What Were These Parents Thinking?
I don't know what makes baby names lists so interesting. I can pore over them even though my naming time is done. The lists are good mirrors of our pop culture moments and the predictions are a signpost to where we think we are heading.
We know that a fraction of babies are named from the top ten lists as opposed to in the 60s. (Though as one of the few adults named Emma, I can tell you it feels like there are a lot of Emmas out there.) This has resulted in people trying to be different and more Internet-search friendly with odd names and spellings. I applaud people's desire to call their children something unique. But I implore all parents-to-be to use the Supreme Court Justice test when naming their child.
I personally find it bizarre that you would choose a name after your favourite Teen Mom from MTV, or even from Twilight (so glad we didn't choose Bella which was on our top three -- our little one would have encountered a lot of sparkly jokes). I asked a few friends on Twitter and who work with kids some of the more -- um -- unusual names that they have heard recently. Wait until you read this list!
Animal/Nature names: Sparrow, Petal, Oak, Cedar, Stone, Daffodil, Onyx
Aspirational names: Angel, Neveah (Heaven backwards), Triniti, Lexus (yes, as in the car), Armani, Charisma
Pretentious literary names: Chaucer, Emerson, Tennyson,
WTH names: Crash, Radon (a poisonous gas), Noxzema, Life (yes, Life), Green, Pepper-Ann (a slightly nerdy cartoon character from 1997), Rover (maybe they watned a dog?), Jeronimo Appleseed
But the winner provided to me by a Twitter follower is: Meconium, yes a word for the blackish green poop from a newborn baby. Seems that the parents heard it in the hospital and liked how it sounded. They named their child baby poop; makes all the other names on this list seem fine.
What are the most unusual, fun, or just plain weird names you have heard? Did you choose an out-of-the mainstream name for your kids?
Want more? Last year I was looking for some inspiration to Liberate Myself from Labels.
« Winter Is the Silly Season | Main | Announcing: The Golden Helicopter Parent Awards »
