Celebrities are notorious for choosing unique names for their children…Pilot Inspektor, Audio Science, and Moxie Crimefighter all make little Apple look mainstream. (the name has actually started to grow on me of late. i swear)
Nowadays, it’s not just the celebs who try to come up with the most unusual and unique names for their children. (remember the Seinfeld episode with the name ‘Seven’…everything comes back to a Seinfeld episode. everything) While there are plenty of Emilys and Jacobs in the world, there are now Timberlands and Venturas and Vanitys and Uniquas (seriously) and even Morpheuses popping up all over the place.
One New Zealand family seems to have one-upped just about everyone. They wanted to name their child, ‘4real’ (for real, people, for real). yes, Pat and Sheena Wheaton wanted his name to start with a number. At their ultrasound, they were blown away by the reality that they were actually having a child. The New Zealand authorities were slightly less blown away and have blocked the couple’s choice of name, saying that names that begin with numbers are not allowed.
what do you think about this?
what, in general, do you think about parents choosing over-the-top names for their children? Are there parents out there who are just lacking a little common sense? Is poor little Frodo going to be so tortured that he will have to get his name legally changed and spend a fortune in therapy? or are these unique names or the names that pay homage a welcome change to the same old, same old?
and how do you feel about authorities putting restritions on what you can and can’t name your offspring? and who gets to make that decision? Whose job is it to judge if a name that starts with 4 is not okay, but yet a name like Audio Science is a-okay?
names are such a personal choice to make.and our children do have to live with them.lets use Apple for example.while apple may be a fruit in english in hungarian apple is Alma and Alma is of course soul in spanish etc.so while it may seem strange to some it means something entirly different in other languages…just for the record my oldest and youngest have fairly common names but my middle 2 have very unique names and my eldest daughter is always the only child in her class with her name,and is going into grade 9 this year.as for numbers where will people stop and draw a line at unique and just plain weird?
Names are tough for me. I really hated my name growing up. Try saying “Laural” out loud. Not so pretty. It was always spelled “Laurel” (and still is by colleagues … why???). Really I hated it. I wanted to go by Laura, but every time I tried people would say “but your name is so pretty!” NO IT’S NOT!
And, my sister had the name Rebecca and called herself Becky. So unfair since her name was easily spellable and nicknamable.
Have you ever seen hairclips, stickers, or pencils with the name LAURAL??? If you do – please – buy them and I will reimburse you!
When I was pregnant I adamently knew that no matter whether I was having a boy or a girl I would name him or her something common and nicknameable.
Hence Matthew.
But, my husband, Michael, wanted something unusual. So for a middle name Thorin. I actually love that name, but did not want my child to go through life being asked “how do you say that? how do you spell that?”
Apparently this is quite an issue for me!!!!
I know someone whose brother actually changed his name from the ordinary to the unusual. He went from matt to hexar. I don’t get it, but it makes him happy, so i guess it’s all good. and he’s way too old to be tortured on the playground for his name, so I guess he’s got that going for him.
I think we will be sticking to more traditional names when we have kids — traditional names with traditional spellings. Nothing wrong with a classic!
Everyone always spells my name wrong, so I always say there’s a silent 2 at the beginning…. hee… I’m a total weirdo. But, everyone know that. I think people should be able to name their kid as they like. But, with that freedom/power COMES RESPONSIBILITY (as they say in Spiderman). The kid has to live with the name! That’s all. Pilot Inspektor is HILARIOUS! (in a bad way)
I named my son an old name that I haven’t heard for years (Emmett); but now it is becoming used (not popular yet) and I am not sure how I feel about that. I picked something uncommon because as a Danita I liked having a different name growing up.
I think you should be able to name your kid what you want, within reason. Go ahead and name him 4real, bit spell it fourreal.
And I kinda like Audio Science, Pilot Inspektor and Moxie Crimefighter (I love Moxie it is cute). They grew on me after a while.
Hmmmm…I’m one of the zillion Jennifers and have loved every confusing, crowded moment of it! I am part of a club. A symbol of a generation (or jeneration!). I think being unique is up to the individual and has nothing to do with the “label”. Many Jennifers are forgettable, many are not. Nothing to do with the name.
I knew many kids growing up who would have loved to change their names…some wanted something more unique, some something more common. That is why I totally support Anne’s philosophy, name them something that will fit under any circumstance and let THEM decide who they are.
Anne, I luved your comment! I think it’s adorable that you thought of different nicknames to ensure your child would have one that would sound right, no matter what she/he chose to do in life. To me, you epitomize what being a great mom is – supporting and helping your child be whoever they want to be!! Your son is very lucky to have you 🙂
I don’t mind different names, as long as they still sound like names. Apple, for example, does not sound like a name to me, nor does Pikabo (as in the skier Picabo “peek-a-boo” Street). My daughter has a Charisma in her class… at first it seemed odd, but now, not so much, because it at least looks and sounds like a name.
As for the authorities putting restrictions on your naming choices, I don’t think it’s unreasonable to expect names to contain only letters, for the public record. If the parents still want to call the kid 4real, but the birth certificate says Real Smith, who cares? It’s not much different than a kid whose name is Robert Jacob going by R.J., Robbie, Jake or Bobby.
My name is odd- it’s real, Tamsen is my real name. I have never met another person named Tamsen, although I’ve done internet searches and seen a few other women named it, people mention all the time that it is “different” “unusual” “unique”, that they’ve never met a Tamsen before, and how did I get that name?
The story being a romance novel series (very obscure series by the way, I challenge you to find all of them… I do however have all of them in my posession) with three heroines – Tamsen, Arabella, Emmeline. I tell people it could always be worse. My mom was young and loved the name, and here I am.
I never hated my name, I do hate getting the repetitive “where’d that name come from” question, sometimes I lie and say it’s a family name if I don’t feel like going into the whole shebang about it, but sometimes it’s a good ice breaker.
I actually love my name – I’m not one of a thousand Jennifers, Abbys, etc. It’s nice.
I plan on naming my children names that are not extremely unusual, but not garden variety. I would never use a number… or pick Pilot Inspecktor. I don’t know who’s job it is to regulate names. I don’t think Numbers should be a part of names though, I really don’t. In lots of programs it is impossible to type anything than characters of letters in the field provided, and this will make it difficult on the child “No, it’s not F-O-U-R, just the NUMBER 4.” I mean, what’s next? “*@#!!! Smith”? No numbers, no symbols. Names with letters are just fine. I once worked in a dental office where FOR REAL (lol) a client, a young girl, was named Crystal Meth. No joke. I wish there was a way to regulate children’s names… but there is none without taking away freedoms… just let’s draw a line between letters and numbers/symbols, PLEASE.
I hate to pull a ‘Simpsons-did-it’ on our buddy Jerry Seinfled. But for the record – Married with Children (‘Magnificent Seven’, September 1992) had a child named 7 (we named him 7 because we have 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 7 kids.) long before Seinfeld (‘The Seven’, Feb 1996).
When choosig my baby’s name I looked for something I thought would fit any situation.
For a girl I choose Eleanore Anne
I thought if she became a supreme court justice that name would work.
It also worked for more casual circumstances:
Ellie is great for a teacher.
Ella works for a writer.
Nora might be a paper mache sculptor.
I ended up having a son, who’s name I will not divulge here…but he’ll be all set if he decideds to become a diplomat, or a lumberjack!
Names are important and your child has to live with them for quite a while. I say avoid the weird stuff like “Moon Unit” or “Dweezal” and go with something solid and flexible.
I never did have a daughter…so I named my dog Ellie.