Discussion on an earlier thread got me thinking, where does BBI stand on kids names? Traditional or trendy?
Clearly to each his/her own but I’m curious because I’ve found my opinion on this matter (more traditional/family names) falls in-line with a lot of my east coast friends, while a lot of my west coast friends go the trendy or purposefully obscure route. Not to mention several that actually take issue with a “super boring common name”, which is how one parent explained it knowing my name is Michael haha.
My daughters school consists of 90% names that I never came across K through 12.
If/when we have a son, I'm pushing for Eli as a middle name. And I'm not kidding. I really like Matthew Eli.
I was named after my maternal grandfather so I guess I tend towards traditional names.
I just find it strange. To paraphrase George Carlin, a special name does not automatically make a special person and vice-versa.
Based on some of my wives nutty friends, you’d have a hard time convincing me they didn’t choose their kids name for their OWN attention.
Some of the kids in my daughters class of 15...
- Merrick
- Fox
- Vander
- Pilot
- Willow
- Ridge
And some kid with a super weird name “Thomas”
Parker is a great name btw and definitely not on my radar as an “obscure” name FWIW
I just find it strange. To paraphrase George Carlin, a special name does not automatically make a special person and vice-versa.
Based on some of my wives nutty friends, you’d have a hard time convincing me they didn’t choose their kids name for their OWN attention.
Some of the kids in my daughters class of 15...
- Merrick
- Fox
- Vander
- Pilot
- Willow
- Ridge
And some kid with a super weird name “Thomas”
Parker is a great name btw and definitely not on my radar as an “obscure” name FWIW
You named your daughter Thomas?
Funny story: my sister wanted to name her child Rachel but she thought it had become too common so she gave her the name Amanda instead (with her middle name being Beatrice, after my mother, who had died just a couple years earlier). She didn't want to give her the first name Beatrice because it was too old fashioned. But two days after the birth, she finds out that the name Amanda is every bit as common as Rachel. So what does my sister do? She has her name changed from Amanda to Rachel.
Cut to: 17 years later and my niece Rachel is heading off to college. But Rachel doesn't like the name Rachel, so when she gets to college she tells everyone her name is Beatrice and that's what she tells everyone else to call her as well (which isn't easy after seventeen years of calling her Rachel).
The moral of the story: I guess it was her destiny to be called Beatrice all along and my sister was worried over nothing.
The small sample size of the obscure names where I personally know the couple/parents tend to be of the “I don’t watch sports or own a TV” crowd which I never knew existed until I moved to this beautiful but strange community.
I had two girls,but had I had a boy the name was.....
Everett Axel
-Bander
-Isis (this was in 2013, I thought it sounded like a stripper little did I know it would be way worse)
-Blaise
These aren't as bad but ....
-Jasper
-Brody
-Emerson
-A lot of Westin/Austin/Hudson
And if I meet another Grayson or Addison I might kill something
Of course, you can go the other way. My daughter has had at least two girls named Oliva in every class since she started going to school.
When we were were looking at names, I paid close attention to baby name trends and nixed anything that was in the top 50.
Are they Native American
Of course they have no regard for the fact that the kid has to actually live with the name.
Fucking idiots.
pronounced "Ab-sa-dee"
There's also a Bella, so 3 Ella's and a Bella, half the time I'm calling kids the wrong name or sometimes I'm right because I just say Ella or Callie.
opposing coaches look at the score sheet and think we're joking.
We have to have nicknames for everyone.
I guess the point is I'd rather something unique vs the trendy but don't put a target on your kids back and name them abcde or apple or something too unique.
I know two sets of these. One set of twin boys who are the children of my sister's friends in NY and two non-twin girls who are my friend's daughters here in MD, so they have no relation to each-other. I think the it's Riley vs Ryleigh but Cameron is spelled the same for both.
Inside joke for Greeks.
(1) No obvious ethnic identifiers. They're going to have a hard enough time going through life with an unpronounceable Greek last name that makes them stand out; the least I could do was give them easy first names.
(2) No trendy or cutesy-wootsy-schmoopy names. Not going to offend anyone here with examples, but there have been plenty above.
Luckily, my wife was of the same general mindset.
I don't think enough parents consider that kids are going to have to go through life with the names they are given and that one day those names will have to go on resumes.
Link - ( New Window )
(1) No obvious ethnic identifiers. They're going to have a hard enough time going through life with an unpronounceable Greek last name that makes them stand out; the least I could do was give them easy first names.
I have an Alexander and an Anastasia. I told my wife we should have named them Fred and Sue because it takes so much energy to say their names all day!
John
Michael
Thomas
Robert
To name a few. Nobody in his class will share his name. He will be unique.
Laser...
Blazer..
Seriously though, I cannot stand the -ayden names. Just a personal peeve of mine I guess.
My daughter was called by her middle name the first couple of days of life until her Mom came around, LOL.
Quote:
My thought process was:
(1) No obvious ethnic identifiers. They're going to have a hard enough time going through life with an unpronounceable Greek last name that makes them stand out; the least I could do was give them easy first names.
I have an Alexander and an Anastasia. I told my wife we should have named them Fred and Sue because it takes so much energy to say their names all day!
God bless you - I don't have the patience! And good names - I'm an Alexander, of course named after Alexander the Great by my prideful parents, one of the greatest Greeks who ever lived!! (eyeroll) (but admittedly he is a good namesake)
12345
We learned our lesson when my daughter was born, and were able to avoid adding to the avalanche of Ellas and Graces (our two favorite girls names the first time, before we found out we were having a boy). We chose Faith, a nice normal name that nevertheless isn't overly popular.
John
Michael
Thomas
Robert
To name a few. Nobody in his class will share his name. He will be unique.
A kid arrested in the Syracuse Post Standard was named "K-A" pronounced Kay-dash-ah
Another horrible name was for a girl called "Your Majesty". A teacher lost her job for refusing to call a first grade girl "Your Majesty". I suppose "Your Honor" would likewise be a bad name for a boy or girl.
Great names (IMHO)
For a girl: Jazlyn (nickname Jazzy). And I will always love the name Nikita (Nikki)
For a boy: Paxton
It's nearly impossible to spell - ( New Window )
Mohammed was McLovin's second choice.
Some of the new/trendy ones are really cute/cool. Some miss hard. If I have a lot of kids I want to split up traditional names with super weird and/or ratchet names for shits and giggles. There's always nicknames or they can change it when they're 18 if they don't like it :)
Baby Magic? - ( New Window )
Inside joke for Greeks.
Hehe - my son Chris has his non-Greek friends saying 'Hristos Anestis' as a greeting, though not sure where he found the time to teach them that one.
Seth: And you landed on McLovin...
Fogell: Yeah. It was between that or Muhammed.
Seth: Why the FUCK would it be between THAT or Muhammed? Why don't you just pick a common name like a normal person?
Fogell: Muhammed is the most commonly used name on Earth. Read a fucking book for once.
I really liked the name my wife chose, Nolan, so that's what we went with in the end.
Would you believe "La dash a" She thought this would stand-out. I think it will result in an IRS audit every year of that girls adult life...