S-PEL-LING

So we bought this class photo (£9) of Ethan's afternoon, upstairs nursery class from the nursery. I was eager to fill in the lines with their names, and I only recognised Robert, Lorien, Madihah and Ethan, with a few of the familiar faces whom I couldn't quite place the names with. Jianming may be able to pass but I shall certainly fail badly here. Initially I thought, to surmount this great problem, I'd have to ask the teachers. Then, I thought, why not ask Ethan? And surprising to me, he knows everyone in the photo! All 25 of them, including the teachers and him. I don't remember knowing half of my kindergarten classmates. But then, maybe that was just me. Or maybe it's the teachers here.
Anyway, I just jotted them down on a piece of paper as I was not sure of their spelling. For example, 'Millie' or 'Milly'? Nuria? Ma ... Mer?
Knowing I wouldn't get any surprises this time, I still ventured to ask Ethan, since he seemed in such a good mood playing with his blocks.
(I cannot remember the exact word for word of the conversation already.)
Me: Do you know how to spell their names?
E: No, I don't know the words.
Me: (trying my luck further) Do you know how to spell 'Ethan'?
E: Yes, I know how to spell 'Ethan'.
Me: Really? How?
E: E--Than.
Me: That's not spelling. What are the letters in your name?
E: E--Than, or E--Fen (an overzealous 'th' pronunciation by some of his classmates surely).
Me: No. It's E-T-H-...
E: (for once, good-naturedly follows) E-T-H..
Me: A-N.
E: A-N.
Me: (wondering how long my luck will last) Spell again?
E: (luck stops here) No, no, no, no, no, no...

Thus ended one of those haphazard spelling lessons.