So neice #2 is scheduled to depart from the mothership in December. Science has revealed her gender, and so the games begin, shaping her life before she is even living it. Naming is more complicated than it seems at first blush, no?
In this case, race is a factor. You've got to be really careful if you're not white in this country, pick something "too ethnic" and you can guarantee a life of problems for the child. Sad, that. Gender is another one, I've read some suggestions that names play a significant role in the development of the gender identity. I'm so glad I'm not a parent and don't have to lose sleep over this sort of shit. ;-)
Anyway, the factor in this case is sound- the last name begins in a vowel. So some "unusual" names sound better than they would if the last name were "Smith" or even "Bloom."
The witches will tell you that one should guard your true name, and share it with no one lest they have power over you. Spies are famous for having many names, as are mythological heroes. The blogosphere has invented quite a few in its short time, for people and practices that have a special value in our high speed text based world. Not surprisingly, I recently read a book which showed an income disparity for groups of people with different names. WASPy names mean money, for some reason.
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The Freakonomics guy...
... wrote some interesting stuff about baby names, including the way names like "Tiffany" work their way from the country club to the gutter.
He links to an interesting baby-name gizmo.
Family names are nice
I had the great privilege of having a beloved aunt whose name I asked for, and received permission to, use for my daughter. Then a rockstar came along with that name.
Ruth
Ruth
Gender Bending Family Names
I have a cousin that was born around 1940, who must have had the most progressive parents in town. Her name was Michael (pronounced my-kyel) -- the story goes that her dad just picked the name and said "Boy or girl, that's the name for my kid!"
It must have been pretty handy for her growing up in those times -- she could easily submit, say, scholarship applications, and nobody would know she was "just a girl."
They say names skip a generation
By the time people are old enough to be parents their parents' names sound hopelessly old-timey. Their grandparents names on the other hand have taken on an elegant patina.
"Grace Novella" has a nice ring to it. :)
There's also a certain
attraction about the name Michelle, if I may be so bold.
But, now, for a girl-child ... having grown up with derivations of my own humble moniker involving "Sewer Rat," I'd want to be a little choosy about what the name might be transmogrified into by obnoxious classmates. Being me, I took sweet, short, physical satisfaction out of people who called me that; but I'm told such behavior is frowned on, these over-wussified days....
We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
1 John 4:18
Classic SNL
http://snltranscripts.jt.org/92/92ababyn...
We named our girls
Audrey and Olivia, before we knew Olivia had climbed so quickly in the popularity charts. Now we know three Olivias aged 2 to 5...
My daughter Audrey suggests the name 'Anna'.
As to grandparents names being more popular, I doubt mine will ever come into prominence.
Her name was Irmagard, old fashioned even in 1919 when she was born...
comrade, i love it! my choice was
"berengaria," but they didn't really go for that. I also like "Chi-Yu" but that's been declared Right Out.
thanks for the memories. old fashioned names are so interesting, it's fun to think about a time when your granny's name was Hip.