So I spotted this board down at the bottom of the list and the first thing that went through my head was some of the audacious baby names I've heard.
I know someone that named her baby Kitana and the other Akisha.
She's white, British, and last I checked, isn't living in the nicest of areas. Fairly sure at least one of those kids isn't going to reach its 15th birthday.
But I've heard of worse names, like people I sincerely hope aren't real calling their kids things like Ivory or Moonflower.
My real gripe with it isn't so much that it singles the kid out for bullies in later life, but rather that it demonstrates from birth that the parent already has preconceived notions about their child's future personality, friend choices, and way of life.
I mean, when you think of a 30 year old woman named Angela, what preconceived prejudices or predictions do you have about her life?
How about Moonflower? Good luck getting a job in a law firm with a name like that.
So my question is, what's your view on it?
It seems for every person I've met who shakes their head in pity, I meet 2 who see absolutely nothing wrong with it.
Is there a line that can be crossed between unusual and urealistic?
Is it alright to give kids "ethnic" names to make them sound exotic?
Should there be a legal limitation on naming children after commercial copyrights or fictional characters?
On the topic of baby names:
The lady who does STFU Parents also writes an article for Mommyish every week. Here is one of my recent favorites: Crazy Baby Names
And the corresponding blog post on STFU Parents
I think some names are just over the top. Here's a story about a woman named Marijuana Pepsi Jackson who has been very successful despite her name, but had to fight to get past it.
I happen to think the name Nevaeh is ridiculous but it's an incredibly popular name. I think the trend of misspelling names to be "different" is completely ridiculous, as is the whole replacing vowels with y thing. I think parents are doing their child a disservice by naming them something absurd.
Oh, and to answer your questions: Is there a line that can be crossed between unusual and urealistic?
Absolutely
Is it alright to give kids "ethnic" names to make them sound exotic?
I see nothing wrong with "ethnic" names, per say. I know a number of people who have named their children traditional Irish or Scottish names. They may not be super mainstream, like David, Michael or John, but they aren't completely out in left field, either. They're actual names. On the other hand, naming your child Female(pronounced Fem-ah-lay) or Pajamas (paj-uh-mus) or La-a (La-dash-a) or Shithead (shi-theed) is just...not right.
Should there be a legal limitation on naming children after commercial copyrights or fictional characters?
No. I don't think it should go that far. I mean, Belle, Bella, Edward, Jacob are very popular b/c of Twilight, but they're very common names. I've heard of one case where the government stepped in b/c of the child's name, and even then, the child was 3. His parents named him Adolf Hitler Campbell. His sisters were JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell and Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell. They were taken out of their parent's custody b/c of it. related stories and here.
You'll notice a mention of a 9 yr old girl from NZ who was removed from her parent's care in order to change her name from Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii.
Somethings just go too far. The rest of it is just parental stupidity.
I happen to think the name Nevaeh is ridiculous but it's an incredibly popular name. I think the trend of misspelling names to be "different" is completely ridiculous, as is the whole replacing vowels with y thing. I think parents are doing their child a disservice by naming them something absurd.
i also think nevaeh is stupid as crap
and adding consonants, or spelling your childs name weirdly, or replacing all the vowels with y is stupid.
i mean, if you name your child Braeydynn.... his fucking name is still Braden.
Edited by: -Konstantine-
at August 21, 2011, 08:09pm
Go melt back into the night, babe. Everything inside is made of stone. Theres nothing in here moving.
And anyway, Im not alone. tumblr
Should there be a legal limitation on naming children after commercial copyrights or fictional characters?
I think that would depend on the name.
I'm named after a fictional character but my name is still relatively normal even though everyone pronounces it.
i mean, if you name your child Braeydynn.... his fucking name is still Braden.
I hate that, adding random letters to a name doesn't change it.
Even though I do happen to like siouxsie as another spelling of Susie, even though I doubt I'd name my kid that
I wouldn't say it's unethical to name a child Bella, Edward, etc. Those are real names and five years from now when twilight's been completely forgotten by anyone that's actually going to breed, Edward will just be seen as a kind of nice traditional English name. Or something to that effect.
It's like Luke. There was apparently a huge boom in the popularity of the name Luke after star wars. Now it's just a name.
It's when people name their children after pop culture references, bands, or other such words that aren't real names - names like Pepsi. Like this.
In the above article, bethesda are allegedly encouraging people to name their child a word which is pretend videogame language.
A person always had the option to change their name when they get older. I don't think it's right to take a kid away from its parents just because of a stupid name, no matter how ridiculous.
A few of the names I would like for my possible children would be considered weird, but I figure I can give them terribly normal middle names that they can go by if they want. I also consider normal nickname potential.
I kind of use the logic that they can change their name when they're older in reverse.
If they really want to be called Shadou or Aelfen when they're 18 then go for it. But until then, "Steve" is less likely to get them physically assaulted.
i think its wrong to name your kids after things such as pokemon but wierd names are just based on oppinion... like iwanted to name my son jinx but his dad said that was wierd and forbid it lol.....so it all jus depends on the person i guess
I happen to think the name Nevaeh is ridiculous but it's an incredibly popular name. [2]
I HATE HATE HATE HATE that name. Also agree with the sticking y's everywhere bullshit.
I also with a passion hate when parents name their children after products and cars. Mercedes does NOT make your kid seem sophisticated.
I do like uncommon names, for example my favorite girl name is Faelyn, but I see a big difference between that and naming your child La-a.
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Mercedes is actually a very common Spanish name, the car brand was actually named after someone named Mercedes.
I think it gets pretty ridiculous when kids are named things like Alizé Cuervo, and an example I give often, is that I actually met a little girl named Nautica, along with many Chanels and even a Prada.
But Mercedes, even if the parents meant to name the kid after the car, won't be looked upon too strangely, at least I wouldn't consider it automatically to be that way.
I think every parent who plans to name their kid something strange should really look into the studies done about the long-term effects of having a strange name. The problem is, a person who's going to name their child Nevaeh Yooneek Vodka Juicy Couture, isn't exactly the type of person who does a lot of research about anything.
My opinion? Fuck you. I was given a common name, with a meaning to live up to, although my name itself is socially acceptable. I know many people with uncommon names who don't mind at all, my sister's name is Cherie, french for beloved. She loves her name. My son's name is Vlade, however I did give him 2 middle names should he choose to go with something more along the lines of norm.
And if some one really hates their name, they can always legally change it or resort to nicknames.
My ultimate point was even common names has a meaning behind it.
She isn't starting shit and she wasn't being stupid. She knows what she's talking about. You were wrong.
You've been nasty and combative since you started posting in this thread. There's no need for that. I happen to be in a good mood, so I'm not going to ban you. Yet. Straighten up or I will.
I'm named after a character from Doctor Who and even though everyone mispronounced my name growing up yet could pronounce Alyssa correctly, I love my name.
I have one more thing I'd like to add to this thread.
Naming your kids after TV show characters/ movie characters isn't cool. I was named after Deanna Troi from Star Trek and I honestly harbor resentment from it. Makes me feel like my parents were so unimaginative that they couldn't come up with a decent name on their own.
I'm the exact opposite I could care less that I was named after a TV character.
My parents heard the name and liked it, I'm glad I wasn't named Teagan.
Naming your kids after TV show characters/ movie characters isn't cool. I was named after Deanna Troi from Star Trek and I honestly harbor resentment from it. Makes me feel like my parents were so unimaginative that they couldn't come up with a decent name on their own.
this seems pretty silly to me.
i mean, my mom named me Katie because she grew up down the street from a little girl named Katie, and she always thought the name was pretty. you could pretty much also consider that in the same way, that she couldn't come up with a name on her own. or what about people that are named after their parents? my boyfriend has the same name as his dad, were his parents completely "unimaginative" ...? my niece was named téa after my sister saw téa leoni on TV and liked the name. i could go on....
i guess my point is... they have to get the name from somewhere. whether they pick a simple name out of a baby book, or name you after a relative, OR name you after a TV show character....... still, the idea is coming from SOMEWHERE.
"Don't worry, I don't have low self-esteem. ...I have low esteem for everyone else." -Daria Morgendorffer
It's not like DeAnna is an unusual name. I mean, I can see being upset if your parents name you Luke Skywalker or Hans Solo or Danny Zuko or Velma or something. But, DeAnna is a pretty normal name.
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I'm named after a little girl my mom's cousin met on the subway in NYC, who taught her how to do the hustle.
NO LIE
My mom just kinda "made up" my middle name (it's not completely unheard of, but she's never heard it before), but she decided it wouldn't be a good first name. So when her cousin came to see her at the hospital (before I was actually born) she asked her for a good name that would sound nice with the middle name, thus, I became Tiffany Lenée. Not a unique name, by any means, but not super popular, these days.
I honestly would have preferred to have my middle name as my first name, because Tiffany is a dumbass pornstar/stripper name, AND it's one of those names that people feel they have the right to turn into a nickname, immediately. It's pretty fucking annoying to have complete strangers call me "Tiff" or "Tiffers" or whatever name they think is a cute nickname.
Does it bother you when people call you Tiffy? o.o
It's funny, growing up, I didn't know anyone named Kathryn or Katie. I didn't meet another person named Kate until I went to college and I only met one. It wasn't until I was about 25 that I started meeting more and more people named Katie.
My middle name is the same as my mom's, but spelled differently (Leigh/Lee). To this day, I don't know if that was on purpose or not.
i knew TONS of Katies/Kathryns growing up. starting with elementary school even. and once i met a girl with the same first AND middle name as me, which was weird. i used to be pretty annoyed by how common my name is, actually. but now, i quite like it. i think it suits me.
plus, i've found that more people are kathryns or whatever, and use Katie/Katy as a nickname. but Katie is my full first name, so in that way, it's not quite as common.
"Don't worry, I don't have low self-esteem. ...I have low esteem for everyone else." -Daria Morgendorffer
But, DeAnna is a pretty normal name.
i'm scurred