The Name Game

[tvordlj]

A discussion at the bus stop this morning harkened back to another one i had over the weekend about names that people are calling their kids lately. More and more there seems to be an awful lot of made up names in an effort to be "different" i guess. Celebs are not making up names but they're using unusual names to the point where we wonder how the child will ever manage to escape the schoolyard unscathed. I figure all the Hollywood kids will be going to the same schools so it'll be the kid named David or Ann who will get their ass kicked on the playground. A woman i spoke to this morning has a new grandchild. Her son is Randall. She said the baby was being named after him. What's wrong with that, you ask? Well the mother (barely 17) is calling the child Randez. She also mentioned another baby that was named LaPrincia and one named Kyeleesha (i have no idea how it's actually spelled but that's what it sounds like). I mentioned the age of the first mother because the majority of these parents that seem to be making up the names from random letters or bits of other names seem to be under 20. Names that seem unusual to me but which are ethnic in origin are lovely. I object to the ones that are obviously made up and really sound it. Randez???

Which brings me to the inevitable conclusion of the post....


[Poll #815038]

Further comments?

Comments

[tammihayne.livejournal.com]

I find it quite "normal" for people of African decent in our region (and others) to make up names for their babies. While they are all totally different they, at the same time, keep with similar sounds like the sound "ay-eesha", etc with different letter combinations before and after.

LaPrincia is actually the name of Bobby Brown's daughter (not by Whitney).

I think having some individuality is great. I mean if they were calling their kids "Toilet" or "Light Switch" that's different. Most celebrities have changed their names for working purposes so I guess maybe they're saving the children the bother and giving them unique names.

When all is said and done wouldn't it be nice to be referred to by one name only and the whole world knows who you are talking about? Look at Shania, Madonna, etc.

Although my name is not unique, the spelling of it is not the traditional spelling and I quite like it that way.

[tvor.livejournal.com]

I don't mind the ethnic sounding names if it's a legitimate ethnic name. A made up one just sounds daft. LaPrincia, for instance. I don't see why a name can't be a little different, either, my best friend's daughter is Tangraya which was apparently from Native lore or something, but some people just go too far. There's some celeb "unique" names that were given to kids and the kids changed their names to something "normal" and then got into show biz anyway! Zowie Bowie is now known as Joey i think and one of Frank Zappa's kids went mainstream too.

[tammihayne.livejournal.com]

I think the main thing is to keep an open mind about names. It is a parent's privledge to give their child a name, whichever one they like. If they want to combine the parents' names to create a new one, why not? It is unique and has meaning for the parents. It is impossible to please everyone with the name you choose for a child and someone will always wonder what you were thinking. My nephew is Rogan and my niece is Rylan and the first time I say their names to someone they ask me to repeat them. I usually get "well that's different". I'd far rather have a unique name than some of the older names we once had like Agnes, Ethel, Henrietta, etc. Bottom line in my books is a name is only a name...and I certainly do not define or make assumptions about someone's character (or their parents') by the name they were given.

[tvor.livejournal.com]

I don't think a name reflects on the character of the child anyway. A little uniqueness is a good thing