I'm adding something to my Darcy List: silly baby names. Now, I realize that this might be something of a touchy subject. Let me assure you, I'm not talking about your baby's name. No no. Your baby's name is perfectly fine. It's all those other people who give weird baby names that I'm talking about. Anyway, now that we've got that cleared up...
I'm not a fan of the creative baby naming fad that seems to be so popular nowadays. Somehow I just can't bring myself to saddle a kid with a slap bracelet of a name. I could rant more, but this article does it better than I could, so I'll defer to it. I had planned on showing you some hard data about the rise of "creative" names, but I got lazy. You can go here and find all the data you want. It's actually a pretty fun tool to play with. Here's a small example though. I've always felt that us Mormons are especially susceptible to this phenomenon (c'mon, we've all met a Verl or a LaDean), so I'm going to hit you with some of the Utah 2007 highlights:
Boys:
- #7 Mason. Sorry, that's a surname.
- #28 Jaxon. x ≠ ck.
- #46 Jayden. Only if you're a girl.
- #51 Braxton. Another surname.
- #64 Gage. Sounds like rail thickness, but it's another doggone surname. Ugh.
- #74 Ryker. Was he born with a manly beard?
- #77 Boston. Lovely city, horrible name.
- #90 Bridger. Stop with the surnames!
- #7 Brooklyn. Lovely borough, horrible name.
- #10 Madison. Lovely street... yeah, you got the pattern.
- #68 Aspen. Let's just chock that one up to bad memories.
- #69 Makayla. Nope.
- #70 Rylee. Nope.
- #81. Brinley. Nope.
- #85 Brynlee. Ditto.
Boys:
- Jack
- Matthew
- James
- Katharine (Kate)
- Margaret (Maggie)
- Caroline
9 comments:
Dude, I got nothing snooty to say to you, because I agree 100% with the names you like and dislike.
Let's not forget names that are asexual. Like "Taylor" or "Lauren" (actually I think "Lauren" is a girl name, but I've known one or two boys with that name, and it became asexual as soon as I met them).
That's also another problem with a lot of those names you listed. They could belong to either gender. On the first day of school, when my kid's teacher is reading off the roll, he/she's going to know the gender of my child just by looking at the name!
Oh, and I knew a little boy named "Star" on my mission. That kid is going to get a pounding in high school.
Oh Dave, just because your name is so common. I'm married to a Lish, okay? LISH! But, it has meaning. It's a nickname (real name is Paul), but he was named after his grandpa (the Lish part, not the Paul part, although that one rings true as well). So, if this isn't confusing enough already, I'm totally naming my kids cool names. But they'll all have meaning, not something necessarily made up.
Example: Brooklyn (yes, this was on your 'ew' list) will be named after Brooke Wilberger. I also liked the name Braxon, but I have no way to justify that one. And Taylor for another girl after Lish's best friend/who he calls his brother.
Anyway, I'm all about the fad. I totally follow the crowd. I don't want my kids to have my great great great grandpa Hilbert's name, especially since I don't have a great great great grandpa Hildbert.
Oh Whit, I can't bring myself to argue with you, so I'll offer some justifications on your part. Naming a kid after someone is always acceptable. And of course, you've got carte blance to name anyone after Brooke. And no one should be named after great great great grandpa Hildbert.
Braxon, however, is still unacceptable. ;)
Another novel idea would be to name the child who's being named after Brooke (wait for it... wait for it...): Brooke! Traditionally, the child who is named after someone receives the name of the person after whom he or she is being named.
Sarcasm aside, David is right. David wins at the internet.
I grew up with a Ryker. He had a twin brother named Roark. Awesome huh?
And my only (sorta) disagreement with your list is Jayden. I don't think it's ever acceptable. Or any name ending in "yden" for that matter, for either gender.
On a related note, giving your child a name that when combined with your last could stand on it's own as an object or a location is a huge no-no. When I worked at the registrars office at the U I stumbled across such gems as Golden Barratt and Holly Wood, among others.
Loved this post.
I can say this (with love) because I live there... Brooklyn smells like dog pee and is the location of the majority of NYC's murders. Don't name your child after a New York City bourough, even my favorite one.
Since getting married I have had about 1,000,000x more discussions about baby naming than before marriage. My favorite names are Orme (girl), Dugus, Wooster, and Buhl for boys. I guess that falls under the slap bracelet naming technique.
On the other hand, Margarat is one of our possible real choices...so good job.
I dare you to go with Dugus. C'mon. Do it.
Your posts crack me up! By the way...we just named our little boy Matthew. I'm glad you approve!
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