What’s in a Name?
Have you ever heard a name and thought to yourself – “what was that mother thinking?”
When I was pregnant with my twins, I spent a great deal of time thinking about names. Growing up with the name “Gayla” was not easy and I didn’t want my kids growing up with teasing and ridicule that I’d undergone.
I look at some of the mega stars and what they are naming their children and have to wonder if the fame of their parents will be enough to keep the teasing at bay – well, will it?
How much thought did you put into naming your child? If you had a friend or a relative naming their child something terrible, would you tell them?
We put a great deal of thought into naming our children (three girls and a boy). Our boy’s name was chosen in December 1986 – when we were dating. He was born in February 2008 – 21 years later!
If I had a friend choosing a name I thought was horrid, I wouldn’t tell them — no. It’s their baby and so it’s theirs to name. My mom jumped all over me for the middle name we chose for one of my daughters (Jane). She howled, “Jane?! As in TARZAN AND JANE? Ugh!” I looked at her and said, “No, Jane – as in God is gracious. The feminine form of the Hebrew name John. If you don’t like it, have another baby or buy another dog, but this is MY baby and I’ve waited almost 10 years to name her.” So, no – I wouldn’t breathe a word to someone about the name they’ve chosen for their child, no matter how horrid I might think it is.
We thought long and hard about our 2 girls’ names.
We came up with a boys name quite easily-Tyler James Robert…but alas we have 2 girls. Their names are a little bit different but now crazy…Traci Lin & Trina Liane. So they do have to spell out their names often but they are names that are not hard to live with or be ashamed of at all. I know, I know…same initials. Obvi, we didn’t think long and hard enough!
There is no good way to say “The name you chose sucks” to a pregnant lady.
We put a lot of thought into our boys’ names, choosing names that were ‘real’ names but not too common, incorporating family names and names reflecting their birth family’s heritage in their middle names. My husband’s nieces have names that I would not have chosen, and initially did not like, but they have grown on me. As long as a name is not offensive, you just gotta live with it.