To: A certain parent

[Gurndigarn]

When you name, think of the KID!! Please.

I've been reading this thread with a certain bemusement. Some names may make it easier for the kids to twist, but no matter what you pick, they'll manage to twist it if that's what they want. As my wife says, "I realized it had nothing to do with the name when one of the girls making fun of my name had the last name of Butts."

If you can't tell what gender the kid might be, It's probably not a very good name. Make statements in your personal writings or on a t-shirt. Not where someone else will suffer for it 18 years.

Gender-neutral names aren't bad. (Though it can get confusing... my family adopted a Chris(topher) after my parents had given birth to a Chris(tene). It's names associated with the opposite gender that cause problems.

If you made it up yourself, odds are good that it's a bad name.

We get compliments on our daughter's names, even the rare and entirely made up ones. The trick is to consider "What will people think when they hear this name?" If the answer is "huh?" or "yuck, what a name", you have problems. If the answer is "Political Statement" or "OK, I see that you're proud of your skin color", you have serious problems.

If it's something you didn't check the real meaning of, It's a bad name.
Cheyenne is not 'a pretty name reminiscent of the Wild West'. It means Dog. The french trappers had a low opinion of the native americans they met and nicknamed them according to that opinion.

Knowing a word's origin doesn't protect you from making goofs in other languages. And there are lots of languages out there, with no real clue which ones will become "important" ones in the next several decades. How many people two decades ago would have thought that Arabic or (various forms of) Chinese would be "hot" languages now? So mostly, just avoid obvious pitfalls in languages near where you live or are likely to live/work. It's not worth the time to do a full detailed inspection of the word's meaning in every language.

(if your name is Cheyenne, well now it means You, so you're scot-free..

And that's why. It's your name; you own it. If you act embarrassed by it, it will become fodder for anyone who wants to. If you have accepted it (good, bad, or otherwise)... it will be annoying when imbeciles who haven't grown up try to embarrass you with it.

And if you have to go to any place where it's going to sound odd, either adapt it, shorten it, or live with the fact that you'll get odd expressions when you first tell it to people.

[protege]

My grandfather's middle name was Winfield. And yes, he hated it. So much, that he never used it. Also, even though his first name was "Albert." However, if you called him "Al," you opened yourself up for an ass-kicking. Nearly everyone in the county called him "Ab" or Abby."

Dad's dad was another story. His name actually was Sharron. Turns out his mother (a real bitch, BTW) really wanted a daughter. Grandpa went by "Bud" for years--can't say I blame him

[Andara Bledin]

Dad's dad was another story. His name actually was Sharron. Turns out his mother (a real bitch, BTW) really wanted a daughter. Grandpa went by "Bud" for years--can't say I blame him

Sharon sounds like one of those names that was originally a masculine name.

*does a quick search*

Well, according to at least one source, it's one of those either/or names. So, joke's on the sucky mom, there.

^-.-^

[the_std]

If it's something you didn't check the real meaning of, It's a bad name.
Cheyenne is not 'a pretty name reminiscent of the Wild West'. It means Dog. The french trappers had a low opinion of the native americans they met and nicknamed them according to that opinion.
(if your name is Cheyenne, well now it means You, so you're scot-free.. Just please don't name your daughter that if she ever plans to visit French speaking places)

That might be the historical significance of the name, but I am French and it didn't click in my mind that that was what the word meant until you mentioned it. It's spelled differently than the original French word (chienne). I think the other spelling of it is pretty.

Names are like languages in general. They evolve, they change, meanings of words fluctuate... Just think, if you named your kid something like Chair, and that kid goes on to cure cancer or something, the word "Chair" will forever be associated with something completely different. It happens.

[Becks]

Actually, I name all my jade plants Lennie.

May I ask why?

[Zombi]

I have a relatively boring name - Sarah Elizabeth. I was named for my grandmother (dad's side) and great-grandmother (mum's side), but my parents re-established a naming pattern that had been broken on my mum's side. See, all the first-born girls were named either Sarah or Elizabeth. If you were Sarah, you named your first daughter Elizabeth, and vice versa. My great-grandmother (Elizabeth, known as Bessie) broke the pattern by naming her daughters Margaret Evelyn and Lillian Heather. My grandma (Margaret, known as Evelyn) named her first daughter (my mum) Linda, and I was (finally!) named Sarah, which got the pattern back on track. So, in theory, my hypothetical daughter should be named Elizabeth.

My mum originally wanted to call me Catherine, known as Katie, but changed her mind for some reason.

[PaRaGaS]

I'm boring too - Mark Peter.
But, seeing as Mark is actually kind of a rare name here in my generation, it's not bad

[technical.angel]

My dad wanted to call me Jennifer. There were like a bazillion Jennifers already where I lived (well, marinated in mummy's tummy).

Heh!

I'm Jennifer Lynn.

Everyone I knows is related to someone named Jennifer Lynn.

And, actually, I have a cousin, fairly distant, who is also a Jennifer Lynn, with the same last name as me.

[Irving Patrick Freleigh]

For those of us who find this kinda thing Hilarious, as long as we're not the ones cursed with the unfortunate names: http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/index.html

I nearly committed a Rule #1 violation upon reading this exchange. Quoth the letter writer:
What is a nature realated name for a boy? I am pregnant with a boy and I already have four girls. My girls are Summer Skies, Autumn Night, April Shower, and Spring Flower. Please help I am due in November.
Star Light

Quoth the person responding:
Star Light, star bright, first star I see tonight. I wish I may, I wish I might, let this lady be a mental patient whose "children" are actually straws she stole from the hospital cafeteria.

Actually, that entire site is giving me the LULZ right about now. Some of those names make me thankful for the one my parents gave me: Nicholas Keith. Somewhat unique yet fairly boring.

ANOTHER EDIT: The name Onarada evidently means "fart" in Japanese. This morsel of information has tears rolling my face from laughing so hard.

[Zombi]

Let's just be thankful that it's 'April Shower' and not 'Golden Shower'.

*is going straight to hell for that*

[Umingmaq]

Modest amount of backstory: in Germany, at least back (mumble) years ago, names had to be from an approved list.

A friend who was a bit unusual on most things (he was/is an actual Transylvanian Count by ancestry) wanted to give his new daughter a Japanese name. IIRC what he wanted was Akiko which I think translates beautifully, but what he went forward with and actually had approved, was Akigo. This however translates as 'Autumn Brood of the Silkworm".

Scholars of the Japanese language may perhaps savage my memory of these names,
but the story itself is quite true.

[amphrite]

For those of us who find this kinda thing Hilarious, as long as we're not the ones cursed with the unfortunate names: http://www.notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/index.html

OMG. Timmy Tinkletop. I laughed so hard I cried. If I ended up Teaching him and had to call his name out, I would have so much trouble frankly.

I have taught a bunch of kids with names on that site. Scary.

Recently I taught a little girl named Ezra, but she was about six, and is not at the awkward "don't look at me stage".

[Evil Queen]

Actually, I name all my jade plants Lennie.

May I ask why?

Because he liked Lennie Briscoe from Law & Order, before he passed away.

[RetailWorkhorse]

May I ask why?

Because he liked Lennie Briscoe from Law & Order, before he passed away.

Lennie Briscoe you are forever in my heart and my mind.

*Silent Moment*

[B&NGoddess]

my name's normal: kelly. although ive been known whap good friends upside the head for calling me "kel." its my nieces and nephew that might have issues. my oldest niece is donovan ophelia (donovan being a family name). her original middle name was supposed to be olivia, but my sister in law was so effed after labor that she forgot and put that down instead. and my brother is an airhead, so he didn't remember either.

my nephew is dawson earl lasee (la-say, after my grandpa who had no boys of his own to carry on the family name) people keep asking if he was named after "dawson's creek." no.

my youngest niece is caldie josephine. caldie was my grandma's maiden name. they wanted to use family names. so they're a little odd, but workable.