Baby Names - You're kidding Right???

[Brentwood]

I like some unusual names, too. I always liked Westley or Wesley for a boy, and Fiona for a girl, but since Shrek, I guess Fiona's out. I still may hold out for Wesley though!

I wrote a story about a woman named Fiona, but the inspiration for her name was a Lyle Lovett song.

[Xanthia, Maker of fine Tin-foil hats since 2007]

We had a test for any name we considered for Bacon: we stuck it onto the end of two diametrically opposed sentences.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the President of the United States, [insert name here]."
"Now appearing on the main stage of the Eager Beaver Gentlemen's Club, [insert name here]."

If it was more appropriate for the second sentence than the first, we ditched it. Don't know what we'd use for a boy's name, though.

And yet, somehow, you decided to name her after a breakfast meat...

(runs away quickly laughing her hiney off, remembering the story of "Bacon")

[Brentwood]

My pet peeve is people named William Williamson or John Johnson and the like. I figure their parents must have been lazy.

Of course, now that I admitted that in public, 14 of you are going to PM me telling me that your husband's or father's or brother's name was Jeff Jefferson.

-Kels

I don't know any Jeff Jeffersons, but you might get a kick out of this one. When my oldest daughter was in third grade, her teacher's name was Kellie Kelly.

[DeliaD]

...We have friends whose last name is Arthur.  Every time she was pregnant, he lobbied for the first name "King."

OK, this made me smile.  My husband's name is King.  It's a family name (his mother's maiden name), and while not totally unheard of as a first name in the Southeastern United States, it's uncommon and old fashioned.  My name?  Gwen.  Neither of us thought of the (somewhat tortured) parallel between our names and those of King Arthur + Guinevere, but we've had it pointed out to us a few times.

For what it's worth, I've always wondered if a prospective parent wants an unusual name for his/her child, why he/she doesn't simply look at the online baby name lists and choose a name he/she likes which is low on the "popularity" indexes (i.e. a less frequently used name).  I know that popularity stats change over time, but I think a little research could at least allow a parent to avoid picking the number one nom du jour.

[megswsu]

Well, if you read the post a few pages back from someone who explained that she had a common name with an unusual spelling very similar to the one you're currently contemplating, it should be quite self explanatory.

Yes...I read that.  I thought I addressed that concern when I mentioned that I had had to put up with this nonsense my entire life...and my name is not spelled differently than any of the other people who share it with me. 

I guess that's why the comment sounded slightly snarky to me.

Is this where I mention that we had to have our marriage license printed 3 times before the clerk got it right.  It makes a great story.   

I don't think the poster was trying to be snarky. I think she was legitimately trying to help and was merely pointing out how much difficutly the "mis-spelling" of her name has made her life. It's the fact that having two "ii's" makes it look like a typo, not unique like using a "y" would be, thus the complications that will invaribly arise. And in your case, having the marrige license reissued 3 times does make for a funny story, however having medical records not match up, employment/diploma records not be found, etc. is not so amusing. Especially if it happens all.the.time.

As long as you're aware of all the possible pitfalls that will likely occur (and again I'll reiterate that two "ii's" look like a typo, not a unique spelling), then you're quite within your rights to do so as a parent. I personally really, really hope you give it some more thought. And I'm not trying to be snarky/mean, it's one thing to give a child a unique name....it's another to have a misspelled name that causes one to have to get a passport reissued-multiple times. And those are hard enough to come by!

Posted by: Bonnie  
Insert Quote
You know what REALLY bothers me about the odd spellings?  It ruins it for the rest of us!  My name is Bonnie.  I am the third Bonnie in a row.  But, I'm the only one who constantly has to spell it for people.

I can sympathize! My last name is a color, but I constantly get asked, is that with an "e"? NO!! The default spelling should be the 'normal' spelling....not the unusual spelling. I mean it's a color for goodness sakes!!  

[Brentwood]

She was totally angry that people kept pointing out the connection, and now refuses to discuss baby names with us. 

I totally feel for her.

We named our son Toby.  (Well, Tobias, but he's never called that.)  When I was still working, I actually got a lot of flack for the name from several of the black people I worked with.  Apparently, there's a VERY intense scene in Roots where one of the slaves was being horribly beaten to force him to change his name from whatever it was to Toby.  This scene had REALLY left an impression on the people who hated the name.  (I've never seen Roots, but there are names I'm sure I wouldn't pick for similar reasons!)  But, like I said, -I've- never seen Roots.  (And I'm sure a lot of his elementary school classmates won't have, either.)  But it was very frustrating, because it was an association I simply didn't share, and that was the only thing that ruined the name for them.  (Heh.  Our association was to The West Wing, which is totally where he got his name from.  The middle name of Joshua was coincidental, but I find it funny.)

Of course, thanks to Lost, my husband will be happy that I'm dropping the name Juliette from my campaign. 

I went to school with a guy named Harry Seman.  There's not much you can do with that last name, but Harry is one of the worst names you could pick, I'm sure.  My sister was friends with a Ben Dover, and one of the teachers was Richard Weiner.  And yes, he went by wingadingdingy.  Daring man, teaching high school with that name!

I have a preference for names that are unusual, but not strange.  No one raises an eyebrow at the name Toby, but when he was born the nurses told us they hadn't had a Toby in years.  But they're hard to find, and even harder to agree on.  ::Sigh::

Roots originally aired in 1977. If your son hasn't even reached elementary school yet, it is HIGHLY unlikely that any of his classmates will connect the name Toby to the slave Kunta Kinte (who was beaten nearly to death for his defiance in his refusal to take his slave name). They will be more likely to connect it to the actor Toby Maguire (Spiderman).

[plutomoment]

My mother is named Miachelle, which can cause problems. Her older sister is Tresa, which is also not a common spelling.

As a teacher I have come across a lot of weird names. At the beginning of each quarter have all the students go around the room saying their names for me, even the common looking ones because my cousin Ana pronounces it ah-nuh and gets mad if you say an-nuh (her mom's Cuban).

I'm glad for my normal name and I wonder how weird my choice for a daughters name is. I had a friend when I was little named Karis and both my husband and I love the sound of Karis Alexis.

[NEDESAPIO]

Another unusual name I love is "Gilda" -- for Rigoletto's innocent daughter in Verdi's opera Rigoletto.  The opera is in Italian, and the characters are Italian, so the name is pronounced "Geel-da," with a soft "g."  But I'd be a little afraid to name my daughter "Gilda," because I realize most people would pronounce it with a hard "g" and short "i."  

[Venus193]

Roots originally aired in 1977. If your son hasn't even reached elementary school yet, it is HIGHLY unlikely that any of his classmates will connect the name Toby to the slave Kunta Kinte (who was beaten nearly to death for his defiance in his refusal to take his slave name). They will be more likely to connect it to the actor Toby Maguire (Spiderman).

Roots is just now (finally) being released on DVD.

[sweedetobee]

I don't think the poster was trying to be snarky. I think she was legitimately trying to help and was merely pointing out how much difficutly the "mis-spelling" of her name has made her life. It's the fact that having two "ii's" makes it look like a typo, not unique like using a "y" would be, thus the complications that will invaribly arise. And in your case, having the marrige license reissued 3 times does make for a funny story, however having medical records not match up, employment/diploma records not be found, etc. is not so amusing. Especially if it happens all.the.time.

As long as you're aware of all the possible pitfalls that will likely occur (and again I'll reiterate that two "ii's" look like a typo, not a unique spelling), then you're quite within your rights to do so as a parent. I personally really, really hope you give it some more thought. And I'm not trying to be snarky/mean, it's one thing to give a child a unique name....it's another to have a misspelled name that causes one to have to get a passport reissued-multiple times. And those are hard enough to come by!
 ____________
I was trying to think of a nice way to say the same thing - but you said it better than I could have. I think the name Michael is great for a girl. Different and unexpected, yet familar to most english speaking people.

In Swedish "Michael" is "Mikael".  In case you wanted an alternate interesting spelling The name will still get pronounced incorrectly but hey, who doesn't love a Swede  And in my personal opinion, it has less chance of getting messed up than 2 "i"s.  

[Brentwood]

Life is hard enough, why set your children up for lots of extra hassle because you think it looks "unique"? Even Prince didn't stay "symbol" forever.

Well, the symbol was a form of protest against his record company.

That his first name really is Prince is unique enough!

[Sootikin]

I'm pretty sure the NZ Govt. will not allow offensive names either,

Ok, yes, I do agree that the government should not allow names with slurs, curse words or names like hlmglmrtgbmnwqsd. But Miichael isn't offensive. Neither is Metallica.

True, but sh!thead is.

[Marguette]

Here's one more opinion. Miichael doesn't look feminine to me. It just looks like a misspelling. Other people have already mentioned how the trouble with a name that looks misspelled isn't just funny stories to tell after the fact, but hours and days of wasted time and frustration. If you're looking for a girl version of Michael, one option is Michaele.

[sweedetobee]

Much as I enjoy being battered around the ears for our choice of name ( ), I do believe we've strayed from the original intent of the OP.   

Slightly OT - but I must say that you handle all of our unsolicited opinions (i am one of the guilty ones) with a lot of grace. You defend your opinions and never actually sound defensive. More posters should be like  you.

[Brentwood]

...We have friends whose last name is Arthur.  Every time she was pregnant, he lobbied for the first name "King."

OK, this made me smile.  My husband's name is King.  It's a family name (his mother's maiden name), and while not totally unheard of as a first name in the Southeastern United States, it's uncommon and old fashioned.  My name?  Gwen.  Neither of us thought of the (somewhat tortured) parallel between our names and those of King Arthur + Guinevere, but we've had it pointed out to us a few times.

For what it's worth, I've always wondered if a prospective parent wants an unusual name for his/her child, why he/she doesn't simply look at the online baby name lists and choose a name he/she likes which is low on the "popularity" indexes (i.e. a less frequently used name).  I know that popularity stats change over time, but I think a little research could at least allow a parent to avoid picking the number one nom du jour.

Gwen Stefani's son is named Kingston, so there's another King and Gwen connection.

My oldest daughter is named Kayla, which was not unheard of but also not that common when I named her (1987). I chose it because it's a derivative of Catherine, which is my name. I had NO idea it was suddenly going to take off in popularity; if I had known, I may have chosen something else.