Naming a Stranger

My wife and I were in Virginia over the weekend, and while walking through a Books a Million, I heard somebody say, "Excuse me, sir?" I looked over and there was a dude and his better half, sitting in lounge chairs with a small stack of baby-name books on the table between them. The guy looked at me and said, "So, like, you're good with like grammar and stuff, right?" I was surprised -- maybe it was my glasses? Anyway, I said, "Yeah, I guess, I'm an editor." He was like, "Perfect. My wife and I are trying to pick a name for our daughter. My wife is Tanya and I'm Bryan ... "

Me: "Hey, I'm Bryan, too."

Him: "How you spell it?"

Me: "With a Y, you?"

Him: "Damn! With a Y! I talked to the right guy! Anyway, we want to name her 'Tabria,' which is a cross between our names,but we're not sure how to spell it. Is there any way to spell it with a Y? Could we go with Tabrya?"

Me: "Only if you want people to call her TaBRYa her whole life. But you're Bryan with a Y, and it's sacrilige to spell it with an I.

He agreed, and after some deliberation, I presented them with:

Tabreeya. Sure, they could go with Tabriya, but that puts the I before Y, and anyone who's ever been named Bryan with a Y knows that's just not acceptable.

Anyway, his wife loved the spelling, and he was also stoked to have a solution, so I think it's a go. So, while I might not have exactly named a little girl I'll never see, at least I helped!