A Boy Named Friday

[machinest]

I have two step brothers with weird names one from Aztec mythology and one from Tolkien, however both of them were given perfectly reasonable middle names as an alternative if they so chose.

[Seshat]

A piece of advice I once heard for naming a child: imagine the name with '(Name), President of the United States' or 'Dean (Name) of Yale University' or something prestigious like that.

If the name sounds right with those titles, and equally right with - say - '(Name) who works at the local shelter' or '(Name) who manages the coffee shop', then you've got a good one.

If it only sounds right as '(Name) the gang member' or '(Name) the junkie', you definitely don't want to give it to your child. If it only sounds right as the ultra-high-status stuff, it's too pretentious.

If it fits for any social standing, it's a good name.

[MystyGlyttyr]

I always heard about the backdoor test. Go to the backdoor and yell the name at the top of your lungs about a dozen times (or up the stairs, whichever). That's the way you'll hear it for the next 16 years. If you still like it after that, use it.

[Lace Neil Singer]

My name is pretty unusual for this day and age cuz it's oldfashioned. I was the only girl with that name at my school, cept for one other who spelled it differently. Now tho, I like it and also there are at least two others at my workplace with the same name. XD

On the subject of embarrassing names, there was a girl at my school who had a brother named Richard Head. You know Dick is short for Richard, right? O_o

[Ree]

My daughter has a friend named "Candida"

They call her "Candy" and I always thought it was "Candice".

One day, I saw "Candida" written on her books, and thought someone had been teasing her, or they gave her that as a nickname. (For those who don't know, candida is a genus of yeast that causes yeast infections.)

I guess her clueless Mom just liked that name.

Someone should have smacked her up the head.

My daughter wanted to spell her baby's name just a little differently than the traditional spelling.

It's a beautiful old-fashioned name. I told her, "Spell it the way it's always been spelled, or she will spend the rest of her life correcting people and every time she has to sign a legal document, she will get a hassle over the spelling and have to get them to correct it."

[AFPheonix]

I had a kid in yesterday that I feel terrible for, since apparently his mom is a nerd.
She'd named him Anakin.
Seriously.
I like Star Wars as much as the next person, I still post on a SW board, although attendance there has dropped off and we don't really talk SW a ton anymore, but still....

[Lace Neil Singer]

Just thought I'd throw this in:

http://www.snopes.com/racial/language/names.asp

Very interesting; especially the bit at the end that lists real life occurances of stupid parents calling their kids things.

[IDrinkaRum]

Ree's post about Candida and its meaning reminded me of a joke. Can't remember the exact wording, but the mother had named her kid Ampersand (which is the and symbol: &). The punch line was: "I just wish I knew what it meant."

I know Ree's post was serious, but it just reminded me that people need to research names (and their meanings) before saddling their kids with the name.

As for the yelling of a name out the back door or up the stairs? I read that routine in "Fatherhood" by Bill Cosby. He's a funny man.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Someone else; this poor kid who was the brother of a girl I went to school with was called Wayne Kerr. He has since changed his name.

[Seshat]

I knew a Wayne with a similar surname. It's too awful that there's at least two of them!

[Lace Neil Singer]

XD One would be bad enough. O_o

[AFPheonix]

Haven't had a Wayne Kerr, but there is a family of Wanks who come to our store....

Had to explain to my boss what that word meant.

[daleduke17]

Someone else; this poor kid who was the brother of a girl I went to school with was called Wayne Kerr. He has since changed his name.

What about the NASCAR driver who has since retired? Dick Trickle.

Sadly I used to work with a guy who had the same last name with the first name of "Richard". He went be "Rick". :-p

[IDrinkaRum]

That reminds me of a guy an ex-bf of mine knew in college. The guy's last name was "Head". He always told everyone who would listen that if he had a son, he'd give the kid the first name of Richard and nickname him "Dick". Nice, huh?

[Lace Neil Singer]

I actually once knew a girl in my art class who had a brother named Richard Head. O.o Not to mention the girl in my science class called Emma Thompson... not rude, but there was an actress called that.