Friday, February 10, 2006

OH, the power!!!


It's every parent's right and priviledge to name their child. You would think they would have rules and for some children's sake, I think you could make a case for abusive naming. Brian used to love this site with bad baby names that is no longer on the net. Some radio station apparently went into city records to highlight how idiotic (and insensitive) some parents can really be. Remember, these are REAL names, given to actual, live, innocent babies. Some of the ones that still have us laughing (or crying or crying with laughter): Anastasia Anestesia Anderson. Pimp Hard Jennings. Darth Vader Smith. (they went on and on, but we forget them now) I've read of parents naming their child "it" and "abc". Now, don't you think that should be outlawed???

The 20th we hope to find out the sex of our developing baby and before any of you can protest the names we choose, we are wielding our power by not telling! ha, ha. No really, we keep it a surprise until we have the baby in hand and named in case we decide to change our minds or if anyone really hates it, it will be too late. (See, the power is already getting to us!)

We do have our own standards. 1) We like unique names (as in not everyone has it) 2) We try to balance this out with not doing totally weird names (like something no one has ever heard of or is totally off the charts) 3) We like the names to have good meanings. We think names mean something, maybe that rose wouldn't smell so sweet if it was named a thistle!!


Of course, Ivan Truth Christophe Baggett is a little wierd in that it is long and you've probably never heard of someone named Truth. We added that name part way through, 'cause we felt we should. My cousin's son is also named Truth, so at least there are 2 of them. Ivan is learning his alphabet through all sorts of games, one of them online, so maybe he will be able to write or at least type out his name before middle school!

If we have a girl, we may already have the names, chosen since before Ivan. If we have a boy, the name game begins (it took us a lot of work to come up with Ivan's).

I am curious about the commonality of names in different places. Angela was rare in Saskatchewan, Canada. I'd only heard of one other Angela all my years growing up, until I came to the Southern US. Everyone is Angela here or Angie or Angelica. I have at least 2 other people named Angela that I would consider close to me (one as a friend, one down the block).

So tell me... How many people do you know with the following names? Tell us your name and where you live (if you've lived several places a long time, pick one for our little survey). Count people you actually know or know about (not a name tag you saw on the cashier, but at least aquaintances).

Ivan,
Jennifer/Jenny,
Ashley,
Maria,
Sam,
Marisol,
Sue,
Michael/Mike,
Floyd,
Christian.

AND tell us the weirdest name you've heard.

12 comments:

Madame Angela Baggett said...

I'm Angela in Abilene, Texas, USA
Ivan-1
Jennifer/Jenny-3
Ashley-2
Maria-4
Sam-3
Marisol-2
Sue-2
Michael/Mike-3
Floyd-2
Christian-2

To me, a weird name is Jesus. Lots of people are named that here, pronounced heyzeus! A friend once asked how to spell that name and he said "ever heard of Jesus?"

Anonymous said...

Most unique boys name is our friend's son Zane. I like it...Steve has a cousin named Rowdy. For a girl our friends named their daughter Kira Frost...very unique.

Kimberley said...

I agree that as parents you should wield your naming power! Many of my friends have told us their baby's names before said baby was born, only to change it once baby was born. The result? I can never remember what baby's name is!

- Ivan - counting yours - 1 from Elementary school
- Jennifer - 2
- Ashley - 1
- Maria - 0
- Sam - Does Samantha count? If so then 1
- Marisol - 0
- Sue - I have a 2nd cousin Susan
- Michael / Mike - 3
- Floyd - 0
- Christian - 1

Growing up, I was the only Kim/Kimberley that I knew of. Now, I find them everywhere. There's even another Kim in the office. Talk about confusing! I am now more used to being called Kimberley than Kim.

The weirdest name that I know of: Waverly. Our former neighbours had named their daughter that. We have never figured out it's origin.

Kimberley said...

Oops - I meant that I knew 2 Ivans, counting yours.

Anonymous said...

Jason - (I think I know about 5)
Jennifer - (too many)
Michael - (too many)
The coolest by far names however I have ever seen was a family who had 4 girls and named each one after the seasons.

Spring,
Autumn,
Summer,
Winter.

Very cool names and works well as a set. But you'd have to have 4 girls to pull that one off.

Anything in the Bible is cool I'd say though I'm pretty sure nobody names their kids, Absolam, Jesus or Judas.

Anonymous said...

I'm Andrea from Leipzig, Germany, Europe.

Ivan-1
Jennifer/Jenny-1
Ashley-1 or 2, I can't remember
Maria-2, at least
Sam-0
Marisol-2
Sue-1
Michael/Mike-1
Floyd-0
Christian-at least 2

Over here in Germany the common names for a girl are Andrea, Anja, Conny, Katja and a bunch of other names. For guys it's Christian, Martin, Johannes and some others.

The weirdest name...Floyd would be weird. But most names sound ok to me.
And about Waverly...could that be from Princess Bride? That's the name of Buttercup's baby. Oh! Buttercup is a weird name, right?!

Madame Angela Baggett said...

Buttercup is definitely a weird name, thanks for sharing Andrea, I was curious about names in Germany.

Kim, I think you are the only Kim or Kimberley I know although I don't think it's a weird name, I've heard it before.

I guess we can only expect the world to get more unique with names as we all try to be individual, but I feel sorry for teachers who I'm sure now have to ask, "and how do you spell your name Mike?"

Andrew, there are tons of "Jesus'" here, that is what I was trying to say. Lots of people name their boys that!

Nana- You're right, I think Ivan is well on his way in the techno world!

Anonymous said...

Oh, I just remember a weird name...Mana...and...Hira....both are guy names. They are form New Zealand.

GMS said...

Ivan - the one and only
Jennifer - 2 also a Genny which is Genieve
Ashley - 1
Maria - 1
Sam - 1
Marisol - 1
Sue - 3
Michael - 2
Floyd - 1
Christian - 0
Weird ,in the sense of unusual, I would include Vernon for the male and Edwina for the female.
In class today we learned that in the Old Testament names were chosen to designate purpose and character. Something to consider.

Anonymous said...

Names, What's in a name. I know 2 Ivans. A lot of Jenn's. One Ashley. 1 Maria. Sam 1. Marisol 0. Sue 2. Mike -too many. Floyd 1. Christian - only Slater (Love Him!) But I love that name, Christian. I wanted to name a boy that. Good Idea not to tell people your names. Too many people critique. I heard a lot of grief over 'Harley'. We have a lot of Phillipino people up here so a lot of different names. Pressy, Erwin, those are two different names.

Lady J said...

We didn't reveal our choices for baby names either, as we weren't even sure ourselves! We had Noah and Harrison picked out, and even at that he wasn't officially named until 3 days old and only mins before we left the hospital! The nurse told us to fill out the paperwork and leave it with her, so when I asked what would happen if we took it home to fill out and she answered it would cost me $40 to send it in later, we quickly agreed on Harrison for a first name and Michael as a middle name, after his dad. Anything to save myself $40...but it worked out OK as it suits him far better than Noah would!!! Guess you could say his name is kinda different too. I like last names for first names and plan to name all my kids that way...but that is all I can reveal about that!!! (for the record there are no babies in my near future either!)

Lady J said...

Oh yeah...the strangest name that I have ever heard was for a girl named Zenobia, after cartoon character Conan the Barbarian's wife. (I think that is what her dad said!) Her mom must have had some pretty good drugs, and still been a little dopey from them when she agreed to that!!! He said (with a chuckle) "Her middle name is Lynne...just in case!" Guess he knew it was a gamble! I'd like to run into her as an adult to see what she decided...Lynne or Zenobia!?