Shaking my head increasingly at some of the names appearing on nameberry, I wonder how many folks are doing these two reality checks with each name they are thinking of giving another human being:
Would you be happy if your parents had given you this name?
(Volunteers necessary) Ask tons of kids and teens how they would like to be named the name in question.
I run a number of nameberry likes past my high school students and the looks of horror and the roars of laughter at some of them might be good information for a future parent to have!
Most Berries take considerable time and make a final decision after much reflection regarding their baby’s names. I think as a group, we’re more aware of pitfalls of naming a child compared to the general population just because we love names and do so much research. I’m quite confident in my ability to name a human being because I’ve been studying names for thirty years. Hopefully, with age comes wisdom. Therefore, I would really only ask the first question on your post: would I want the name for myself? I’m not really too enamoured about asking the opinion of high schoolers. First, any child born now will not be in the same age group as these teenagers and (2) many of these same high schoolers would probably think [name_u]Jayden[/name_u] and [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] would be unique and cool names to have.
I agree with mischa, and would only add that there are tons of different persons (thous teenagers) and if some teenagers don’t like names you ask them or laugh, doesn’t mean child’s future friends will laugh.
[name_f]My[/name_f] kids don’t get why parents would name their daughters [name_m]Charles[/name_m] or [name_u]Michael[/name_u] or [name_u]Stanley[/name_u].
Or names like [name_m]Noble[/name_m], [name_u]Truth[/name_u], etc.
I think the average nameberry takes great pains to choose a wonderful name for her child and is more well-informed on the subject than most people.
That being said, there are certainly a lot of names appearing that are, in my view, terrible.
Of course, if a name pops up on the ticker tape and it is appalling, I will usually click it just to see what it says. So with a lot of such curiosity clicking going on, I suppose I should not assume that appearance in the popularity clouds necessarily means a liking for the name.
It’s funny, but my kids don’t generally like the [name_u]Jayden[/name_u]/[name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f] names, but that probably just says a lot about the demographic in question.
They just don’t want to be named [name_m]Tiberius[/name_m] or [name_m]Drexel[/name_m], [name_f]Elizabella[/name_f] or [name_m]Putnam[/name_m]!
my mother advice is you better be sure you will be comfortable SCREAMING the name at the top of your lungs across a play ground when your 3 year old wanders off into on coming traffic. Because your busy at that moment dealing with your 4 year old bloody knee. I know that where I live Teemu is going to be very different but I am comfortable with screaming it. [name_f]Greta[/name_f] is not common but will not be questioned and my other girls came with names and I am very lucky that their teenage mother did not call them anything to outrages and went with top 100 names
I agree that only #1 is necessary, and it is consideration that real-parent berries think about. Isn’t that a major draw to this site in the first place: researching names, collecting opinions and data to see what names we would like to grow up with if we were born today? It might even explain why there’s always so much more interest in girls than boys names. The female-dominated group here tries to empathize with their future children–put themselves in their future childrens shoes.
The thing is, people have different tastes. And the only thing you will never, ever find here or anywhere is one name that everyone likes. Some mothers have classic names and love them and therefore think a classic name would be great for their child. Some have classic names and hated them growing up and therefore want an unusual but wearable name for their child. Some have unusual names and love them and therefore seek that perfect unusual name for their child. Some have unusual names and hate them and therefore want something more classic for their child. Your whole family and a classroom of teenagers might hate a name but an expectant parent might love picturing her/himself with that very same name. She might even already have that name you think is awful and love it. So to a large extent, to each their own.
Of course no parent should intentionally name their child something they think would cause emotional scars aka that they wouldn’t want for themselves. What kind of jerk would do that? Probably only fakers.
P.S. the name clouds seem to be heavily influenced by things like the “unique name of the day”, user-generated lists featured on the homepage, and names mentioned in blog posts. All of which may skew more unusual than names actually chosen by mama/papaberries.
I’m pretty sure most people consider how realistic the names are that they place on children. But, you also have to consider the fact that there are different naming cultures and generational influences. A name that seems fresh or new in [name_f]Virginia[/name_f] (in [name_u]America[/name_u]) may seem old and outdated in another country.
A child growing up today, at least in [name_u]America[/name_u], is going to have a whole different group of names than many of the high schoolers of today (e.g., [name_f]Nevaeh[/name_f]). Names that were common when I was growing up ([name_f]Lauren[/name_f], [name_u]Ashley[/name_u], [name_f]Caitlin[/name_f], [name_f]Christina[/name_f]/[name_f]Christine[/name_f], etc.) aren’t that common anymore, which is going to be the same with your high schoolers. When they are looking for names for their children, it’s going to be a different ball game.
Also, knowing a female [name_m]Charles[/name_m], it was a family name that was passed down to every first child. I have been told that around the time of women’s rights, some women named their daughters’ male names because they believed it would get them farther in life. I don’t know if that is actually true, but there are just various reasons why a person may decide to do it. They may find it funny, but I’d be interested in the names they’d want to name their children.
I think you have to take into consideration too that not only mothers to be frequent nameberry. Not every name you see is a name being considered for offspring. Some people like to collect names for characters, some might be naming avatars in a steam games, some just enjoy playing with names they’ll never use in the games forum. And tastes vary, it’s important to remember one’s own taste isn’t the rule for acceptable naming.
You are right. I never considered people naming avatars in steam games! That comforts me.
I guess I am thinking even more of the forums in which people say things like How is Herbert for a Girl?, I Am Naming My Son Fey, and Drexel and Authority For My Twins. Those to me go beyond taste differences into something more bizarre. I can’t imagine a living girl who would fancy being named Herbert nor anyone who would welcome as a name Fey, Drexel, or Authority.
I will, however, bear in mind the avatar name quest which will help me put many of the wilder names into perspective. Thanks!
But the thing is, while you may not picture a child being named [name_m]Herbert[/name_m], [name_f]Fey[/name_f], [name_m]Drexel[/name_m] or Authority. People who have named their children with these names do, and you can’t nothing about it. This is why I usually stay away (except for today) from topics like these because people on here get so heated. Why won’t you just let it be? You guys are all wasting your time and going to crazy about someone naming their child [name_f]Jaimelynn[/name_f] or [name_m]Drexel[/name_m].