Did I Screw Up When I Named My Son?
July 28, 2009 by Jennifer Walker-Journey
Filed under Parenting
I’m guilty as the next person of scouring the bookshelves for a clever name for my child. My husband’s only request is that the name not be made up, which meant I had to find proof that someone of some worth had been named Piper (voted down because my husband had a stuffed rabbit named Piper) and Baylor (voted down again because Rick said we had no ties to the school). We did agree on an old-school name for our son, Truman. And as you’d probably expect, both friends and family winced when we announced the name we intended to give our son.
I never let those comments sway me. But I will admit that I squinted my eyes when I read the the Top 10 “bad boy”names, according to Shippensburg University professor David Kalist. Published recently in Social Science Quarterly, Kalist suggests giving newborn males oddball, girly or strange first names may set them up for a future as a criminal.
Truman’s name was not on the list. The top 10, in alphabetical order, are Alec, Ernest, Garland, Ivan, Kareem, Luke, Malcolm, Preston, Tyrell and Walter. The list is based on 15,000 names given to baby boys between 1987 and 1991. Researchers discovered that unpopular names are not necessarily the reason why a child may grow up to live a life a crime, however odd names “increase the tendency toward juvenile delinquency.”
The top 10 list raised some interest on TODAY, with Erin Burnett theorizing “Basically, if you’re teased mercilessly your entire childhood for your name, you become an angry, bitter person, and you lash out in a way that could be negative.”
Good god …will my son ever forgive us?
Photo, JWJourney
Well, my son’s name is Cedar, and we further complicated the issue by not being able to agree on a last name. I wanted mine, his dad wanted his, so we gave him his own name – Cedar Blue. I think it depends on a lot of things if that study rings true. NO ONE turns bad based on their name alone. Plus, Cedar goes to an alternative (unschooling / free) school where odd names rule (piper, zen, oceananna, sky, Z, etc,) and common names are the odd ones out. So no one ever says a word to him. The major complaints we’ve had were from my son’s dads side of the family (very traditional, lame, snotty folks) they hated that we gave him a different last name and don’t love his first name. We ignore them. Cedar seems cool with his name too – the only issue I think he ever runs into is people think he’s saying “Peter” not “Cedar”.
Cedar Blue rocks. I fully expect to see him doing something famous one day – like playing in some really funky band. Maybe Truman will write about him for Rolling Stone one day.
Your alternative school names remind me (in an opposite way, sort of) of when my friend’s son played basketball against a home school team. The parents were yelling, “Go Neimiah!” “Nothing but net, Ezekiel!”
I would guess as long as you don’t give him a nickname like “Knuckles,” “Trigger Truman,” or “Truman the Bull” it’ll work out fine.
(I can go on with the nicknames if you’d like…)