What's In A Name?
The Pope is asking parents to consider more deeply the naming of their children.
Theologian Gianni Gennari told an Italian newspaper: ‘By insisting on Christian names the Pope is not violating the rights of parents but simply asking for seriousness when it comes to baptism.’
As I read the article, I learned something I did not know:
Denmark, Spain, Germany, Portugal and Argentina are among those countries which publish lists of acceptable names from which parents must choose.
Those banned in Portugal include Lolita, Maradona and Mona Lisa.
The names in my family are entirely linked to ancestors. I am named for my great-grandmother, while my brothers are named after their paternal grandfather and maternal grandfather. My own children are named after either an ancestor or a saint who had particular significance to the unborn child. I know many of my friends think this is a boring approach to naming.
What is the origin of your name? How did you go about naming your own children? I can guarantee no parent ever regrets a child's name choice after the fact. The "thinking of a name" process is usually a fun part of pregnancy and it's then that one associates names with kinds of people or personalities. But after the child is born, the name is the child and the child is the name. At least, this is my experience. Yours?
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Jul '10
Re: What's In A Name?
I thought this interesting, maybe You too.
May '10
Re: What's In A Name?
I was named after the brother of Moses. I'm one of five, and all of us were given Biblical first names (in one language or another). My parents hung the translations of our names on a wall. My middle name is out of respect for my grandpa.
As far as I know, my nephews were named more for the origin of the names and how they sounded than for meaning, though the parents stayed away from names shared by people they didn't respect. I have no idea how my ancestors got their names, aside from the Biblical names.
Poor people seem more likely to invent names. I don't have a problem with it, but I would hope parents would go about naming a child differently than naming a pet.
Sep '10
Re: What's In A Name?
My parents chose everyday common, but not overused, names, or so they thought. The one exception was my sister. At the time (1953), they thought "Lisa" to be unique! Some of the names they chose came from the family tree, grandfathers and great-grandfathers. One brother was named after Stan Musial, the great St. Louis Cardinal baseball player of the '40s and '50s. Stan the Man!
Nov '10
Re: What's In A Name?
I want to see these lists of forbidden names.
As for my own naming, I'm not sure. I know the origin of the name (it's a very popular name from the Old Testament, at least in English-speaking lands), but I'm hazy on why exactly I am named that (my middle name comes from my dad, who has the same middle name, which is also a very popular Old Testament name, this time in many languages). I do pretty much know why all my five younger siblings are named the way they are - it comes up often enough because they are for the most part somewhat unique in America, if only in spelling (not the Kaylee-Kalie-Kayley sort, but using-other-language-form way).
Re: What's In A Name?
Ah, Jimmy that's brilliant! I wish I'd seen that to tie it into the original post. Anyway, here are some key lines from your suggested link, a Sowell gem:
Edited on Jan 11, 2011 at 1:31pmRe: What's In A Name?
TheRoyalFamily: I want to see these lists of forbidden names.
I do pretty much know why all my five younger siblings are named the way they are - it comes up often enough because they are for the most part somewhat unique in America, if only in spelling (not the Kaylee-Kalie-Kayley sort, but using-other-language-form way). · Jan 11 at 1:26pm
I'd love to see more of the lists, too!
I'm intrigued by your description of your siblings' names. I guess you don't want to "out" yourself by sharing? I understand. Just curious.
Dec '10
Re: What's In A Name?
Ronald Wilson Moeller shall be his (my first born son's) name.
Dec '10
Re: What's In A Name?
I was told that my Dad got to name the first three and did it in a way that allowed him to holler through their names, in progression, until he got to the right one; each next child was given a name that began with the last letter from the previous. I came along a few years later (that's the next youngest, looming over my avatar) and would have been given a name that began with an M, to keep the tradition going. My Mom put her foot down and broke the rule, so Dad always hollered through the first three names, paused, then got to the one he was really mad at, at the moment, with the pause adding emphasis.
When I started college, I was given a good dictionary and found it had a section for the etymology of names. I found out that my name, first middle and last, translated to "He who carries the burden of Christ, King, Son of God". Heavy! I don't believe my parents had any idea what they had saddled me with, but I try to stay in shape for all that carrying.
Re: What's In A Name?
My grandmother grew up on a farm in Kirksville Missouri. Her parents' best friends, also farmers, were a couple named Joe and Lyda. So Grandma became Jolyda Treasure (surname), or Jo for short. My cousin has the same first name but goes by "Jody."
Edited on Jan 11, 2011 at 1:57pmJul '10
Re: What's In A Name?
In the part of Mississippi where my dad grew up, nobody was called by his given name, so in spite of the fact that his name was John, everyone called him “Pete”. He fathered two sons, John and Peter, and both of them are named after him.
Even weirder, he grew up as “John (or Jack) Chriss”, and it wasn’t until he was drafted during World War II and asked to provide a birth certificate that he discovered his real name was “John Christofferson”. His mother could never explain why she shortened the family name on his brothers’ birth certificates (one older, one younger; she also went by “Chriss”) but wrote the full name on my dad’s.
Aug '10
Re: What's In A Name?
The Harvard sociologist Stanley Lieberson has done some fascinating work on names, most notably the book A Matter of Taste, but also several articles on, for instance, names and gender boundaries (mostly masculine names becoming feminized over time) and black names (which are less likely than white names to be drawn from the canon but still follow systematic rules). Fryer and Levitt also did a really interesting study of black names. Another interesting names finding is from Berger and LeMens, who found that there tends to be a backlash against faddish names.
To be really blunt about the gist of all this research, names turn over pretty rapidly in general, but especially unusual names tend to be markers of lower class origins.
(ps, a lot of the Sowell op-ed seems to be relating findings from the Lieberson book, so if you like the op-ed you'd like the book too).
Edited on Jan 11, 2011 at 2:03pmRe: What's In A Name?
There's no story to my name -- my parents just liked it. But I love some of the names in my mom's family. She has a brother named Victor Hugo, a brother named Israel, and a sister named Nadia, after the Romanian gymnast. (The other six siblings have relatively normal names: Fernandina, Hortensia, Nohemi, Alma, Jose, and Jesus).
May '10
Re: What's In A Name?
Our daughter was born during the '95 World Series and we named her for the lefthanded-hitting third baseman on that Indians team (starts with T, ends with E, currently with Twins). We thought, and still think, it's a sweet name--which is the main reason we did it. Ironically, we ditched our TV when the kids were very young, so they're now almost completely ignorant about the Cleveland sports scene (and happier for it, I suppose).
And Reusser means "one who lives by the Reuss River (Switzerland)," which is pretty cool.
Dec '10
Re: What's In A Name?
You really have a girl named Thome? Wow, very cool. I met him once at a Starbucks here in Chicago when he was on the Sox. Nice guy.
Jun '10
Re: What's In A Name?
It stems from the same Catholic principle that disallows abortion. You, from conception, don't belong to your parents. You belong to God. Your parents won't always be there to claim you, love you, and protect you, but God will.
Edited on Jan 11, 2011 at 2:41pmOct '10
Re: What's In A Name?
My parents had been in the process of applying for residency in the U.S. and received the good news that they were approved around the time of my birth. They thought that my birth brought this blessing to them and so I was named "blessing."
May '10
Re: What's In A Name?
Strange how no one is called Balaam, Judas, Herod orJezebel. Well I guess the reasons are self-evident.
I always liked the name Hans Henrik Ágost Gábor Tasso Freiherr Thyssen-Bornemisza de Kászon et Impérfalva, but alas it was already taken.
Re: What's In A Name?
Wow, I'm loving these! Who knew Ricochet member names had such rich backstories?
Nov '10
Re: What's In A Name?
The traditions of our Southern ancestral roots preclude the use of "new" names within my family circle. I was named for two great-grandmothers, one grandmother and one aunt. I have always appreciated having this special genealogical bond with women I both loved and admired.
Edited on Jan 11, 2011 at 3:46pmMay '10
Re: What's In A Name?
I'm named after my grandfathers: a musician/lawman/factory manager in Indiana and a shipyard carpenter in Norway. (Point of family pride: Indiana once tried, and failed, to teach Hoagy Carmichael to read music.) My last name is an utterly common surname handed down from Welsh ancestors.