What's in a name?

Red faces on Birmingham council after the discovery that tens of thousands of ballot cards have been sent out with the city's name misspelled without the "h". Of course, some clever spin-doctor could have pointed out that the name has been spelled in many different ways over the centuries, and that Birmingam is probably just as valid in an historical context as Birmingham. We call the natives of that fair city "brummies" by the way, because one of the names by which it was known in times past was Brummagem.