My brother and sister-in-law named the new baby an unusual name. I love it and think it is such a great and unique name. I could not believe the flack they received over this name. Some people just said, "Oh..." and my grandma even chewed out my brother about how they could do this to the kid and how he's going to be made fun of, etc.
Why is it that everyone thinks they can weigh in on what you name your child? Why is it a valid excuse that other kids may make fun of him when he gets older? I don't know about everyone else, but all kids are made fun of - no matter what their name is. It's just a right of passage. If I thought a kids name could save them from being made fun of, I'd be all for it, but it's just not.
My nephew's name isn't that unusual, in my opinion - it's not "Blanket" or "Coco" or "Apple." But it's also not in the top 100 most popular baby names. Which is one of both my brother and my criteria for naming a kid - do we really need another Jacob, Alexander, Zachary, Madison, Alexis, or Brianna? And yes, those names are all among most popular names in the last few years. I think people really think they are being unique when they choose these names, but they're going to find that their kid is going to be called Brianna M. or Brianna T. for the rest of her life in school.
I did a little research into baby names, and found this really great site: Baby's Named a Bad, Bad, Thing. This page is a collection of postings made on baby name bulletin boards accompanied by this person's snide remarks, which are actually pretty funny. S/he has organized these into fun catagories such as "Brought to you by the letter Y" or "God wants you to name a baby after him" or "Big Chief Mucous Stink." I could spend all day reading through these, they are hilarious!
I guess even I am judgemental of what people name their kids. I tend to question the lack of creativity and imagination people have if they name their kid something from the "Top 100" list. Isn't your child the most unique person to ever walk the earth? Shouldn't their name reflect that? At the same time, I don't think you should name your kid after inanimate objects or food. Save those names for pets. And speaking of pets, I don't believe pets should have "people" names. It just weirds me out.
If you decide to name your daughter Precious, Candy, Ginger, Peaches, or Diamond, be prepared for her to become a stripper.
I do understand the struggle to find the perfect name. I had to name my son, and since he was born still, it was an emotional and difficult decision. We weren't able to get to know him and look in his little eyes and decide on his name. Fortunately, my husband and I had discussed some names and agreed on one - Eroll. Sometimes people wonder why I spelled it that way. As I sat in Labor & Delivery writing down the name for the nurse, it occurred to me that spelling it the traditional way, Errol, looked too close to the word "error" in my opinion. I didn't ever want anyone to think of this much hoped-for and much loved child as an error. So I switched it up a little. Since then, I've come across names of European people who spell it Erol, which I also like.
It's not easy, I totally get that. If you have a husband or partner, you're going to have to contend with what they think. If you dare to share the name ideas with family and friends, be prepared for them to offer their opinions, sometimes not-so-subtlely. And there are times when you want to honor a family member or someone you admire by naming your child after that person. I understand that, too.
I've been pretty impressed with the names chosen by people close to me for their children. Unique, sometimes unusual, but very cool names. If anyone tells me what they are thinking of naming their kid, I try to be supportive and objective. Parents get enough people telling them how to name their kid, and I just want to be supportive of whatever that name will be. Although, secretly, I'm cringing if it's another Logan...
1 comment:
As you know, I go right ahead and make fun of people for the names they choose for their children. But never to their faces, that's the key. Like I've said, at no other time in life can you go up to someone and say, "Gee, your name really sucks!" but people feel okay about saying that to new parents all the time.
When I was pregnant with Hope, the name we were leaning toward for a girl was Olivia. A name I still like, but which has grown in popularity to the point where it's not too original. Since we were told she was a boy, he was named Jack William at first, and then when we found out she was a girl, we chose Hope Kamea, mostly for the meaning of the name but also because we just liked the sound of it. Now I consider both those names to be special to me. I try to put a positive spin on it by saying to myself that we got to name her twice, something most parents don't get to do.
I really like the name Eroll and I think the way you spell it and the story behind it is interesting. Eroll to me sounds like "air" and I like that because I always think of him surrounding us in the atmosphere.
I really wanted to name Bubba Angus, but J. said "What if he's fat? People will call him a cow." He was probably right, and I like what we decided on better.
Post a Comment