In the U.S., (I emphasize that because another place with another company can mean totally different rules), we have had issues in our organization with slightly misspelled names. I myself have had my name incorrectly specified on a ticket.

In one case, I was able to somehow tell a U.S. airline about the problem and they changed it for me at the airport. In another case, we had called an airline about an issue with somebody else's name and they said that so long as it is pronounced the same, it's okay. We found that airport security had been fine with it as the airline had advised us. We also found that long names got garbled by the online checkin software and the TSA guy said they were aware of the issue and weren't bothered by it (on the occasion that we had it).

It does seem to be up to the airport and security staff. I have listed merely my and my organization's experience with ticket names not matching IDs. Your experience will vary based on location, airline, and mood of the ground staff.

Good luck!