I talked about this in Name Rants and wanted to flesh it out here!
The idea of the “calling kids to the kitchen table” test, is for names that might sound similar. Basically, if you call a name out from another room, is the correct kid going to appear?
Obviously, like the Starbucks test, or any other name game, your kids’ names don’t have to pass this test. It’s not a preference for everyone in the first place. But it could be a good tool if you are wondering something like “are these names too close?” [name_u]Or[/name_u] “if I use this name for my daughter, could I still use this other name for a potential future son?” As I mentioned in the other thread, my mom called my brother and i the wrong names all the time, and I know I’m going to become my mother (it’s inevitable, may as well prepare for it) so for me names that are close enough to confuse are probably a no-go!
Obviously rhyming names would probably fail this test: [name_f]Chloe[/name_f] and [name_f]Zoe[/name_f], [name_m]Larry[/name_m], [name_u]Barry[/name_u], [name_f]Terri[/name_f], [name_f]Mary[/name_f], [name_f]Carrie[/name_f] and [name_f]Sherry[/name_f]. And the near-rhymes, name with similar sounds throughout the name like [name_f]Jane[/name_f] and [name_u]James[/name_u].
But then there some that are a little trickier. Would [name_u]Wesley[/name_u] get confused with [name_u]Kelsey[/name_u]? [name_f]Katelyn[/name_f] with [name_m]Jason[/name_m]? [name_f]Catharine[/name_f] with [name_m]Patrick[/name_m]? [name_m]Johnny[/name_m] and [name_m]Tommy[/name_m]? On paper it seems like no, but if you’ve ever been in a crowded room where someone is yelling a name and five people turn and think it’s them, you know what I’m talking about.
Please let me know what you think of this “test” and any additions or suggestions you have. Let’s brainstorm this together. Does this idea have legs? Also if you feel like sharing, are there names you tend to turn for when they are called, that on the surface don’t seem like your name at all?
[name_f]My[/name_f] girls’ names are different enough, but Noemi’s name kind of rhymes with her cousin’s name (Lor3my). Both girls are called [name_f]Mimi[/name_f] by family. [name_f]My[/name_f] 3 year old [name_f]Kiana[/name_f] cannot fully pronounce their names right now, so she calls them No-Mee and Lo-Mee. Lol
[name_m]Even[/name_m] though my kids’ names are different from each other, I find myself calling out the wrong name sometimes. They are quick to correct me though. [name_f]Kiana[/name_f] will say “I not No-Mee, I Kee-na”.
I can see the logic of it completely, but in my experience being in a large family, and my best friends being in large families, parents at some point are gonna confuse you name with a siblings, they can be as completely different as [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] and [name_f]Mila[/name_f] and it will get confused. Me and one of my sisters as example, two completely different names, not a single letter or sound in common, and still my mom will call my sis and I’ll come thinking she was calling me. Idk, I get the logic but at the same time it doesn’t seem realistic, sorry
Like I said in the post, my mom still confuses my name with my brother’s. It’s less about never saying the wrong name and more about finding the right balance of “too similar” or not for those who want that
In that sense I can see it more, like I said before I completely get the logic of it but I guess it just kinda confuses me still? Idk it’s hard to explain. I can see it but at the same time it’s hard. Sorry this is absolutely no help
For a while my favourite names were all so similar in sound (but not spelling) that I definitely thought about this a lot. [name_f]Isla[/name_f], [name_u]Arlo[/name_u], [name_u]Elias[/name_u] (Eli) and [name_m]Silas[/name_m] were the culprits. [name_m]Can[/name_m] you imagine calling those out at the playground? I’ve only kept one of them on my list (Silas), but it was a tough cull.
As someone who is always turning around when I hear a similar name, I like this test! [name_f]My[/name_f] name sounds like a lot of other common names (it’s Le@h), so I’m turning when I hear [name_f]Mia[/name_f], Rhea/Ria, [name_f]Diya[/name_f], [name_u]Liam[/name_u], (all classmates of mine ) [name_m]Leo[/name_m], and sometimes [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] or Sophia/Sofia because I only catch the ending sound. Luckily it’s not a problem at home, but at school it gets confusing and I’d be frustrated if I had the same issue at home! I think [name_f]Sofia[/name_f] is the one that seems different but really sounds similar when yelled from a distance.
I think this idea is very applicable, but not just for names that rhyme. My friend’s mom named her Emma instead of Ella in the fear that when her and her brother (Sam) were called into the same room the two names plus the and would slur together to become salmonella (Sam+And+Emma=salmonella).
You are 100% onto something! The best real-life example I know of is my friend [name_f]Jocelyn[/name_f] who kept getting mixed up in this exact way with her brother [name_m]Justin[/name_m]. Usually when I’m offering people feedback I call it the “if you called the name across the playground, would the right kid respond?” test!
) [name_m]Leo[/name_m], and sometimes [name_f]Amelia[/name_f] or Sophia/Sofia because I only catch the ending sound. Luckily it’s not a problem at home, but at school it gets confusing and I’d be frustrated if I had the same issue at home! I think [name_f]Sofia[/name_f] is the one that seems different but really sounds similar when yelled from a distance.