Misspelling revisited

I wonder if I sounded a bit critical of parents who make up special spellings. That was not my intent, but I couldn't help wondering if it made it more difficult for the children.

Then I thought about my own children's names, and I realized that most of us have to explain spelling and/or pronunciation some of the time, even when they are "good, old-fashioned" names with what we might think are standard spellings.

Elizabeth is sometimes spelled "Elisabeth," and I know Erin is sometimes asked if her name is spelled with an A (Aaron).
It seems obvious to me that "Aaron" spelled this way is a boy's name, but apparently not everyone finds it obvious.

Hawaiian naming rituals

From http://understandingoccults.com/category/naming-rituals-rites/:

"In Hawaii, the entire family participates in the name-giving. A child's name may be based on special events, people, or places, or created by the parents based on an incident at birth.

Traditional Hawaiian names are long and have very picturesque meanings. Some of the loveliest Hawaiian names are those that come to a relative "from heaven," in the form of a dream, omen, sign, or inner voice."

Misspelling names

As I was thinking about mispronounced names, I started to think about my "almost neice" Caleigh.
That's a fine spelling (I think this is the correct Irish spelling, actually), but have you noticed how many variations of this name there are?

Kaylee
Cayley
Kaeleigh
Kaelie
Kaili
Kaylley
Kaylea
(This is just a small sample of the spellings I found!)

New parents often want to bestow names that will be unique and that will make their children stand out, and many choose unique spellings of the "good old names."
That makes it complicated for teachers, and grandparents, and often even for the children themselves because they have to continually explain the spelling.

Mispronounced names

Given how important our names are to our self-images, having to constantly correct others wrt spelling or pronounciation must be very hard, especially through childhood.

The story of my friend Chyrisse comes to mind.
(Perhaps you can't tell, either, just how to say Chyrisse: It's pronounced Shur-eese.)

She and I spent most of our school years in the same classrooms and I heard many stumblings and butcherings that poor Chyrisse had to correct.
The most common pronounciation I remember is "Krissy."

Very annoying for Chyrisse, but she was and is a strong-minded person.
I can imagine there are children who found it even more distressing than she did, and who suffered ill-effects.

Please share your stories of having your name constantly pronounced incorrectly.

Native American naming rituals

There are many different groups of First Nations peoples in North America, so it stands to reason that there would be many different naming rituals.

According to http://understandingoccults.com/category/naming-rituals-rites/ and http://www.garynull.com/documents/nativeamerican.htm here are a few:

The Delaware: A person's true name is a sacred gift, and only visionary name-givers are allowed to choose it.

The Shawnee: Two name-givers ponder various possibilities during a night vigil. The next morning each name-giver offers one name to the parents, who choose the one they will give to the child.

And this story describes choosing for a grown person who has already "made a name for himself":

"Legal names are given, but Native American names are earned. Gabriel Horn gives a personal account of why and how his Indian name was chosen: "By the time I graduated from college, I had already done my battles for the people. I had protested against stereotypes of Native Americans, I had fought for a Native American literature course on campus, and I had asked for participation in the United Nations. My immediate family believed that I had earned a name. The name came to my uncle, a traditional Cherokee man, who had a vision of a white deer coming to him and singing my name. He knew it was to be White Deer."

Nicknames

I’ve had a ton of nicknames, but none as permanent or perhaps as powerful as a name like ‘Killer Kowalski’ seems to have been. Walter Kowalski, an ex-wrestler, passed away recently. He got his nickname because of an unfortunate wrestling incident. Once he had it, the name stuck with him. It became a powerful influence on how others saw him. Fans jeered at him and threw things at him. He was even forced to have escorts to help him get into and out of the ring.

He retired in 1977 and opened Killer Kowalski’s School of Professional Wrestling. Walter originally called himself "Tarzan", but the “Killer” label is what really made him stand out and become famous.

What nickname(s) have you had that stuck with you? Did you think the nickname was fair? Did it bother you? Who gave it to you? Do others still refer to you by your nickname?

Implications of your name

When I was born my parents were originally intending to name me Christian or Jacob. They liked these names for a variety of reasons. But, they decided these names might have strong religious implications. There were other names too. As new parents, they worried a great deal about what others first impressions would be when they heard my name. I guess all parents do. Ultimately, they named me after my father.

Marianne Bertrand, a researcher who teaches at University of Chicago, has done research on the implications of our names. More specifically, she has looked at how particular names can hurt your chances, or give you an edge, when it comes to looking for work. The results of her research showed that names that sounded ethnic tended to be discriminated against. In her research, she found that job candidates with ethnic names were contacted less frequently than other candidates.

Naming ritual in India

Naming rituals are fascinating to me. Naming is such an important event that it should have a ceremony attached to it. I think we don't celebrate enough in North America!

Here is an excerpt from http://festivals.iloveindia.com/rituals/naamkaran.html, about a naming ritual in India:

"The father leans towards the baby's right ear, and whispers its chosen name. Usually, the father does not whisper directly into the child's ear, but uses a betel leaf or its silver imprint, or a few leaves of kusa grass to direct the words to the child's ear.The Rig Veda prescribes the formula of giving a name with four components: the nakshatra name, the name of the deity of the month, the family deity's name, and the popular name by which the child will generally be addressed. This system, however, is rarely followed these days. The usual practice is to give one formal name and, if necessary, a short name by which the child will be called. Some people coin a suitable name from a combination of the parents' names. In certain communities, the first child is named after the paternal grandparent; in others, the first son is given the same name as the father. Sometimes, the baby is named after the nakshatra, or star, of its birth. The child could also be named after the family deity or guru. "

Names can be a life or death affair

In the movie Breaking and Entering, Juliette Binoche was a Bosnian woman who emigrated to the west. When asked about her son's name, she said that she and her son were only be able to get out of Bosnia, past the soldiers at the checkpoint, because her son's name was a Muslim name.

"In my country, names are like flags. You can live or die because of your name."

Names and anagrams

An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging all of the letters of another word or phrase. It’s neat when you look at the new words that can come from looking at names. For example, the letters in ‘Elvis’ can be rearranged to ‘Lives’. It can be spooky, when you see there might be some hidden relevance to the rearranged letters. You’ve probably seen that the letters in Clint Eastwood’s name can be rearranged to form ‘Old West Action’. And, Charlize Theron is an anagram for Razor Leech Thin.

You might be reading a story and realize that the author has made a character name from an anagram! Tom Riddle, from the Harry Potter series is a recent example. Try making anagrams out of some of the names of your friends or favorite celebrities.

You might surprise yourself with the results! You might also create an anagram from your own name and your job or hobby. You could work with something like ‘Joe Smith rock climbing.’ One of the possibilities is ‘Climber Sitcom Jig Honk’. Maybe, Joe should try another hobby!

There are even online tools that can help you to create anagrams. You might learn more about the story behind your name by working with anagrams! Give it a try. Check out the tools at http://wordsmith.org/ and have fun!

The Importance of naming a child

What does a name say about the namer? A divorce case was in the news recently, that involved a young girl with an unfortunate name. The girl, aged 9, was made a ward of the court until she could change her name. In his ruling, the judge said: "The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgement which this child's parents have shown in choosing this name. It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and a handicap, unnecessarily. She fears being mocked and teased, and in that she has a greater level of insight than either of her parents."

Now, of course we don’t have the whole picture. There might have been many other issues that came up in the proceedings. But, something must have alerted the judge for the parents to have had their parental rights challenged. Yet, raising a child is about being a responsible parent.

Naming the child is part of your responsibility as parent. Naming conveys your love and belief in your child, and in yourself. In the process of naming a child you are welcoming a new person into the world. Your world! Although we don’t necessarily understand the significance of names, many other other cultures do. In these cultures there are still ceremonies performed to give children a name. These ceremonies are a way to honor the child and welcome him/her into the community. Some of them even include methods for naming the child.

Names for Pirates

When I started this blog, it was to find out how people choose their names, but I didn't bargain on finding this method!

Just for fun, check out this website, and discover your hidden pirate name:
http://www.piratequiz.com/

Name choice expert -- Laura Wattenberg

Here is an interesting approach. Laura Wattenberg has come up with The Baby Name Wizard, available as a book on Amazon.com. She is also keeping a blog at http://www.babynamewizard.com/.

Interesting approach -- she helps you narrow down on just the right baby name, based on meaning and sound of the name, including how it sounds with the names of the baby's siblings.

She is also interested in naming trends, based on the names celebrities use for their children.
For instance, she talks about the new names appearing since the Brangelina's choice of Knox. She is seeing more 'o's and 'x's appearing in baby names.

Go figure!

Top 10 boys' names in Canada in 2007

And here are the boys:

1. Aidan (Aiden)
2. Ethan
3. Jacob (and variations)
4. Noah
5. Lucas
6. Logan
7. Liam
8. Owen
9. Joshua
10. Matthew

Top 10 girls' names in Canada in 2007

Here we go:

1. Emma
2. Sophia (Sofia)
3. Olivia
4. Emily
5. Ava
6. Hailey (and many other spelling variations)
7. Abigail (and variations)
8. Madison (and variations)
9. Hannah (Hanna)
10. Isabella (Izabella)

Naming goals change over time

Our Saturday newspaper had an article about baby names this week.
It postulated that our goals for naming have changed since our parents', and especially, our grandparents' time.

"It used to be that a very large percentage of parents wanted a good, solid, ordinary name for their child," says Laura Wattenberg, a noted name researcher, "but today, parents treat ordinary as a dirty word."

John, Susan, Catherine, and Robert used to be the names of choice; now we have Apple (Gwyneth Paltrow's child), Knox (Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's child), and Sunday (new daughter of Nicole Kidman).
Cate Blanchet just named her new son Ignatius, which could fit in either list, depending on your time frame!

Interesting choices, but still better than Talula Does The Hula From Hawaii!

"Talula does the Hula"?

Read this!
http://fe1.ca.news.a1.b.yahoo.com:80/s/capress/080724/koddities/oddity_bizarre_names

Now here are some shocking names. Some examples listed in this article:

Fish and Chips
Yeah Detroit
Keenan Got Lucy
Sex Fruit


Do you think the government should stop parents from choosing really weird names? Do you agree with the courts on this one, stating that carrying the name "Talula does the Hula" imposes a social handicap?

Mary Ann

I was given the name Mary Ann. It's my first and second name but all I remember is being Mary Ann. As I was growing up I met no one with my name so I thought my name was unique. To my surprise when I returned to work after years at home with small children, I found that there are two other ladies with my name and one I share a birthday with at this place I work. They spell their names Marianne and Mary Anne so there is a little difference.
The other thing about my name is that of all nine of the children born to my parents, mine is also all old fashioned Mennonite. My brothers names are Robert, Ronald, Timothy, Donald, and Quentin. My sister's names are Linda, Patricia, and (Barbara who passed away as an infant). I think I was named after an aunt and a grandmother. All my brothers and sisters have the old Mennonite names as their second names (after a family member).

When my husband Abe and I decided to have children we did a lot of thinking. Boys names were hard to agree on. Then one day I heard a friend tell me if she had a boy his name would be Mitchell. I loved the name and it was one my husband liked to. So when this friend had a girl and since we didn't see them much it would be alright to name our son Mitchell. His second name is Aron after my Dad. My oldest brother has this second name also. Our son's personality reminds me of them both.
Our daughter's name my husband had picked before we had Mitchell. Her name is Lacey and I thought it was pretty. Abe thought it would be cool to put his mom's name (Mary) and my mom's name (Tina) together for her second name. So her second name is Martina.
Then there came Lance. If he'd been a girl he would have been Stephanie Ann. But we had a boy so the poor baby had no name for three days after he was born. I had heard the name Lance on TV a few years before and had always liked it so I ran it by Abe and lo and behold he liked it to. I suggested his second name be after Abe but it should be Abraham like on my husbands birth certificate.
I would say naming our children had to be one of the best part about having them.

Living in a small Mennonite community can be kind of silly sometimes.
We Abe and Mary Ann Braun living in Osler had neighbors down our street named Abe and Mary Braun. Their son Abe married a girl named Margaret. And their first son of all things they named Mitchell. How silly is that? Well they soon moved out of Osler and so did we.

Apple

Seen on the internet.

Chris Martin defends odd names
by inMusic.ca staff He says there's nothing wrong with giving children unusual names.
Coldplay's Chris Martin had defended celebrities' habit of giving their children unusual names. Martin, who is the father to Apple and Moses (with Gwyneth Paltrow), says there's nothing wrong with choosing a unique name. He told Blender magazine, "People make a big fuss over names. Names of babies, names of albums, names of bands.""There's nothing weird about calling your baby Chewbacca if that's what you want to call your baby. It's no stranger than Sarah. A name is just a noise, and, if you like it, then f*** what everyone else says."

Name stealing? (from Angie)

As many giddy couples do, my husband and I chose names for our offspring long before the little stick had ever turned blue. Our first son was to be named Cameron in honour of my brother whom we lost to cancer, and a daughter would be Danielle, simply because I thought it was pretty. When it came to choosing second names, my husband was also quite clear on what they should be. He wanted to pay homage to his NBA hero Michael Jordan, so our children’s names would be Cameron Michael or Danielle Jordan. Our son was born first. During my second pregnancy, we sat in church talking with friends after a Sunday morning service. They asked if we had picked out names for the baby, so we told them of our plans. Several months later we sat stunned as we listened to a birth announcement from the pulpit: “Congratulations to proud parents Bill & Mary on the birth of their son Daniel Jordan!” Only then did we put it together that this couple had occasionally sat in the pew in front of us. They must have liked the name we picked out so much, they decided to steal it!! When our beautiful daughter was born a short time later, we named her Danielle…Salome, after her fraternal great-grandmother. Now if that isn’t reason to keep your chosen baby names a secret, I don’t know what is!!

Celestial name...

Today, my daughter graduated from high school. It was a large class -- over 300 -- so I sat and watched the grads cross the stage one by one, as their names and photos were displayed on the big screens.

Jaclyn, Amanda, Thomas, John, Chantal, and then ... Heaven Leigh!

Wow! Now there's a name that will stop you in your tracks!

Some people choose their own last names, too

I know a woman who, when she was divorced many years ago, didn't go back to her maiden name. She didn't enjoy good associations with her birth parents, so she chose a different name altogether.
If I remember correctly, the new last name she chose came from a grandparent.

Choosing your own name

I have met some immigrants who have chosen their own English names. Sometimes their birth names are just too difficult for English speakers to pronounce.

Many years ago, I knew a woman from Holland. She gave herself the name Helen, just because she thought it was beautiful.

Recently, I work in a company with a couple of men from China.
One uses the first name Francisco, and the other uses Lester.

I really should ask them how they came up with these names!?

Unique here, and common elsewhere

Following on the common names story:

I have talked about growing up with a unique name -- Anita -- but I learned that Anita was the most common name for baby girls in Hungary a few years ago.

I think it might be an interesting experience for me to hang out in Hungarian nursery schools with all the other Anita's!

Common or unique?

Thinking about those stories coming out of Sweden makes me think about how hard many of us try to choose a unique name.

I grew up in a classroom of Lori's that followed me up the grades.
Moving to another province as an adult, I found myself surrounded by Cathy's and Robert's my age. Clearly, those names were in fashion here in about 1960.

When my children were born, every other baby was named Jennifer or Christopher. (One of my friends actually had one of each!)

So what do you think? Should you choose common names so that your child feels right at home, or names that will make them stand out?

And another interesting naming story from Sweden

Found on http://www.boingboing.net/2008/02/20/swedish-couple-fined.html

"A Swedish couple has been fined for failing to register a legally approved name for their seven-year-old child, who is presently called "Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116" (pronounced "/ˈalˌbin/"). They've offered to change the kid's name to "A," but the Swedish government says that won't do, either.
Because the parents (Elizabeth Hallin and an unidentified father) failed to register a name by the boy's fifth birthday, a district court in Halmstad, southern Sweden, fined the parents 5,000 kronor (US$682 at the time). Responding to the fine, the parents submitted the 43-character name in May 1996, claiming that it was "a pregnant, expressionistic development that we see as an artistic creation." The parents suggested the name be understood in the spirit of 'pataphysics. The court rejected the name and upheld the fine."

I think this may be in the realm of torturing your child with a name...

Yes, but Lego?

This naming story comes from Sweden:

"Oh, those wacky Swedes and their hilarious kids' names! Okay, I had no problem with a girl being named Elvis and even Metallica is plausible, if you like the band's music, I suppose. And while I would never think to tell another parent what they can or cannot name their kid, sometimes even I have to ask, "Why?" Such is the case with the latest naming news from Stockholm, where a couple has won the right to name their son Lego. The parents say they have been calling the boy Lego for a year now and that if there had been any embarrassment, they would have chosen something different. They were initially turned down when they submitted the name for approval, but the latest decision from the Administrative Court of Appeals allows them to continue using the name."

So, is this a victory for freedom of choice in using copyrighted words for names, or is has global branding one again?

http://www.parentdish.com/2008/06/08/another-swedish-childs-name/

Names from the angels

I just read a webpage about naming your child. It says:

"The naming of a Jewish child is a most profound spiritual moment. The Sages say that naming a baby is a statement of her character, her specialness, and her path in life. For at the beginning of life we give a name, and at the end of life a "good name" is all we take with us. (see Talmud - Brachot 7b; Arizal - Sha'ar HaGilgulim 24b)
Further, the Talmud tells us that parents receive one-sixtieth of prophecy when picking a name. An angel comes to the parents and whispers the Jewish name that the new baby will embody. "

I am not Jewish, so I have no idea whether this is a widely held belief, but it seems to me a lovely way to think about naming a new baby.

http://www.aish.com/literacy/lifecycle/Naming_Your_Child.asp

Religion plays a role

I have noticed that in some old Roman Catholic families, there are many Marys and many Josephs.
Did religion play in a role in naming children in your family?

Can babies "look like" particular names?

When my second daughter was born, I was even more convinced I was having a boy. When the delivery room nurse asked me what I would name her, all that came to me was the boy's name we had chosen. I said, "Ian?"

That got laughs.

With a little sober second thought, we settled on Gillian, but after three days of getting to know our new daughter, both my husband and I felt that Gillian just wasn't the right name for her.

We went back to our list and settled on Elizabeth. We are all still very happy with that old and beautiful name, and I don't even mind so much anymore that most people call her "Liz"!

Makes me wonder ... do babies have personalities that you can see very early, and that affect their naming?
Apparently our daughter did -- or maybe it was all in our heads...?

Nasty side-effects

I went to school with a boy named Virgil. I think you know what his nickname was!

When my parents were choosing a name for my third brother, my mother wanted to name him Duane.
I was there, but too young to care (beyond worrying about the increased competition!) -- but it's been reported to me that my dad refused.

All he could hear was, "Duane the bathtub, I'm dwowning!"

Recycling...

In my grandmother's family, names were re-used.

For instance, David and Cornelius were each used twice in naming her brothers.
When the first David died in infancy, the name was used again for the next baby boy born in the family.
And like the first David, the first Cornelius died, and when the next boy came along, he was named Cornelius.

I guess you would run out of ideas when you have 16 children...

Should names be funny?

I'm not sure we should saddle children with joke names, just to amuse ourselves, but there is no doubt it happens.

I heard many years ago about the Lear family and their new baby girl, Krista Chanda....

For lots more silly (tragic?) names, have a look at this:
http://www.101funjokes.com/funny_names.htm

I can only hope no babies really carried these names!

The importance of initials

We had a pastor when I was growing up, who had chosen names beginning with "K" for each of his children.
His name was Walter, his wife was Erna, and he always referred to his family as "WaltErna and the 4 Ks."

I wonder, did he plan that when he named the children?

First child

My first child was born more than 21 years ago, but I remember how difficult it was to choose a name. First, I was convinced I was having a boy, and I didn't spend much time thinking about girl's names.
I did have Erin picked out. Then she was born, and she had a shock of red hair. Erin seemed even more appropriate, and the name "Heather" popped into my head.
Then it became a struggle -- would it be Erin Heather, or Heather Erin?

Anita's story

I grew up with an unusual name, for its time and place at least, but for me, that's not the most interesting part.

What stuck with me was the story my mother told me about how she chose my name. She talked about having met a beautiful dark-haired girl with the name Anita, and immediately falling in love with her, and because of that, her name. I'm sure there were more details in her story, but all I remember is the dreamy way her eyes drifted as she remembered my namesake. When she gave me the name, I think my mother was trying to capture some perfect picture in her imagination by giving the name to me.

Rather than being dark and graceful like my namesake, I came out blonde and clumsy, but I suspect that my mother let go of much of her fantasy the moment I was born, anyway :-)

When I named my daughters, it struck me that the name and its sound was less important than the mental picture each name evoked for me. When my daughters were born, I chose their names based on the mental images I have of the beautiful, tall, strong women they would become.

That made me curious about what other names evoke in the minds of people who bestowed them or carry them.

I would love to hear your stories. What is your name, and how did you get it? Is there a story behind it? Who named you?
Did you have the privilege and responsibility of naming your child, or a grandchild, neice or nephew? How did you choose, and what does the name mean to you?

Over to you ....