My last name is Haight, and I love it. But most people hesitate before saying it out loud or mispronounce it since it sounds exactly like “hate,” and that makes some folks feel a little awkward. Back in my early twenties, my friends Aaron and Ben jokingly gave me the nickname Nancy Love.

It’s Origin

Haight is Old English in origin, derived from “haga” (Old English) or “hagi” (Old Norse), meaning “dweller by the haw.” The name likely referred to someone living near a hedged field or enclosure. Originally, it was pronounced as two syllables—“Hag-he,” probably with a hard “g” sound: hah-geh. Somewhere along the way, it got streamlined to the single syllable we use today.

It’s Popularity

Curious about how common my name is, I did a little research. In the United States, Haight is the 3,837th most popular surname, with approximately 7,461 people sharing it. Get outta town! I’ve never met another Haight outside my own family.

If you’re a Californian—or just familiar with the counterculture of the sixties—you might immediately think of Haight-Ashbury, the legendary San Francisco district that became synonymous with the hippie movement. The neighborhood got its name from the intersection of Haight and Ashbury streets, and ever since, my last name has carried a little bit of that free-spirited association.

A Spelling Revolution

Now, as someone who loves language, I have a proposal: Any word ending in the “ate” sound—whether spelled “eight,” “eat,” or “ait”—should adopt the far more distinguished spelling of aight. Wouldn’t it be graight? As faight would have it, I have a high school reunion coming up in California this October. My plan is to stop in San Francisco since I haven’t been there in at least aight years. I want to see the Golden Gaight Bridge. I can’t waight!

Want to get on board my fraight train and start a spelling revolution together?