The Welsh names most commonly deemed ‘typos’ by autocorrect have been revealed.
This week as part of a new campaign, I Am Not A Typo collective is calling for tech giants to ‘correct autocorrect’ and adjust their spellchecks after it was found that 41 per cent of baby names in England and Wales, many of them Welsh, are marked as typos by automatic spelling systems.
Out of the 100 most common Welsh girl baby names, seven names came up as typos in Microsoft’s English (UK) dictionary, with Alys and Seren as the most commonly branded typos.
Six of the top 100 boys' names were deemed typos, with Osian and Harri as the most common to be ‘corrected’. Welsh names join Scottish, Irish, Eastern European, African, and Asian names as those dubbed ‘wrong’ by the autocorrect systems.
In an open letter, I Am Not A Typo collective, a group campaigning for greater tech inclusivity, said: “Our children should not be othered by the technology that is integral to their lives. And it’s up to the arbiters of that technology to fix it. It’s about time that our technology reflected the society in which it functions.”
Other Welsh names to be ‘corrected’ include Nansi, Efa, Mabli, Eleri, Esmae, and Tomos, Macsen, Ioan, and Gruffydd, “demonstrating how Welsh names are treated differently by an English (UK) dictionary, despite Wales being part of the UK, and Welsh being a recognised language” according to the group.
Across all girls and boys names given to children in England and Wales in 2021 (with a minimum of three occurrences), 5,492 of 13,532 were ‘wrong’, or 41 per cent.
Professor Rashmi Dyal-Chand of Northeastern University in the US, author of the paper Autocorrecting for Whiteness, said: “My name is Rashmi, not Rashi, Rush me, or Sashimi, autocorrect notwithstanding. For people with names like mine, autocorrect is not convenient and helpful. It is unhelpful. And yes – it is harmful.” Supporting the campaign, writer and journalist Dhruti Shah, said: “My name is Dhruti. Not Drutee, Dirty, or even Dorito. 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.”
