A True Story
Photo: Yelnoc
There’s been a lot of talk in the news lately about how much legal latitude parents should have when it comes to naming their children. I don’t know where I stand, actually. On the one hand, the libertarian side of me believes we should be able to name our children without government interference, while another side of me is more concerned with the child welfare side. One thing’s for sure–if you name your child something nutty, they’ll probably be legendary.
There was a family in the town where I grew up who was going to have another baby. They told their two older boys that they could name the baby anything they pleased. Well, when the mom popped out the kid, the two brothers told their parents that they wanted to name him Howdy Truckie. The parents, being the sort of people who apparently honored their word, put the name on the birth certificate, and that was that.
Howdy Truckie ended up having hardly any teeth by the time he was nine, owing to all the dippin’ tobacco he used, probably courtesy of his older brothers. Later on, he got gum cancer. That’s actually all I know about him, since I didn’t live in Texas when he was growing up.
I did, however, grow up with a child named Lace. I think Lace is a really beautiful name. The thing is, the boy who was graced with this name had absolutely no choice but to turn out to be flamingly queer. Not that being gay is a terrible thing, but this kid never had a bit of choice in the matter. I think he would have been better off with Johnny Cash’s “Sue”.
Then there were the twins two grades down from me named Annie and Zannie. They still live around here. People remember them better than their ten other siblings.
Of course, I may not be one to talk. My own kids have unusual names. Everyone knows who they are in school, which has been a good thing. Hopefully, it will still be a good thing professionally. Of course, if not, they can always change them. Unless they decide on something like Howdy Truckie.
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We stayed with mainstream names, which I think our kids have appreciated. Grade school kids(and older) can be vicious over unusual names. Who in the world would name a boy Lace? It’s a pretty name for a girl though.
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Some people nowadays are giving their children unusual names so it would be easier for them in the future to find the domain name not in use. Also it would be more memorable. I guess a good thing about being an immigrant is that you get to choose your own name when you naturalize. Oh and what a coincidence. Today is my 10 year anniversary of being in the United States!
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My parents gave me the middle name Joanne in case I ever decided Kamsin was too odd, but I’ve always stuck with Kamsin and no longer mind having to say it several times or spell it or explain its origin, although it did use to annoy me a lot!
Anyway, here in Japan the problem seems to be with parents giving their kids fairly standard names but choosing bizarre combinations of kanji (Chinese characters). It seems like you can pretty much use any kanji with any pronunciation when it comes to names, and obviously there’s several very standard choices but parents can choose alternate meanings or whatever. I don’t fully understand to be honest, but basically it means some kids names are impossible to read.
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I think its important to have unique names. How else could you register yourname.com domain name? :p
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My own name is pretty unique, and I used to hate it. So much so that I went by a similar sounding, but more common name in high school. It’s weird, because a whole subset of my friends know me by a completely different name. Haha!
Towards the end of high school I learned to love my real name. Now I adore it and don’t mind spelling it and correcting people several times for the proper pronunciation.
As for naming our soon-to-be-born baby boy, we’re going with something unique enough that he’ll feel special, yet not too odd that he’ll feel singled out.
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Every time I go to the doctor I usually know when they’re ready to call me back. The nurse comes out, looks at my folder, gets a puzzled look on her face, and then proceeds to call me something like Sheena. Or Shaney. Imagine how that sounds spoken by someone with a deep southern accent. Yep.
I feel for that Hero Fiennes-Tiffin kid. He’s the kid playing the young Lord Voldemort in the upcoming Harry Potter film. Yes, his name is Hero and he’s playing a child villain. His classmates will have a field day with that one. Unless he grows up to be a fireman, a policeman, or joins the military, he’ll never live up to the name.
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