Tuesday, November 01, 2011

what’s in a name

photo found on big first name site

Now that I switched (converted?) my blogger moniker to my G+ moniker you may have noticed my first name is Bill. 

From William you can get Bill or Liam. Now my parents were not Irish so the Liam thing never happened but today it probably would be a “cooler” name. 

A name’s impact is so subjective. A cooler name for who? The parents or the kid attached to the name? Obviously the baby doesn’t comprehend the difference in names for at least a few years.

One of my January posts this year suggested business names. Business naming offers more variety than naming your children. (my favorite suggestion from that post - Don’t Look Now Insurance ) 

Just last week, I posted about a tattooed (inked?) Barbie doll. Mrs. 4444 browsed by and thanked me for not mentioning her in the post since she has apparently been called Barbie and doesn’t like it at all. (hmm, pointing this out may have blown the thank-you she gave me??) 

I can relate. Ever since about 10 or so, I wanted the “Billy” to stop. No need for the ‘y’ but I did notice my brother and two sisters had a ‘y’ permanently attached to their names. 

Growing up I remember the dire prediction that computers will take away our names and just give us a number. One of childhood heroes had a number assigned to him - 007. What different image we would all have if he had been called Jimmy Bond. 

Mrs. 4444 wanted to use her number on G+ but Google had issues with it. I think they have now opened up to number monikers. 

One last point - is it me or do new parents get too wrapped up about naming their children today? Sure you should discuss it and think about it but you don’t need to agonize over it. Well this guy’s parent were just being cruel in naming this kid. 

19 comments:

Rebecca said...

I think parents want to name their kids something trendy, but trends are only around for a few years.......Parenting a kid is usually more long term than that.

frau said...

My name is so boring....I wanted to name my daughter Easton our last name is West she doesn't think it would have been funny. I am Irish and like many Irish names she also does not like the Irish names I picked. My hubby picked her name and it fits! I always wondered how the name Richard nickname is Dick? Just saying! 

lisleman said...

Yes you make a good point the naming part is not anywhere near the most important part of parenting.  thanks

Kristina P. said...

I refuse to join the Google+ bandwagon.

lisleman said...

Well East and West for names would be a problem I think.  My point is how can a name be boring or exciting?  It's only a name.  A character's name in movie, book or TV show might make you think of excitement or adventure when you hear the name but it really relates to that character and the next generation probably will not be aware of the connection.  I like the name Charlie but so far no grandkids named Charlie so I guess it doesn't have the same weigh with others.
thanks for sharing

lisleman said...

that's OK - I'm not joining twitter  and I would rather go to McDonalds than Wendy's and drink Pepsi vs. Coke.
thanks

Secret Agent Woman said...

I'm a fan of nice, plain names.  Spelled traditionally.  And for men, especially, I don't much care for names that end with a "y."  Too kid-like.  But ultimately, I think the main thing is not to give kids ridiculous names.

TechnoBabe said...

My brother was Billy when we were young, but as soon as he started growing a couple facial hairs he wanted everyone to call him Bill.

"Jimmy. Jimmy Bond" just does not have the same ring. My husband grew up Jim and/or Jimmy but I am happy he switched to James before I met him. 

Bearmancartoons said...

I still call my friend Ricky even though he has long outgrown it.  I never knew that Liam was also short for William.  Duh it makes sense.

oceangirl said...

I still can't imagine Tom Cruise's wife calls him Tom.  He is Tom Cruise, not Tom.

Hehe Jimmy Bond.  I'm glad I'm done with naming your child business.  Well, at least I believe its over.

lisleman said...

As Jimmy Bond would say, never say never.
thanks

lisleman said...

Glad to teach you something here.  I didn't know until I went to Ireland once.

lisleman said...

Do you and James play spy games?
thanks

lisleman said...

Ridiculous - a matter of opinion I think, but there are certainly some that are commonly considered ridiculous.  Will I Am is very clever.  thanks

Jene said...

I feel like I'm more qualified than most to speak on the topic of unique names :)

I hated my name growing up because I could never get a personalized license plate for my bike. No one ever pronounced it right, let alone spelled it right. Now that I'm older, I do appreciate it a little bit more, because there's a good story behind it. I think that's completely different from randomly throwing extra letters in there or changing them around, though!

And yes, I agree that a name is just a name, but have you read Freakonomics? That author would beg to differ!

lisleman said...

I have heard about that book (s?) but have not read it.  If your spelling is Jene then that does not  seem that odd to me.  One option for a name problem is nicknames.  I knew a guy in the Air Force that went by JR and I don't know what his given name was.
thanks  - oh good to hear you got over it.  

Jene said...

Hmm, this might actually prove my point -  have I ever mentioned how to pronounce my name? And, if you didn't know how, what would you think seeing "Jene?"

lisleman said...

I never thought about that.  French type of pronunciation?  I just figured it was pronounced the same as the type of pants I typically wear.  So I dream of Jeanie didn't fit you either?

Jene said...

When my parents named me, they didn't forsee the internet revolution. I have an accent aigu (French) over the second e, so the pronunciation is like Renee but with a J. I don't have the patience to type out a sting of html every time I post on a message board!

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