3964: Pity the Child
So maybe I skipped the mention here--must rectify. [Will also reassess how bleh I feel after posting this to see whether I turn in immediately or not.]
StupidKidNames.com is an abrasive site dedicated to pointing out the most hideous of the baby-naming trends, which--as one commenter pointed out--is leaning more toward naming pets vs. future grown-ups. While there is the odd name I disagree with over its inclusion [mythical names like Icarus are pretentious but not stupid as such, comparatively, and foreign names like Keegan shouldn't be mocked JUST because the parents are American], for the most part I agree with and am saddened by the stupidness of said names, especially since the defenders of said names use the excuse that "I *have* to have a unique name!" ...because??
The relevance is one of my character names is listed there.
I'm not EXACTLY surprised by this--I knew it was stupid when I picked it (...at thirteen) and kept it mostly because I couldn't think of a better, less stupid one that functioned for the desired purpose--but that I used it as an ironic jab at the baby-naming trends AND IT ACTUALLY GOT USED is a little horrifying, however statistically probable =/
[Which name I'm talking about is an exercise for the reader, so maybe you can have that weird "...ohhhhh..." feeling, too. Or not, since most of you only know my one character or two... -_-;]
The secondary relevance is one of the site owner's reasons for bashing these names is that any one of these names will look stupid on the baby's future resumé... which is exactly the reason I defend another name I like but is one of the Top Ten Most Hated Baby Names. [I think I went over that, but an exercise for the reader if you don't know/remember what it is--Google is your friend [sometimes].] I personally love the sound of it, and it would totally be a name I would use myself as per suggestion*--if I were male.
*SKN site's recurring complaint: Change YOUR OWN name if you want uniqueness, don't foist a stupid name on someone else to deal with!
Of course, on that note, a name being in use by a famous person doesn't necessarily make it a good one. "Grover" was pointed out as being a good name for a dead president and a Muppet... not a baby. So it's pretty reasonable to just pick a boring name and let the kid self-nickname when s/he's older. [Though we all know how far reason goes these days, eh???]
It seems to me, even as naïve as I am about childrearing, that there are two important things to consider in a name: 1. how this child is referred to [when called for dinner/in class/etc.] and 2. how the child's name forms his/her identity.
1. is obvious: Parents/guardians will have to shout the name countless times as the child gets older, use the name on official documents, and introduce the child to various people, and the worse it sounds, the more tedious/demotivational it is to endure each time. Also, it makes the child a laughingstock when "Proppeshia Un'nikkqu MucPhattie Jones" wins the spelling bee, by some miracle.
On 2.: I remember being mildly miffed when there was another Julie in one of my classes, but besides the folks who for some reason could never wrap their heads around my name being JUST "Julie" [vs. Julia... or, Julie-UHHHH], I never had to complain it was misspelled/mispronounced. Last name, yes, I got incredibly tired of that shit, but the most I ever had to complain about my first name was it seemed kind of boring sometimes... but that's what nicknames are for. My mother was wise in that respect--my last name is already troublesome for the people I've had to encounter in life, so my other [and my brother's other] names were easy to manage.
But half the Stupid Kid Names are some kind of "creative" spelling or other mutilation of an otherwise normal name [misspellings of "Erin/Aaron" are common, or putting Ys in place of every other vowel], which will ALWAYS lead to "correcting" the spelling, EVERY time that person meets someone new.
As a reflex to this trend, I've gone on a small pursuit to find names that are spelled/pronounced the same way in every language, but the closest I've found are "Maria" and "Nadia"--kinda boring =p but then, maybe being boring is why they work. "Sara(h)" also, and some of the other Biblical names I would assume people would be stupid to get wrong. As someone once pointed out, "No one stumbles over 'Mary'."
I still plan to keep my [and C's] baby names secret until I actually have one OR I'm 35 and it's riskier to have them. [Two more years--EUGH!] If by what chance I have kids after that, I imagine they'll have different names, though, just out of principle.
...feeling quite blurgh, but I don't know if bed preparations will fix or worsen that =/ I was going to keep drawing, but maybe I'll just read The Little Prince again. You know, since Borders is still somehow WELL-STOCKED and C never read the thing, I figured why not!
[On that note, anyone want a copy of Sword of Fire and Sea? I'm sorely tempted to get the second copy that's still there while it's clearancing...]
StupidKidNames.com is an abrasive site dedicated to pointing out the most hideous of the baby-naming trends, which--as one commenter pointed out--is leaning more toward naming pets vs. future grown-ups. While there is the odd name I disagree with over its inclusion [mythical names like Icarus are pretentious but not stupid as such, comparatively, and foreign names like Keegan shouldn't be mocked JUST because the parents are American], for the most part I agree with and am saddened by the stupidness of said names, especially since the defenders of said names use the excuse that "I *have* to have a unique name!" ...because??
The relevance is one of my character names is listed there.
I'm not EXACTLY surprised by this--I knew it was stupid when I picked it (...at thirteen) and kept it mostly because I couldn't think of a better, less stupid one that functioned for the desired purpose--but that I used it as an ironic jab at the baby-naming trends AND IT ACTUALLY GOT USED is a little horrifying, however statistically probable =/
[Which name I'm talking about is an exercise for the reader, so maybe you can have that weird "...ohhhhh..." feeling, too. Or not, since most of you only know my one character or two... -_-;]
The secondary relevance is one of the site owner's reasons for bashing these names is that any one of these names will look stupid on the baby's future resumé... which is exactly the reason I defend another name I like but is one of the Top Ten Most Hated Baby Names. [I think I went over that, but an exercise for the reader if you don't know/remember what it is--Google is your friend [sometimes].] I personally love the sound of it, and it would totally be a name I would use myself as per suggestion*--if I were male.
*SKN site's recurring complaint: Change YOUR OWN name if you want uniqueness, don't foist a stupid name on someone else to deal with!
Of course, on that note, a name being in use by a famous person doesn't necessarily make it a good one. "Grover" was pointed out as being a good name for a dead president and a Muppet... not a baby. So it's pretty reasonable to just pick a boring name and let the kid self-nickname when s/he's older. [Though we all know how far reason goes these days, eh???]
It seems to me, even as naïve as I am about childrearing, that there are two important things to consider in a name: 1. how this child is referred to [when called for dinner/in class/etc.] and 2. how the child's name forms his/her identity.
1. is obvious: Parents/guardians will have to shout the name countless times as the child gets older, use the name on official documents, and introduce the child to various people, and the worse it sounds, the more tedious/demotivational it is to endure each time. Also, it makes the child a laughingstock when "Proppeshia Un'nikkqu MucPhattie Jones" wins the spelling bee, by some miracle.
On 2.: I remember being mildly miffed when there was another Julie in one of my classes, but besides the folks who for some reason could never wrap their heads around my name being JUST "Julie" [vs. Julia... or, Julie-UHHHH], I never had to complain it was misspelled/mispronounced. Last name, yes, I got incredibly tired of that shit, but the most I ever had to complain about my first name was it seemed kind of boring sometimes... but that's what nicknames are for. My mother was wise in that respect--my last name is already troublesome for the people I've had to encounter in life, so my other [and my brother's other] names were easy to manage.
But half the Stupid Kid Names are some kind of "creative" spelling or other mutilation of an otherwise normal name [misspellings of "Erin/Aaron" are common, or putting Ys in place of every other vowel], which will ALWAYS lead to "correcting" the spelling, EVERY time that person meets someone new.
As a reflex to this trend, I've gone on a small pursuit to find names that are spelled/pronounced the same way in every language, but the closest I've found are "Maria" and "Nadia"--kinda boring =p but then, maybe being boring is why they work. "Sara(h)" also, and some of the other Biblical names I would assume people would be stupid to get wrong. As someone once pointed out, "No one stumbles over 'Mary'."
I still plan to keep my [and C's] baby names secret until I actually have one OR I'm 35 and it's riskier to have them. [Two more years--EUGH!] If by what chance I have kids after that, I imagine they'll have different names, though, just out of principle.
...feeling quite blurgh, but I don't know if bed preparations will fix or worsen that =/ I was going to keep drawing, but maybe I'll just read The Little Prince again. You know, since Borders is still somehow WELL-STOCKED and C never read the thing, I figured why not!
[On that note, anyone want a copy of Sword of Fire and Sea? I'm sorely tempted to get the second copy that's still there while it's clearancing...]