The Origin of “Peat”
My rationale has always been that since my name is “Peter”, “Pete” is just a nickname, regardless of how it is spelled, and so I am justified in spelling it any way I want.
When I was 13 or so, I wanted to encourage people to call me “Pete” instead of “Peter”. I also wanted a fun way to sign my art (I was an aspiring artist at the time). I had an old issue of Playboy’s Playmate Review from 1984 (actually, it was more or less current at the time) that I had read a million times. Porn was scarcer back then. Anyway, Miss April, Lesa Ann Pedriana, said in that issue that she was christened “Lisa”, but that, “I wanted to make it different, so I just stopped dotting the i.”
My kid’s brain thought that was kind of cool, finding a new way to spell your name without changing it aurally, so I experimented with “Peet” (no good, had ‘pee’ in it), “Peit” (could be pronounced wrong), “Pita” (too common a word) etc.
Eventually I settled on “Peat”, and started signing all my paintings, drawings, and stories that way, which got my friends using it, and it stuck. Even my parents started spelling it that way. At this point, I think only my family and maybe 2 other people I am still in touch with knew me before the switch.
I made a decision to stick to “Peter” at work (mainly because I was sick of explaining it), but one way or another, people catch wind of the other spelling and start using it. Like it or not, I am stuck with it unless I want to start being a dick to everyone who does, and I don’t.
And after 21 years, when people spell it “Pete” it looks weird to me. It doesn’t feel like it’s my name.