that, usually, we don't get to choose our own names. We have to hope that we are born into a household with benevolent parents. Over the years, parents have tried many ways to make their child seem unique. This has led to creative spellings of common names.

Take the name Crystal. Depending on how cruel the parents are, this simple name can be spelled Cristal, Krystal, Chrystal, or any of a dozen other horrendous alternatives. Even if the name seems indisputably simple, there is somebody out there who will find another way of spelling it, just to be unique. That is why we now have people named Bryan, Jimm, and Andruw.

For some, the misspelling of their first name has become a source of frustration throughout their lives, often leading to emotional scars and years of therapy. While my fiancée Kristin has not been this traumatized, she has reached a point where seeing her name spelled with an "en" instead of an "in" can occasionally cause her to scream in mental anguish.

The increasing variation on common names recently led to a bizarre incident in Dallas, TX. The Phyllis Wheatley Elementary School is named after an 18th-century poet who was the first black person to have a book published in America. For over 70 years, the elementary school has held the name with pride, recognizing a woman of true historic value to our country. And for over 70 years, nobody got around to noticing that Ms. Wheatley spelled her first name Phillis, not Phyllis.

I have received plenty of junk mail with my name misspelled, and I even remember receiving an award in high school that had my name spelled wrong. But having your named spelled wrong on a public building named after you? It makes those incorrect letters from Publishers Clearing House suddenly seem so insignificant.

What makes this situation even more bizarre is that this elementary school was not the only place to get the name wrong. The Phyllis (with a "y") Wheatley name has been used all over the country, including another public school in Florida and YWCA buildings in Atlanta and St. Louis.

One has to wonder how all of these establishments were named and not one person took the opportunity to say, "hey - isn't her name spelled with an "i"? But the fact that the name was misspelled on an educational building seems to add an extra layer of irony to the situation.

Of course, we could always lay the blame on Phillis's parents. After all, if her parents had just followed the standards and spelled their daughter's name with a "y," this wouldn't be an issue.

So what can we learn from this situation? For starters, leave common names alone. They're spelled just fine the way they are, thank you very much. We can save a lot of trouble for people if we just stick to the rules. Also, if you're going to name a building after someone, it might be a good idea to do your research and make sure you spell their name right. They should teach that in schools.