Study reveals the most commonly autocorrected names in Britain – so, is your name mistaken as a typo?

It’s designed to improve your texts, documents, and emails.

But as anyone who has used spell check or autocorrect will know all too well, the software doesn’t always get it right.

The famous autocorrect from f*** to duck might be the first fail to spring to mind, but many Britons also have issues spelling their own names.

In fact, a new report claims that a whopping 41 per cent of names of babies born in Britain are mistaken as typos.

From Ottilie to Eesa, these are the most commonly autocorrected names in Britain.

In the study, experts from ‘I am not a typo’ (IANAT) fed a list of baby names registered in Britain into Microsoft Word.

Across all names registered in England and Wales in 2021 with at least three occurrences (13,532), 5,492 were found to be ‘wrong’.

Names deemed typos include many of African, Asian, and Eastern European origin.

However, popular Scottish, Welsh and Irish names were also found to be incorrectly deemed typos.

Ottilie topped the list for girl names, followed by Esmae, Liyana, Ayda, and Seren.

Meanwhile, Eesa was the most commonly autocorrected boy name, followed by Rafe, Matei, Finnley and Zayan.

An analysis of the National Records of Scotland data found that across all names given to children in 2022 in Scotland, 41 per cent were ‘typos’, including popular names such as Ruaridh, Lochlan, Maeva, Ayda and Fiadh.

The famous autocorrect from f*** to duck might be the first fail to spring to mind, but many Britons also have issues spelling their own name (stock image) 

Meanwhile, several popular baby names in Wales – including Alys, Seren, and Osian – and Northern Ireland (including Oisin, Daithi, Meabh, and Eabha) were also flagged as incorrect.

Based on the findings, the team has penned an open letter to the tech giants, calling for them to correct autocorrect.

‘Esmae – all 398 of her born in England and Wales in 2021 – is wrong, apparently,’ the researchers wrote in the letter.

‘Same for the 447 born in 2020, 501 born in 2019, 480 born in 2018 and 502 born in 2017.

‘That’s 2,328 in the last five years. That’s compared to 36 instances of the name Nigel in that time.’

Professor Rashmi Dyal-Chand, a researcher at Northwestern University, has lent her support to the campaign.

Based on the findings, the team has penned an open letter to the tech giants, calling for them to correct autocorrect

‘My name is Rashmi, not Rashi, Rush me, or Sashimi, autocorrect notwithstanding,’ she said.

‘For people with names like mine, autocorrect is not convenient and helpful. It is unhelpful. And yes – it is harmful.’

Journalist Dhruti Shah has also spoken out on the impact of having her name autocorrected.

‘My name is Dhruti. Not Drutee, Dirty, or even Dorito,’ she said.

‘And yet these are all words my name has been changed to, often because of an autocorrect decision or a rushed message.

‘My first name isn’t even that long – only six characters – yet when it comes up as an error or it’s mangled and considered an unknown entity, it’s like saying that it’s not just your name that’s wrong, but you are.’