`Jon Lynn Jasperson Given Name

My first name is spelled similarly to the common name "John" with no "h"; however, my name has an accent mark in front of the "J". According to a phonetics expert consulted by my parents, the accent mark makes my name pronounced like "Sean".

When I was born, my mom wanted to name me "David Michael". However, my dad did not like that name. After I was born, my dad was driving from my house to the hospital to visit my mom and me (an 18-mile trek). He says he was inspired to name me Sean and to spell it, Jon.

My mom and dad originally spelled my name Jôn with the circumflex accent mark over the letter "o" (this accent mark is also called the hat accent or roof accent). They spelled my name that way until shortly after my second birthday (as illustrated in family photos of my 2-year-old birthday cake with my name spelled in frosting on the cake).

Second Birthday (September 17, 1969)

Sometime in my third or fourth year of life, my parents consulted with a linguistic expert who told them to drop the circumflex accent mark and replace it with the "grave" accent mark in front of the "j". My parents made the change and my name has been spelled 'Jon ever since that time.

On a growth chart that Mom and Dad kept for me and two of my brothers (Cade and Cory), my name is spelled "Jôn" for my 1st, 2nd, and 3rd-year growth marks. However, it is spelled `Jon for my 4th-year growth mark. (You might have to zoom in on the attached picture.) Someone edited my name in years 1 and 2 to add a "grave" accent in addition to the circumflex accent.

How Tall Are You?

In 1992, I was enrolled in a Business Communications communications class at BYU. One assignment in the class was to write a resume. I visited with my professor during his office hours and asked him for suggestions about how to list my name on my resume and signal that my name is "Sean" and not "John".

Professor Hanson suggested that I either A) formally change my name to "John" and keep the spelling without the accent mark or B) formally change the spelling of my name to a different version of Sean. I told him that I did not like either option. He then suggested that I list a more common spelling of Sean in parentheses between my first and last name on my resume.

Because my name is already somewhat unique, I elected to use a less common spelling of Sean. On my business card and in my professional work, I list my name as `Jon (Sean) Jasperson.