“So, have you thought about what to name your baby?” I asked my pregnant friend Kes a few months ago.
“I haven’t decided on it, yet,” she replied. “But I was thinking of coming up with a name that was a combination of my parents’ names, my husband’s and my own.”
“Well, as long as it doesn’t sound too weird, I guess that’s okay,” I surmised.
“What do you mean?” she wondered.
“Well if the derived name still sounds a bit natural, like Gelle,” I said, referring to our friend who was also in our discussion, “Then it’s fine. But if it sounds a bit too trying hard, then I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
We mulled that over as we spent the next few minutes trying to come up with a natural sounding name.
Then the topic somehow shifted to how our parents came up with our own names. Kes and I didn’t really know why our parents chose our particular names, but we both didn’t like our own names. She hated hers because it was the same as that of a local actress whom she didn’t really like (her name is actually Janice, Kes is just our nickname for her). I didn’t like mine because people never knew how to spell or pronounce it right the first time.
“What about you, Drew?” I asked. “Where did you get your name?”
“It was derived from my father’s name,” he replied.
I realized that while I knew both Kes and Gelle’s parents’ names (and I had met them as well), I had no idea about Drew’s. “Oh, really? What’s his name?” I inquired further.
“Andrefacio.” At this point we couldn’t help but succumb to laughter. (So sorry, Drew’s father, sir!)
“What? But why such a strange name?” I queried amidst the laughter.
“I know, thank goodness I wasn’t named exactly after him,” he said. “He was born on Andres Bonifacio day, so that’s where they got his name from.” Ummm. Okay.
“You know what I learned from this, Kes?” I said. “That you shouldn’t name your child with a forced derived name because someday, your grandkids’ friends might laugh at him.”
“Oh my gosh, that is a lesson learned indeed!” she agreed.
And you know what, soon after that, I found article after article which agreed with me. The latest one I found is this one from GQ, which states:
Do not invent a name. Most inventions fail. Many don’t even make it past the patent stage. What makes you think a name you created out of thin air is gonna stand the test of time? There’s a reason why “Jane” and “David” have hung around for so long. They’re proven. They’ve been workshopped out in the field. That’s not true of Kaydiss. You didn’t even run it past a focus group. You’re putting the responsibility for an entire new product launch on that poor baby’s shoulders. That’s a dick move. This also goes for any classic name that you deliberately mutilated. No one’s gonna be dazzled that you took Christopher and turned it into Krystougher.
But seriously, read that entire article, it’s chock full of wisdom and wit. Meanwhile, this article states:
“Studies have shown that names do set up certain expectations and can influence people who put a lot of weight on first impressions. And that elementary school teachers tend to grade students with unusual names more strictly than children with common names.”
Well those were apparently old studies, but personally, I cringe when people name their kids in ways that are too difficult to spell, like something with a bunch of unneeded H’s or something like Krystougher as mentioned above. It’s fine to be unique as long as you don’t go too far. Like my name, for example. The typical spelling is Heidi but my dad was into numerology and had to change the spelling to Heidee so my full name computes to a lucky number. Though I didn’t like it before, I’ve grown to do so now (duh, it’s even on my blog’s name). But if it had been spelled as Haighdee, I don’t think I could ever have liked that EVER.
I’m just glad my taste in names has changed, because back in high school, I wanted to name my future child Galaxy. Thank goodness I wasn’t a teenage mom, huh? 😛
Meanwhile, my friend Kes already gave birth last week and I’m so glad she took my advice and her baby has a nice, normal sounding name which somehow fits what she wanted. Congrats, Kes! 🙂
Love talking about names! I have a Korean name post going up. . .soonish! It was so fun to use news articles about banned baby names in my Korean classes – one set of parents named their girl Talula does the Hula from Hawaii. . .and she sued them. Haha. Made up names can be pretty tacky, but sometimes alternate spellings are cool.
It kills me when people name their kids weird names. I love classic names with the traditional spelling. They age well and never go out of style, like a good leather jacket 🙂
I had a friend in high school named Lourose, and yep her dad was named Lou and her mom Rose! I always felt bad for her about it but she never really seemed to mind.
I've heard some really strange mixes over the years I will never understand why people call their children odd made up names! I told my mother the other day I liked the name Jedediah and she was horrified – it's traditional and cool in my opinion but then I hate the nickname Jed! <br /><br />x
I'd never name a baby after my mom, bless her, but only because no one can pronounce her name right on the first go! x
I personally do not like way out there names, but to each their own…..I do not judge other people's parenting choices, as I will not want them questioning mine.
This is why I am so appreciative of having a nice classic name with the original spelling. I have also learned the hard way about names that are bending gender roles. For weeks I was referring to a work colleague named Chandler as a male and it wasn't until I talked to "him" on the phone that I was quickly made aware of the fact that Chandler was actually a woman.
Love the new header over here Dee!<br />This post cracked me up and I have to agree, inventing names is just not a good idea! I think people should stick to more "traditional" names and save everyone the heartache of having a weird and constantly misspelt name!
So what did the name end up being?
We tried to go with 'different' names but with easy spellings. So we have Ronan and Maddox. The only trouble we have run into is in the UK people pronounce my youngest like 'Maad-OX' and we prounounce more 'Maddix' so hes always correcting people. Or just goes as Max. We have a hard time with our surname, so its nice that at least their first names are pretty straight
Ahhh ! I completely forgot that Phoebe named on of the triplets Chandler. I just kept thinking of Chandler Bing, so I automatically assumed the person was a male. I have also made the mistake with the name Ryan. I wasn't aware that it is used for females now until just a couple of years ago.
That is GREAT. <br />I've always loved names, so I put way too much thought into them from the time I was twelve. I reached the point where I hated my name because there was always another "Sarah" in class with me. When I got into high school, the entire school only had 70 students, and, my freshman year, SEVEN of them were named Sarah–four of us were freshmen. Between classes,
it's biblical believe it or not – I didn't know that I heard it on a tv show over here called Ripper Street.<br />x
it's biblical believe it or not – I didn't know that I heard it on a tv show over here called Ripper Street.x
I actually thought that maybe it was biblical, but wasn't sure. 🙂
I completely agree. When I'm 80 and decide to have kids, I've always liked the names Amelia Louise (Classy and pretty) and Jeremy James (my belated cousins name, but I always loved the name Jeremy). <br />Bam. <br />Your name, and the creation of it – straight up bad ass. You should give you dad a high friggen five for me. Seriously, I think it's really awesome!<br /><br /><br />My
That makes me think of Twilight (I know, I know) where they combined names for the baby and ended up with Renesme or something like that.. Which I thought was SO STUPID. I had a friend in middle school that had a combo name from her parents' and it was Radai, which I thought was so pretty! So I guess it really depends on the name.
LOL… 80? Those are nice names! <br />Aww thank you. <br />I think your name is nicely spelled! <br />Will check out that post.
Renesmee is indeed a stupid name! The perfect example of an obviously forced name.
I'd never name a baby after my mom, bless her, but only because no one can pronounce her name right on the first go! x
Love talking about names! I have a Korean name post going up. . .soonish! It was so fun to use news articles about banned baby names in my Korean classes – one set of parents named their girl Talula does the Hula from Hawaii. . .and she sued them. Haha. Made up names can be pretty tacky, but sometimes alternate spellings are cool.
I personally do not like way out there names, but to each their own…..I do not judge other people's parenting choices, as I will not want them questioning mine.
I had a friend in high school named Lourose, and yep her dad was named Lou and her mom Rose! I always felt bad for her about it but she never really seemed to mind.
I've heard some really strange mixes over the years I will never understand why people call their children odd made up names! I told my mother the other day I liked the name Jedediah and she was horrified – it's traditional and cool in my opinion but then I hate the nickname Jed! <br /><br />x
We tried to go with 'different' names but with easy spellings. So we have Ronan and Maddox. The only trouble we have run into is in the UK people pronounce my youngest like 'Maad-OX' and we prounounce more 'Maddix' so hes always correcting people. Or just goes as Max. We have a hard time with our surname, so its nice that at least their first names are pretty straight
So what did the name end up being?
This is why I am so appreciative of having a nice classic name with the original spelling. I have also learned the hard way about names that are bending gender roles. For weeks I was referring to a work colleague named Chandler as a male and it wasn't until I talked to "him" on the phone that I was quickly made aware of the fact that Chandler was actually a woman.
Love the new header over here Dee!<br />This post cracked me up and I have to agree, inventing names is just not a good idea! I think people should stick to more "traditional" names and save everyone the heartache of having a weird and constantly misspelt name!
It kills me when people name their kids weird names. I love classic names with the traditional spelling. They age well and never go out of style, like a good leather jacket 🙂
Ahhh ! I completely forgot that Phoebe named on of the triplets Chandler. I just kept thinking of Chandler Bing, so I automatically assumed the person was a male. I have also made the mistake with the name Ryan. I wasn't aware that it is used for females now until just a couple of years ago.
That makes me think of Twilight (I know, I know) where they combined names for the baby and ended up with Renesme or something like that.. Which I thought was SO STUPID. I had a friend in middle school that had a combo name from her parents' and it was Radai, which I thought was so pretty! So I guess it really depends on the name.
it's biblical believe it or not – I didn't know that I heard it on a tv show over here called Ripper Street.x
Renesmee is indeed a stupid name! The perfect example of an obviously forced name.
I completely agree. When I'm 80 and decide to have kids, I've always liked the names Amelia Louise (Classy and pretty) and Jeremy James (my belated cousins name, but I always loved the name Jeremy). <br />Bam. <br />Your name, and the creation of it – straight up bad ass. You should give you dad a high friggen five for me. Seriously, I think it's really awesome!<br /><br /><br />My
LOL… 80? Those are nice names! <br />Aww thank you. <br />I think your name is nicely spelled! <br />Will check out that post.
it's biblical believe it or not – I didn't know that I heard it on a tv show over here called Ripper Street.<br />x
That is GREAT. <br />I've always loved names, so I put way too much thought into them from the time I was twelve. I reached the point where I hated my name because there was always another "Sarah" in class with me. When I got into high school, the entire school only had 70 students, and, my freshman year, SEVEN of them were named Sarah–four of us were freshmen. Between classes,
I actually thought that maybe it was biblical, but wasn't sure. 🙂