You Named Me....What? ARTICLE

PinkLillyLover

https://www.gq.com/entertainment/humor/201307/nine-baby-naming-rules-2013

Amen!  

Pepper6

I was just going to post this.  YES YES and YES...this should be required reading for all soon-to-be parents.

SmileyJay

I loved that article!

I think a lot of parents only imagine a cute little baby and have no concept that this little 7 lb baby will one day be a walking talking adult. Brynlee might not really appreciate the cutesy factor after about 2nd grade... and she still has another 70+ years answering to her name. 

allardr

Love that article, especially the Y thing and the apostrophe...I agree we are in the worst naming time in history.

Scarlett&Gatsby

allardr said:

Love that article, especially the Y thing and the apostrophe...I agree we are in the worst naming time in history.

You should really check out some old census records then, because...yikes. Let's just be thankful people don't name kids Flee-fornication anymore.

One thing has always been true: there's no accounting for taste and utter stupidity. 

diamondduck13

Great article. There was a post earlier this week where I stopped myself from posting what I was thinking, but I'll say it here

Will it really harm your child that much to encounter someone else with her name one day? Why is it so necessary to be so special? No wonder it seems narcissism is a growing epidemic...

I get that it's probably annoying to be one of 5 of the same name. But the chances of that happening for any name outside the top 10 name is probably so unlikely, that IMO there's no good reason to change the spelling or create a new name. Or kill yourself over finding the perfect name outside the top 1000 that you've never met anyone who had it.

ETA I use you in the general sense, not directed at anyone

Scarlett&Gatsby

diamondduck13 said:

Great article. There was a post earlier this week where I stopped myself from posting what I was thinking, but I'll say it here Will it really harm your child that much to encounter someone else with her name one day? Why is it so necessary to be so special? No wonder it seems narcissism is a growing epidemic... I get that it's probably annoying to be one of 5 of the same name. But the chances of that happening for any name outside the top 10 name is probably so unlikely, that IMO there's no good reason to change the spelling or create a new name. Or kill yourself over finding the perfect name outside the top 1000 that you've never met anyone who had it. ETA I use you in the general sense, not directed at anyone

Not to get too off-topic or anything, but I think this is a uniquely American problem. Our whole philosophy has embraced a notion of almost reckless individualism, from the inception of the country (we started as a confederation of autonomous states, after all, until the early Americans found out how important a stronger centralized government was).

I think the name choices Americans make are a fascinating reflection of how much "we" value freedom and individualism. (You know, the general "we.") Other cultures' name choices reflect a focus on family, religion and faith, society, history/tradition, etc. Ours reflect a focus on liberty.

(DH and I were actually just talking about this earlier today, after the whole name spelling thread debacle. I was telling him how I felt that spelling a name correctly was important because of its connection to meaning, and---after rambling about language theory for like an eternity---he eventually said that the thing he dislikes most about misspelled and made-up names is that they showcase radical individualism/narcissism at all costs.)

diamondduck13

Scarlett&Gatsby said:

diamondduck13 said:

Great article. There was a post earlier this week where I stopped myself from posting what I was thinking, but I'll say it here

Will it really harm your child that much to encounter someone else with her name one day? Why is it so necessary to be so special? No wonder it seems narcissism is a growing epidemic...

I get that it's probably annoying to be one of 5 of the same name. But the chances of that happening for any name outside the top 10 name is probably so unlikely, that IMO there's no good reason to change the spelling or create a new name. Or kill yourself over finding the perfect name outside the top 1000 that you've never met anyone who had it.

ETA I use you in the general sense, not directed at anyone

Not to get too off-topic or anything, but I think this is a uniquely American problem. Our whole philosophy has embraced a notion of almost reckless individualism, from the inception of the country (we started as a confederation of autonomous states, after all, until the early Americans found out how important a stronger centralized government was).

I think the name choices Americans make are a fascinating reflection of how much "we" value freedom and individualism. (You know, the general "we.") Other cultures' name choices reflect a focus on family, religion and faith, society, history/tradition, etc. Ours reflect a focus on liberty.

(DH and I were actually just talking about this earlier today, after the whole name spelling thread debacle. I was telling him how I felt that spelling a name correctly was important because of its connection to meaning, and---after rambling about language theory for like an eternity---he eventually said that the thing he dislikes most about misspelled and made-up names is that they showcase radical individualism/narcissism at all costs.)

I hadn't thought about that, but you're absolutely right, it does speak to American individualism. But taken at extreme lengths, like spelling Claire something like Klar, because you want her to be different, is individualism run amuck, as your DH said, narcissism at all costs.