Hello all! After going back and forth and around for months thinking about a baby boy name (first child), one that I really like popped into my head. I think it’s a bit unusual, but it allows us to have a few nicknames and most importantly what we accidentally started calling our baby so much so that it just seems like baby’s name now: [name_m]Chip[/name_m]. I don’t like the idea of just naming my child [name_m]Chip[/name_m] as I don’t think there are many nicknames/changes if they don’t really like it.
Instead I am thinking: [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] [name_m]Carl[/name_m] [name_m]Hansen[/name_m] (first, middle, last)
Then we could reasonably using [name_m]Chip[/name_m] as a pet name, or they might get [name_m]Kip[/name_m], Kippy, [name_m]Kipper[/name_m], or K.C. as a nickname. [name_m]Carl[/name_m] is for my grandfather - but I just think it’s too short for a first name (with no real options to mix it up if they don’t like it).
What do you think? Is it too strange? [name_f]Do[/name_f] you find it masculine? Are the nicknames feminine? [name_m]Can[/name_m] you think of ways they might get made fun of? Is it super weird that I’d like to call them [name_m]Chip[/name_m] sometimes even if their name is [name_m]Kipling[/name_m]? I’d love your help!!
I don’t think it’s strange at all. [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] is a nice name. I can’t see what can be feminine about the nicknames And [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] nn [name_m]Chip[/name_m] totally makes sense imo.
Kipling is cool! I think traditionally [name_m]Chip[/name_m] is a nickname for [name_m]Christopher[/name_m], and sometimes [name_m]Charles[/name_m] if that appeals to you
I think it definitely reads masculine to me. [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] is really cool. It reminds me of the show Jessie that was on Disney channel a few years back that one character had an [name_f]Asian[/name_f] water monitor lizard named Mr. [name_m]Kipling[/name_m]
I love the full name all together. I wasn’t sure if I would like [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] or not but in the right combination its amazing. I love the nickname [name_m]Kip[/name_m]. And its a cool way to get to [name_m]Chip[/name_m] if you guys to keep calling him that! I think its brilliant!
My thoughts were aligned with this. [name_m]Rudyard[/name_m] [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] had some less than stellar views even compared to other thinkers and politicians of the day. (He wrote the White [name_m]Man[/name_m]’s Burden for instance)
The name works well in flow and sound and the nicknames make sense too, I like the name from that standpoint, it’s just the link to [name_m]Rudyard[/name_m] that gives me pause.
I really like [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] on its own and in context with the surname. [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] [name_m]Carl[/name_m] [name_m]Hansen[/name_m] sounds great!
I’m not up on [name_m]Rudyard[/name_m] [name_m]Kipling[/name_m]’s history - I do have a small-to-medium association with him when I see the name [name_m]Kipling[/name_m], so I would suggest reading up on him like others have suggested before making your decision.
As to the rest of your questions: not too strange; the nicknames aren’t too feminine and the name overall leans masculine to me (but less so than really traditional masculine names); no teasing opportunities leap out at me; don’t find it strange that you would sometimes want to call him [name_m]Chip[/name_m].
Also, if you wanted a longer form of [name_m]Carl[/name_m] to consider, the first one I think of is [name_m]Carlton[/name_m], but also [name_m]Carl[/name_m] comes from the same root as [name_m]Charles[/name_m], and to me [name_m]Carl[/name_m] would be a perfectly viable nickname for [name_m]Charles[/name_m]. [name_m]Carlo[/name_m] and [name_u]Carroll[/name_u] are also longer [name_m]Carl[/name_m] names, and then there are lots of variations if you branch out as far as [name_m]Charles[/name_m].
That was part of my dilemma for so long. I actually like [name_m]Charles[/name_m] BUT my BFF is having a baby a month before me, a girl, and naming her [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] to be called [name_u]Charley[/name_u]. SO, I was feeling like a name thief going with [name_m]Charles[/name_m]. Plus - then they could end up [name_u]Charlie[/name_u] and [name_u]Charley[/name_u], lol. Cute, but not what I was going for. And I just find [name_m]Christopher[/name_m]…not quite to my tastes. Not bad, just not one I feel in my heart.
Thanks! That is interesting. I never considered going longer than [name_m]Carl[/name_m] because to me it is “just my grandfather’s name” and that’s why it’s there. But, it’s awesome to have more options to consider.
I totally googled him to check into how racist he was before I let myself get too invested. I am working towards being anti-racist and it is a genuine hesitation for me because I don’t want to perpetuate issues. [name_f]My[/name_f] thought was maybe I could make it clear that while that’s definitely an association with their name, I didn’t name them after [name_m]Rudyard[/name_m] [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] [there is a [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] subway station in Toronto that is the first time I heard the name - though I’ve NO notion how it managed to pop into my head before sleeping the other night and ultimately I’m not sure if being named after a subway station is that much better haha]. Additionally, I’d like to do the work to dig into the Jungle Book and talk about racism, imperialism and colonialism with them as they grow up. I thought maybe if I actively worked at talking about and untangling these things from a young age, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad. Then if they ever get called out because of the name, they can understand why and have a genuine discussion about it. You know…if I am actually able to parent in the way I want and raise an empathetic and antiracist person!
It also gives me pause and I appreciate hearing it from others. No matter what my children get named, it’s important for me that I do my work and raise them to recognize the racist, colonial and imperialist roots we have and to work actively against those. I’m hoping that we could get to a point when they are older (but still young) where we could talk about the absurdity of the “White [name_m]Man[/name_m]’s Burden,” go through the stereotypes/tropes and recognize the ways we STILL need to be better and see the racism in our world and lives. I don’t know if that makes it okay, or not. For example, I would never name my child [name_m]Adolph[/name_m] even if we talked about the Holocaust being wrong and why ad naseam - but obviously there are some differences from a writer writing in his context and a genocidal world leader.
I think it’s a nice, masculine name, a cute way to get to [name_m]Chip[/name_m] and I don’t think it’s solely tied to one crappy person out there. If we avoided every name that was held by a not nice person- there probably wouldn’t be any names left out there. And as you mentioned- it’s not a household name.
And [name_m]Kipling[/name_m] nn [name_m]Chip[/name_m] totally makes sense imo.
