When you’re considering a name, do you go through various scenarios in which the name would be used in your head? Or am I alone in this insanity? I’m not talking about how it will be to holler the name out across a playground, I mean beyond that.
For some reason, when thinking of a boy’s name I think of two things:
Meeting a handsome man and being introduced to him. He says his name is X (whatever the name being considered is). Does the name make him more attractive or less attractive to me? Would I want to date someone with this name?
The minister reading their wedding vows. “[name]Do[/name] you X take Y to be your lawfully wedded wife…”. If I can’t imagine watching my son say his wedding vows with that name, it’s off the list.
For a girl’s name, it’s even easier. I picture myself as that name. I picture myself using it in various scenarios:
At a bar (I know, I know…And I’m not a bar-hopper, I swear, but in my late 20’s, when I was on the dating scene, I told men my name in a bar a few times). Would I want to have that name if I was trying to come across as attractive and sexy?
At work while dialling into a conference call. (You know the part where you have to say your name and then press pound and then you hear your name played back when you join the call?)
Wedding vows again.
What are the ways in which you test out a name?
And, to note, I’m doing this now with a girl’s name I’m on the fence about ([name]Prudence[/name]) and it’s not passing on scenario #1. [name]Prudence[/name] just isn’t ever going to be a sexy, intriguing name.
Firstly, I select names based on their historical/religious associations and the linguistic rules of the two languages spoken in our family.
Then, I imagine a variety of “top top top” scenarios. X listed as a recipient of a [name]Rhodes[/name] Scholarship. X giving the valedictory address. X winning admission to the Julliard dance department. X being offered a modelling contract. X drafted into the NBA. X chairing an investment bank. X becoming a monk. X winning a commission to design a new skyscraper. X running for Senate. Top top top. If the name works in the majority of contexts, then it stays on the list.
Lastly, I imagine being a geeky adolescent, or the jitters that accompanied the first few days of college, when everyone was circling warily around each other, trying to sort themselves out into like-minded groups. Would X feel comfortable introducing him/herself? Would X feel like the girls liked him? Would X feel like the guys thought he was cool? Could X move between groups easily as his identity changes in those formative years?
Once it passes the historical, religious, achievement and social screens, it’s in.
All my names have either personal meaning or meaning having to do with my heritage firstly. The rest of the process goes like this:
[name]One[/name] of us suggests a name and if it’s not vetoed immediately, I make a list. I’ll use one of my names as an example. I write [name]Alexander[/name] [name]Dante[/name] [name]Griffin[/name] [name]Thomas[/name]. Then I write [name]Alexander[/name] = [name]Al[/name], [name]Alex[/name], [name]Lex[/name], [name]Xan[/name], [name]Xander[/name], [name]Anders[/name] [name]Griffin[/name] = [name]Griff[/name], [name]Fin[/name] then I write it in cursive, then I write [name]Alexander[/name] D.G. [name]Thomas[/name], A. [name]Dante[/name] G. [name]Thomas[/name], A.D. [name]Griffin[/name] [name]Thomas[/name]… and so on till I feel the name is either great or not for us.
As far as the different scenario thing, i think of that some, but it’s not a deciding factor. This website has a great list: Baby Name Test Drive : BabyNameGenie.com
See here’s the top 10 scenarios (out of 27) that it let me hear my baby name in:
[name]Damien[/name], could you please set the table?
I am not joking around [name]Damien[/name], this is really important to me!
[name]Damien[/name]–[name]Damien[/name]! Are you listening to me!?!
Hello, [name]Wellington[/name] Inc. this is [name]Damien[/name].
[name]Damien[/name] [name]Thomas[/name], come on down! You’re the next contestant!
Hey [name]Damien[/name]. [name]How[/name] are you doing?
Allow me to introduce myself. My name is [name]Damien[/name] [name]Thomas[/name].
[name]Damien[/name]! Pick up your toys. I am not going to ask you again.
I am at [name]Damien[/name] [name]Thomas[/name]'s house.
[name]Do[/name] you [name]Damien[/name] [name]Thomas[/name] take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife?
Well, I haven’t gone through the whole “real” process because we don’t have children yet. We’ll be TTC sometime late 2013 because of life stuff we want to do first. (Oh my gosh, I could be pregnant a year from now!!) Still, I’ve had a long love affair with names, and have always gone through a process when imagining it on a future child. Most of the names have some sort of personal meaning to me (though not all).
I like the name.
I research the history of the name.
I look up other people with that name.
I fly the name by partner.
I think about what feeling the name evokes in me.
I consider all possibilities when it comes to nick names.
I take it to the baby name test drive dantea linked above.
I imagine myself telling people about my child, in news updates: “Name was accepted to [name]Harvard[/name]” “Name has decided to take some time off to become a singer” “Name is getting married” “Name is getting divorced” “Name is having a baby!” etc. I say it out loud and I write it.
I think about my grandchildren introducing their parent “Meet my mom/dad, Name.”
I think about old age, grandma or grandpa Name, does it work?
If doesn’t meet all of the above, it won’t be used.
[name]One[/name] of my friends posted her thoughts on FB the other day and I’ll paraphrase it because I thought it was lovely:
"There is so much in a name. There is so much in the sounds the letters make when they fall upon the tongue. The lips make a shape, the air moves from the lungs to hollows of the mouth, and POOF – words are born. [name]Music[/name] is made…
…I’ve always prided myself in being somewhat of a magical linguist. A player of words. A soundsmith. With every sentence I write, there is a stream of sounds that roll out in a way that feels like a river with different currents, burbling brooks that make the use of speech seem oh so delightfully delicious!
Take “delightfully” for instance. [name]Say[/name] it out loud. Doesn’t it feeeeel delightful?"
Yes. More than anything, the name has to make me feel something wonderful.
I have to add that recently I’ve been going to http://babynamesworld.parentsconnect.com/ and putting my names in. They have a nifty section called “Considering naming your child” and in there they have real people talk about their experiences having the name (bullying, job placement, whatever). Very informative. So when people on here said “Everyone will think of death and not know how to pronounce [name]Persephone[/name] etc” and the people who are named [name]Persephone[/name] say “I’ve had very few pronunciation problems and people think it’s beautiful” I’ll take the opinions of the actual people named [name]Persephone[/name] over people on here generally.
We have only had girls and this is how we went about it
Some names are out from the start because of our last name, we can’t have b,c,s.
If we loved the name we thought about these things…
We started with writing the name out like we would at the bottom of a birthday card with our names above it. First with out full names and then Hubby and I’s nicknames which are more commonly used.
Think about any nicknames people might use. If I hate them the name is out.
Then we thought about having that name when they are older and working, would it suit working in a high status job as much as working at the local store?
