Baby Names


Edit to add: This thread is to open-up discussion. I don't say I dislike every trend in names. I just note them.

When you name your child the name should be for your child for life not some name you think is a cute accessory for you now or what you wanted as a child or any other alternative except a name that your child will be proud to have as an adult because that's what you are raising them to be. Also, unless your child becomes famous (Guess what? Your child probably won't become famous.) about only 5% of the people they know will every see the "cool" alternative spelling you choose for your child. But, 100% of their future potential employers will see the ridiculous alternative spelling you chose for your child, and that's not the way they will want to stand out in an interview.

On the off-chance that your child actually does become the rock star you're hoping they become they can always change their name or use a nickname. Robert Zimmerman, Jim Osterberg, and Paul Hewson would probably agree. Who? That's Bob Dylan, Iggy Pop, and Bono. Regular names didn't stop them, nor did it stop The Beatles: John, Paul, George, and Richard (Ringo), nor REM: Bill, Mike, Michael, and Peter.

My opinion of these names do not nccessarily reflect my opinions of the mothers on the show, so far:

Amzie: Is that really her name? Please tell me that's a nickname. It's a nickname, not a name. No one needs to reply, "They have the right to name their child whatever they want." Yes, I know that. But for people who are so concerned with image they can expect us to pick apart what they've chosen. It's a ridiculous name for an adult, and children grow up to be adults.

Ledger: Is this supposed to be in honour of Heath Ledger? Is this possibly a surname? Otherwise, why would you name your child after a book in which you keep financial records?

McKinley: A surname as given name. Fine, but is this one of your family names? I find it odd and pretentious this new trend of using surnames for given names when the surname is not one of your own family names.

Addison: A very popular name of late. Sorry, but it just makes me think of the disease.

Dylan, Andrew, Jordan: Some less trnedy names. Dylan and Andrew, especially. (Andrew was even on my short list.)

Sommer the dog: It's a dog, not a child. Small dogs are notorious for being feisty. Nicole B. was perfectly just in disinviting Nicole N.to her daughter's birthday party, particularly the way she handled Sommer biting Miranda. It's not Nicole N. and Sommer's day, it's McKinley's day, and Nicole B. didn't need the added stress of worrying about that dog running around endangering the children. A little dog like that bit my child on his face once. He had to have stitches and a tetnus shot. The owner said only, "These things happen." She's as enamoured of her dog as this nut is of hers. It still ticks me off when I see the scar on my son's face even though it's really small. I understand the love of a pet, but it is not a child. Not even close. You really can't understand that until you actually have a child. As far as the name, I'm not sure if it's really a use of a surname or if she decided to get creative with the spelling of "summer," in which case she'll probably do the same with her children who will have to spend the rest of their lives spelling their names to everyone.

So, what do you all think of these names? How about the names of your children and/or their peers? My son is in elementary school, and there's usually only one or two children who have simple names like John or Michael. Otherwise, it's surnames as given names (I'm not sure how many of them are actually family names), "boys names" for girls (I had no idea from the class list who was a girl), and double names for girls like Mary Grace or (using a names from this show, which could be surnames, as well) Mary Addison or Ava Ledger. Otherwise, it's then much older traditional names.


The perfect human being is uninteresting. -Joseph Campbell

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First tough I do not agree with what these moms named their kids I am more in shock with you, please never have a pet, they have feelings they need to be taking care of they are not dolls neither. And names have different spellings my cousin name is spelled Karolina because she live in Poland and C in many European languages isn't pronounced at all like K, but like 'ts'. And before you comment on my grammar guess what English it's my fourth language and I got Dysgraphia.

And about names my best friend daughter name is Lanys Elizabeth the friends of her daughter are named Nichelle Grace & Susan Marie. When I have my kids I am going to name them Leela Katey & Amy Eleanor.And for boys Konrad Adam or Niles Konrad.

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Why are you making assumptions about how I have treated my pets? I've treated my pets extremely well. However, a pet does not require anything like the responsibility of a child. They don't require the physical attention a child requires: Do you need a babysitter for your pet to go out for coffee or drinks with you friends? You have to watch a young child all the time. They also do not require the emotional investment a child requires: Do you worry about what preschool your pet attends? What school? The cost of tuition? How their peers influence them? How their feelings hurt when someone snubs them or even if they'll accidentally mention that they've been invited to a party a friend or classmate hasn't? Should you insist your child try something new because maybe they'll like it and it will be a breakthrough for them in a certain area where they might need a little push or is that going too far? And on and on... And as soon as you get it right at one stage they move to the next. You have none of that with pets. You're very correct in saying that they aren't dolls. And I've never use a flatiron on the hair of any of my pets the way the woman in this show does. I don't know where you got the idea from my post that I consider pets dolls or no responsibility at all.

However, I have always treated my pets with the utmost care. You made a huge assumption by misreading my post. I said a pet is not like a child no matter how much you love your pets. I never said anything negative about pets. My child happens to be attending a camp this week that is centered around a certain wildlife animal, by the way, and will attend another week of a more general (not just one animal) camp learning about the animals indigenous to our area. He has attended these camps every year for several years and we are now sponsoring one of these animals. We lost a longtime pet a few years ago and have not yet gotten a new one because we are uncertain about whether or not we might move with my husband's career in the next year or so and might have to live somewhere temporarily that would not allow pets. That is how seriously we take pet ownership. When we know we are settled permanently then we will get another pet.

Coincidentally, my mother-in-law is Polish and my son's best friend is half Romanian. I should have added a disclaimer of sorts for international or non-Americanized names. My son has several friends in his class who are from places like India whose names reflect their homeland or that of their parents. Also, Karolina isn't an odd spelling of Carolina. Nor is Katherine v. Catherine. That's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about women who trying to find the most unique way of spelling a common name because it looks "neat" or "cool" all written out, which isn't the way most people come in contact with names. For example, Ahlyvia for Olivia, pronounced the same way. Or Jewlia for Julia. It's all cute and creative for a toddler, but they grow up into adults. Even Amzie's mother has a normal name like Emily. I'm saying give your child a normal, neutral name as their legal name, and if they want to go by something creative then they can change it or use a nickname. I met one mom in a play group who named her son Rocket. Seriously? Sounds like a lot of pressure to me. Sounds like the parents thought it was cool and thought their friends at the moment (a key point in my post) would think it was cool. Maybe ten years later they won't think so. They could have named him Dylan (still pretty cool) and just called him Rocket as a nickname. Look, David Bowie's kid he named Zoey Bowie even changed his name to something else I can't recsll at the moment.

There's a test for names that you shouldn't name your child anything that doesn't sound right with Senator or C.E.O. in front of it. Even if you don't go that far I guess I think names are like clothes and what they say about clothes is: You should wear your clothes; your clothes shouldn't wear you.


The perfect human being is uninteresting. -Joseph Campbell

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What's wrong with Zoey Bowie?

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I guess you'd have to ask him. He goes by Duncan Jones now. (I think Jones is Bowie's real surname.)

The perfect human being is uninteresting. -Joseph Campbell

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I thought the name Lanys sounded familiar so I looked it up. Your friend did not make up the name. Furthermore, it's also the name of a character from the very popular role playing game Everquest. Lanys is the goddess of hate and envy. See, this is exactly what I'm talking about. A name becomes popular for some reason and your friend picks is either not knowing why it has become popular of late or even worse knowing why. It's actually a nice sounding name, but if it has become associated with this game (I don't play anything like those) then why name your child a name the other parents and possibly her peers will associate with the goddess of hate and envy? Because she's a bada$$ in the game or something? Sounds like a lot of pressure to put on a little kid when maybe its the parent who wants to be the bada$$, but isn't. She's hiding behind a role playing game on a computer and then names her daughter after the character? Forgive me if I'm wrong about your friend, but the example is still a good one. It's exactly what some parents do.

You also might consider that if you don't name your child a name from your own native culture that you might want to ask a variety of sources how the name sounds in English in the United States. For example, a friend of friend who was from France told us what she wanted to name a little girl one day and went on about how pretty she thought the name was. We all just froze. Finally, someone got up the courage to tell her that while it sounds like a pretty name, in the United States the name is typically associated with hookers and strippers. Names can be like words that way on that they apart have connotations. How else would she have known in her limited experience in the U.S. unless someone told her because otherwise it does sound like a pretty name. The same would go for any culture.

The perfect human being is uninteresting. -Joseph Campbell

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Well I agree mostly with your post. I don't see anything wrong with the names McKinley and Ledger, just because they're the new Jason and Sarah, nothing I would ever use. I actually stated I would not use any "J" or "S" names on my children because there were too many and I could just hear the teacher call out "Jason come here" and they'd all come running. However, Amzie? Yikes, I found that one to be pulled out of her ass just to be different. I too hope that is a nickname, Amzie sounds like a cutesy doll and I just can't see it doing her any justice past her cheerleading days. I thought she was saying "Amy" at first but that her speech impediment mixed with her deep southern accent made it sound like Amzie. It has to be a nickname...right?

My children don't have John or Joseph names but not obscure names either. All their middles names are the middle names of their Grandparents and/or Great Grandparents so they are family names and yes they are different but they're their middle names and they are dedications to their grandparents.

I'm not a fan of made up names. However, I thought a lot of the names of the kids, Amzie aside, were just southern names.

Joon: "you're out of your tree" Sam: "it's not my tree"

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I'm Southern, and I guess my post speaks for itself. My son does have a surname for his middle name, but it's a family name just as you said yours are. We also considered using a surname that is a family name for his given name that also sounds very much like a given name, as well, but went with an older, traditional given name.

The perfect human being is uninteresting. -Joseph Campbell

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Yes that's what we did. My husband at the last second before the twins were born said "I think we should use their middle names as their first" and I almost got up out of that labor bed and beat him! lol

I only had one name picked out for a boy and one for a girl, lo' and behold we found out we were having twin boys. It took me forever to find another boy's name I liked and it was during a movie we were watching and I liked it because the last name of the character was the same as my sister's married last name. I just wanted my boys to have their own identity and not give one of them my husband's name, which is very traditional, I was sort of relieved to find out I was having 2 boys so I didn't have to lol. Then I used the middle names and/or sir names of the grandparents for their middle names. My daughter's is completely different and her middle name is a man's name but it's a family sir name.

Joon: "you're out of your tree" Sam: "it's not my tree"

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My husband didn't care about using his name for our son, but an uncle offered to pay us to name him after my husand's grandfather he didn't really know at all. I hated the name so I put my foot down. He ended up with what I say is his own first name (still an old traditional name somewhat after a family friend), my maiden name as his middle name, and then my husband's last name, of course. As I pointed out he did have his family's surname so what more did they want?

Also, about your daughter's middle name, that's very common in the South. We tend to take our maiden names as our middle names when we marry, too, and are often still referred to by our maiden names by old friends. I read that and realized it was true. Maybe it's because we stay around and are known by our families. I don't know why. If we'd had a girl we were going to name her my mother-in-law's middle name (really because we just liked it) and as a middle name I chose my paternal grandmother's maiden name (follow that? Lol) because it would honor my great-grandmother, my grandmother, (despite marriage and a different surname) my father and myself. I was saving my paternal grandfather's surname for a boy, which is what we had. At the time we didn't know we would have only one child, too.

I forgot to add something else that's important in naming! Check for not only how trendy it is (I figured that was a given), but whether or not there is any negative associations with the name. You don't want to name your child unknowingly the same name as a mass murderer or even silly pop star and have people constantly commenting on that association. It's possible to have a prior or later generation (or at least decade) than yourself be entirely aware of a name you aren't. Also, if you are the monogramming type (And I noticed Ledger's mommy is. Maybe it's a Southern thing.) check for unfortunate letter combinations. Probably the least of the concerns, but I thought I'd add it along with the others.

And if Penn State has taught us anything of late, you might not want to name your child after anyone still living if the name is very specific. You never know what hero might turn out to be a monster and your kid is stuck with that name.

You know, I don't think my message has come across to some as intended. Ultimately, my point is to let your child be their own person. Yes, we identify by families, but after that maybe naming your little bundle of joy Coltrane isn't the best idea. Coltrane is already gone. Name him his own name and then share with him your love of music and let him decide what he likes. It just seems so many parents are naming their children what they themselves want them to be or wish they'd been or missed out on themselves. Don't burden your children with your own dreams. They are their own selves and will quickly show you so.



The perfect human being is uninteresting. -Joseph Campbell

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If I have kids I like these names

Boys
Bowen Alexander
Samuel Thomas

Girls
Annabelle Leigh
Lila

Love Is The Movement!Wake up! You're Alive! We're on YOUR Side!
http://www.twloha.com

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Ledger: Is this supposed to be in honour of Heath Ledger? Is this possibly a surname? Otherwise, why would you name your child after a book in which you keep financial records?


LOL seriously. They could have named him Heath if that was the case.

Snakes. Why'd it have to be snakes?

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Ok, but for what or whom is Ledger named? I'd love for them to do an episode on how they named their children. (And this mom is one I like.) Can you hear his friends on the playground yelling for him to catch the ball? "Catch it, Ledger!" Sorry, it just sounds like part of a financial transaction to me. They only other thing I could think of was Heath Ledger. Is there something else?

The perfect human being is uninteresting. -Joseph Campbell

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Amzie was Emily's grandfathers name. She is from my home town. It's a family name which was a sweet gesture.

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Great grandfather*

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Well, there's the answer. It's unfortunate that her family name sounds so much like Amy because it does sound like a nickname used as a given name. I intended to use my maiden name as my (a) son's given name, but married a man with a surname that made it "impossible." I could have done if, but my son would have endured endless teasing because the names together evoke something rather funny I'd rather not reveal. It's not vulgar, but I had the sense not to do it. Instead, it's his little-used middle name, and when you say his full name the "funny" item isn't thought of at all. (Girls are more likely to share middle names anyway.) Also, it was the shortened version, which we intended to use as a nickname that was the problem, and saying his full name doesn't do that. People called my grandfather that nickname from his surname so it was to honor him, and my entire paternal side of my family, including myself, as he has my husband's surname as his own. But, I settled for it as a middle name. It was the only boys name I'd ever said I wanted, yet I didn't use it.

Speaking of, Kanye and Kim (I don't even follow them and know who that means) named their child North West. That's the kind of name I'm talking about and a good example of what happened to me, although they did it on purpose. My situation would be as if I'd intended to name my son North (maiden name North; just an example) and then of all people I end up marrying a man with the last name West. I'd never name a son North West. Yes, I think that sounds ridiculously stupid. As I communicated with someone by PM, if you're thinking anything like, "Wouldn't it be funny/cool to name our child ________?" then it isn't.

I also wanted to add that in re-reading my previous posts that I see how tone really doesn't come across. They do sound harsher than they are meant to be. They were meant a little more humorously than they sound, albeit still about a serious issue.

Also, for anyone who named their child Coltrane, which I like, both the man and his music and the name, it was just an example. I don't even think it's odd to name a child Coltrane. I was simply illustrating the point that our children really are their own people. I might like Coltrane, but my son might like punk rock. There is more to what I'm saying that just about the name itself. It's about how we put so much of our own hopes and dreams and burdens on our children even from the moment they're born. The name can say so much that way.

The perfect human being is uninteresting. -Joseph Campbell

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It's the south. There's people running around with the name Honey Boo Boo, Pumpkin, and Bubba just to name a few.

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Amzy was her grandfathers name. At least she likes to honor her elders.
Pretty cool I think.
As for the other names what is wrong with them. Sound fine to me.

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I read Amzie was Emily's grandfather's name so in all fairness she didn't just pull it out of thin air. my grandfather is my hero, so I dont care what anyone thinks if I name my child after him

I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
and would suffice.

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