On the naming of children

[Jilly_in_VA]

It does seem that a lot of babies these days are getting horrible names that aren't even names---Brynlee, Gunner, and so on. But there is a trend toward the old names, which I think is a good thing, so long as they aren't being misspelled in an attempt to appear "trendy". However, at my church, you would swear that to hear the moms call their little ones, you'd swear you had wandered into a grandparents' convention! The children are, for some reason, almost all girls, and the under-fives have among them Evelyn, Evangeline, Cassandra, William, Conan, Fern, and Emma. The outlier is Vukh, which is a Serbian name meaning "wolf". He may have a hard time when he goes to school. The newest baby, Fern's sister, is Eula(!). Maybe she's named for a grandmother. That one kind of blew me away....

[Marthe48]

1. I've been asking people how they picked names

Interesting answers

[greatauntoftriplets]

2. A caveat.

Never give your child a grandparent's name if there's a possibility they may end up hating it.

My mother, who was named Florence, hated her name with a burning passion. She went through life avoiding being called by her name, or the Flo nickname. Can't think of ever hearing my father address her by her name. She basically ignored her name.

She threatened that if my sister or I had a daughter that she'd disown us if we named anyone Florence. I believed her, and -- 20 years after her death -- feel that she'd come back and haunt any future generation who bestowed that name on an unsuspecting kid.

[Totally Tunsie]

6. My "Florence" mother also hated the name as well as all the derivatives.

"Flossie" would literally burn her cheeks!

[Permanut]

3. I had a friend years ago named Bill Butts. He hated that name.

So he changed it to Bob Butts.

[ret5hd]

4. "Trendi"...with a heart over the "i".

[stopdiggin]

5. Oh - we have gone so, so far beyond "heart over the 'I'" cutesy

ask a teacher - about the mind boggling ..... hackneyed .... migraine inducing .....

Still .... Most of it is done out of legitimate love and caring ... And there are probably far bigger foibles and issues ...

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[3catwoman3]

7. In 45 years in pediatrics, I saw many a name that made me roll my eyes...

...before going into an exam room, and having to stifle the impulse to ask parents, "Why did you do that to your child.

A name that it too hard to spell or pronounce can be cruel rather than clever.

[Jilly_in_VA]

8. My late cousin taught in one of the "ring" suburbs of St. Louis

First grade for years, then second for awhile. Her students were mostly Black, and many of them had some of "those" names, the kind that make you roll your eyes. Her practice was, on the first day, to go around the class and ask them how they said their names. With the shy ones, she'd kneel by their desks and have them whisper in her ear. That way there were no misunderstandings.

Our women's basketball coach recently acquired, through the transfer portal, a player whose first name is Trynce. When I inquired on the fan board as to its pronunciation, I was informed that it is "Trin-ECE". Well okay then.

[3catwoman3]

9. I had to take after-hours call for the peds practice I worked for. I worked in only...

...one of our 3 locations, but covered calls from all 3, so would often speak to parents I would never meet in person. One family had a rather peculiar last name that was quite comical in its pronunciation, and the son and daughter were named after galaxies - a most unfortunate combination.

When I had to return calls to this mother, I would only say, "This is Mrs. "X" returning your call," because I was afraid if I said any of the names I would burst out laughing.

I think your cousin approached things in a very gentle and thoughtful way. I'll bet she was a good teacher.

[3catwoman3]

10. My first name is Martha, and I've never liked it.

I seldom see it used in any flattering way in books, television shows, or movies. If an unpleasant character is needed, Martha seems to be a go to choice.

The worst case of this I ever saw was way back in the early 1970s when I was in nursing school. I was in the medical library of the University of Rochester, and saw an ad for the stool softener Colace on the back cover of a medical journal. It featured a very cranky looking old lady (think Ruth Buzzi's character from Laugh In) sitting on a high, 4-legged wooden stool, with a ferocious scowl on her face.

It read - For A BM in the PM, give Aunt Martha Colace in the AM. SERIOUSLY?!

It was awful. Couldn't it have been Aunt Bertha? Or Aunt Beulah? Or Aunt Brunhilde?

[Jilly_in_VA]

12. I like the name Martha

I had two friends in third grade named Martha, and reconnected with one years later, who by then was going by Marti, but I think it's a pretty name. My real first name is Janet, and I've always hated it. I think I'd have been okay with it if my parents had called me by the Scottish diminutive, which is Jenny, but they didn't. I never thought it went well with my birth surname or any other surname I had. In more recent years I've adopted "Jilly" from a baby nickname my dad called me.

[LogDog75]

11. One thing to remember is what their initials may spell

A name may sound good at first but when you put their initials together you may get something funny or repulsive. For example: if a boy is name William Thomas Ford, his initials are WTF.

[wnylib]

14. A friend of mine had a surname that began with W

She named her daughter Winter Willow. WWW. Sounds like it should have a url after it.

[Floyd R. Turbo]

13. My mother-in-law warned us not to name our daughter anything silly, so we called her

Bluff!