Choosing A Name For Your
Baby
20 Questions to Think About
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1. Should
the baby be named for a relative? a good friend? a celebrity? Fewer
names today than in the past are chosen on these bases. When relatives' or
friends' names are chosen, they often are middle rather than first names.
If Uncle Wilbur or Aunt Paula is
very dear, naming an infant for him or her may be a deserved tribute. But
consider this anecdote related by Audrey K. Duchert in the magazine Names:
In 1884, a daughter was born to
the Charles Hemmenways of North Leverett, Massachusetts, and was named Ruby
Marion. A neighbor inquired, "Charles, why didn't you name her
Hepsabeth, after your mother?" He replied, "I loved my mother,
but I love my daughter, too, and I wouldn't wish such a name on her."
Remember, too, that if you name
the child for Aunt Paula, Aunt Corinne may feel hurt. And if you name her
or him for your best friend - well, friendships have been known to break up.
Some babies are named for movie
stars or other well-known people. There's nothing wrong with that,
although the star's name and fame may fade quickly and the use of the name may
prove only a fad.
2. Should
you choose a name that is now "in"? Fads do exist in naming.
In one decade, for example, David and Kevin for boys, and Karen and Jennifer for
girls, may be "in," but a decade or so later, both may be largely
replaced by new favorites.
Do you want your child five or
six years from now to be one of the four Davids or the five Jennifers in a
class, or do you prefer a name that, while not necessarily unique, does
distinguish your child from most of the others? Or, on the contrary, do
you consider a name better if it suggests that the child really
"belongs" with the others, even to the extent of an identical given
name?
3. Should
you choose a name that is highly unusual? Maybe somewhere you
encounter the name Girisa (gee-REE-shuh), originally Hindi as an alternative
name for the god Siva, meaning (mountain lord), and used in parts of India for
boys as well as girls. You like its exoticism and the grandeur of its
lordly denotation.
Ask yourself whether most people
could pronounce it and spell it, and whether it matters that they probably
couldn't. The name has the advantage that it certainly would be a
conversational icebreaker. How important is that? If your little
girl grows up to be a staid, conventional person, will Girisa be a suitable
name?
4. How
may the name affect the child's future? No definitive studies have
been made of the effect a name may have on a person's life, but there are
reports on two studies, one saying that boys christened Jack, Bud, and the like
usually grow up to be outdoorsy, he-man types, and the other saying that men
with names such as Rodman Carew Michaelson have a better than average chance of
becoming business tycoons.
5. Is
the name in conformity with your religious preferences? Many Jewish
families like to honor a well-liked but deceased family member. Roman
Catholic families are expected to use the name of a canonized saint as either
the first or middle name; since the number of saints is large, there are seldom
problems.
A Catholic is unlikely to name a
son Luther, Calvin, or Wesley, and non-ecumenical Protestants may avoid a name
that suggests a denomination other than their own. Many biblical names are
appropriate for both the Jewish faith and the various Christian faiths.
Parents who adhere to none of the organized religions may want to avoid names
that suggest anything pertaining to specific faiths.
6. Is
the name suitable for both a child and an older person? Tina may sound
fine for a six-pound bundle of joy, but less appropriate for the 160-pound woman
she may become. Stacy and Tracy have a young, ungrandmotherly sound.
On the other hand, some names
sound too old for a little child. Some people say that no one under forty
should be called Edna or Maud, and some say that Nathaniel is a name befitting
only an old man (although its meaning is (gift of God).
Such classification of names as
"young" or "old," it must be admitted, is a highly personal,
subjective matter and may depend largely on people we know who have a particular
name.
7. Is
the name merely "cute"? Names like Ima and Iva are generally
to be avoided, as in Ima Rose and Iva Thorn. Also unsound is any name that
combines cutely with the surname - Ruby Redd or Roxie Stone, for instance.
8. If
the surname is simple and common, are the other names also rather simple and
common? This does not mean that if the surname is Brown the child's
first name must be William or Mary, but some people hear a jarring or
anticlimactic note in Throckmorton McAllister Brown or Hilary Ermentrude Brown.
Some, however, argue that something rather spectacular is needed to offset the
plainness of Brown. Still others prefer moderately uncommon names with the
ordinary surname - maybe Roger Edmund Brown or Marilyn Lucille Brown.
9. Is
the name appropriate to the ancestry? Some Polish people, for
instance, like to choose names that bear at least a hint of the child's Polish
heritage - not necessarily Stanislas but perhaps Stanley. Some folks wear
their heritage very proudly and want it to be reflected in their children's
names, as was true of an Illinois Irish family whose children were Terence,
Deirdre, Colleen, and Patrick, and who at last report were expecting either a
Michael or a Kathleen.
If the first and second names
seem to indicate a heritage different from that of the surname, some people may
be confused by the mixed signals: Giovanni Domingo Schmidt, for instance.
On the other hand, parents with differing ancestral backgrounds may want to
select given names that at least suggest the mother's background. Often
the middle name may serve that purpose: William Antonio Schmidt, possibly.
10. Is
the name too alliterative? Richard Reed Rathburn
and Katherine Kelda Keefe? Most people wouldn't want
so much repetition of the same sound.
11. Is
the meaning of the name one that you believe appropriate? Although
many people are barely aware that names have meanings, choices may be affected
when the definitions become known. For example, one strongly feminist
couple decided against Henry when they found that it means (ruler of the home),
and some pacifist parents ruled out a few dozen boys' names that had military
connotations. And if two couples who named their daughters Lesbia and
Gomora had been better informed, they might not have made those choices.
Dolores, a beautiful name, has been rejected by some couples who found it means
(lady of sorrows).
A bookish couple decided in favor
of Cuthbert when they found it means (brilliant wisdom), and another couple,
wishful for their daughters' success in life, chose Eunice because its meaning
is (joyously triumphant).
12. Are
the first and middle names sufficiently different? One couple named
their daughter Helen Elaine - very pretty; but Helen and Elaine are really the
same name, and others of the sixty or more in the Helen group include Eleanor,
Ellen, Alena, Lena, Leonora, and (hard to believe) the Russian Olenko and
Galinochka. Obviously there is no law against such duplication, but
carried to an extreme it could lead to a name such as Robert Roberto Roberti.
13. Does
the rhythm of the three names (and of the first and last name alone) please you?
Some people dislike two names of one syllable each, like Kent Clark (although
Superman Clark Kent did all right). Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poetic ears
were offended by a two-syllable name with the accent on the second syllable,
like Adele or Eugene. "Never take an iambus as a Christian
name," he advised in recommending Edith and Rotha as the two best names for
girls. Actually, it is two iambics in succession that would displease many
people: Maureen Malone, for example.
There's no complete, agreement
about which onomastic rhythms are most attractive, and it is certainly true that
euphonious vowel and consonant combinations can often overcome possibly
unpleasant rhythms. In general, people who compile books about given names
recommend unequal numbers of syllables in the names. For instance, with a
one-syllable surname a two- or three-syllable given name may be best:
Conrad Lake, Roberta Mead; with a two-syllable surname a one- or three-syllable
given name: Grace Keller, Rosamund Leclaire; with a surname of three or
more syllables, a one- or two-syllable given name: Ray Gallagher, Nancy
Rutherford. But attractive exceptions to these principles do exist.
14. Does
the middle name have a function? The middle name may have a family or
religious connection, as suggested previously. Often it may be the
mother's maiden name or some other name associated with her family.
It can become a future
alternative to the first name, which the child may in later years want to use
instead of the first name. For example, a boy named Robert Leighton
Correll, after being known to teachers and fellow students as Robert or Bob for
over twenty years, decided that for the purposes of his profession R. Leighton
Correll would provide an air of distinction that was not present in Robert L.
Correll.
15. What
is the nickname likely to be? Do you like it? Although it is
impossible to predict for certain what nickname other children will give a boy
or girl, the odds are that it will be one of the conventional ones: Ed for
Edward or Edgar, Liz or Betty for Elizabeth, and so on. To some extent,
then, parents control what the nickname will be. Ideally it should be a
nickname that will sound attractive in conjunction with the last name. One
unfortunate boy, whose last name was Dick, was christened Richard, for which
Dick is a nickname. He was thus Dick Dick, which became Tick Tick, Tick
Tock, and other variants. His elementary schoolmates' fun became even
greater when one of them went to a zoo and discovered a small African antelope
called a dik-dik.
One of Dick's classmates was a
girl named Ariadne, who was first nicknamed Airy, then Windy.
16. Does
the name indicate gender clearly? A television actress named Michael
Learned has had to insist that Miss be placed before her name in the list
of credits. When one sees such names as Marion, Jan, Merl(e), Beryl,
Shirley, or Leslie, one cannot be sure whether the bearer is female or male.
Maybe in an age in which many
people are working for a leveling-off of sex differentiation, everybody should
be named Marion, Jan, etc. But if parents decide to give a child such a
name, the choice should be a carefully reasoned one.
17. Is
the name easy enough to pronounce and to spell? A girl named Ursula
had to tell people repeatedly that her name was to be pronounced UR-suh-luh, not
ur-SOO-luh. And our friend Ariadne found that almost none of her
classmates and not all of her teachers could spell her name.
18. If
you believe in numerology, are you satisfied with what the numbers tell you?
Many numerologists disagree with each other. They have widely different
methods of equating letters and numbers and no less different interpretations of
the results. However, if you are a believer in numerology, apply your
favorite formula and see whether you like what it says about the numerological
vibrations of the name you are considering.
19. Are
both parents happy or at least satisfied with the name? The man and
the woman cooperated in conception and will (hopefully) cooperate in the child's
nurture and upbringing. In a good marriage a child can be an added
cohesive force. As far as possible, nothing about the child, including the
name by which he or she is called every day, should be divisive of the family.
20. Some
years in the future, when the child asks, "Why did you name me
_____________?" will you be able to give a good, clear answer?
Hook, J. N. The Book of Names,
A Celebration of Mainly American Names: People, Places, and Things. Franklin
Watts, 1983.
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