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My Favorite Things

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  • Italy
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  • Storytime at the Library
  • Rachael Ray
  • Running

Thursday, April 29, 2010

What's In A Name?

Warning: this blog has the potential to offend. I apologize in advance. Please feel free to start your own blog criticizing my child's name.

People, when did we all lose our minds and decide to name our kids bizarro things? My theory is that the Jennifers and Jessicas of the '80s grew up and decided that we wanted our kids not to be known as "The Blonde Jennifer" or "Kristin with an I" like some of us were throughout elementary school, so we thought of totally unusual things to name our kids. Yesterday I was picking up Captain Destructo from the gym and the woman in front of me said "come here, Meadow, it's time to go." Meadow?! Really?! The woman (who's name is the same as my little chicken, an awesome name if I do say so myself) managed to say this without laughing so I had to give her props for that.

Now I understand giving your kids names that are unusual. The name that we have chosen for a boy is unusual (and I won't say it b/c I don't want the criticism...it's the only name we can agree on. And I've tried about a thousand). But at least it's an actual name. Picking a random noun and making your child go by it for the rest of their lives is no fun. And can we also agree to not invent weird spellings to make a name seem more unusual than it actually is? People always ask me how to spell Captain's name, which is very traditional and common. Let's pretend her name is Mary. Is there any other way? Like with a silent Q at the beginning?

I was a teacher in the ghetto before being a mom so I've seen my fair share of weird names. One year I taught Treshawn, Dashawn, Tanisha, and Keneisha in the same class. My favorite weird name story is a student named Nautica (pronounced Nau-tee-kah, you know, like it's spelled) who had a baby brother named Dalast. Because her mother said it was da last baby she would have. True story.

Gotta go. Da first is waking up from her nap.

11 comments:

  1. Hey, there's something to be said for spelling a name phonetically. At least as a teacher you don't have a hard time pronouncing it!

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  2. Hilarious and true! I've been subject to never having my named spelled right...and now so is my kid! Mwahahaha! I think I have a name that might beat your weird one though in a class I worked in. Well, maybe two names. There was a girl named Cashmere and a boy named Kiyoshi. Yeah, Kiyoshi...like the lizard creature from Nintendo.

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  3. *snort* Dalast! Priceless. I totally have a pet peeve with weird spellings of ordinary names too!

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  4. I completely understand the weird name thing. I was a teacher in the ghetto for 9 years, so I saw my fair share of JaQuans, DaQuans, and TaQuans. As well as Autumns, Summers, and Aprils. (Those aren't actually weird names I guess)

    My favorite to share was a girl named P'Chez. "It's pronounced Peaches." COME ON!

    My mom knew a woman who named her child (not sure M/F) Oranjello (or-AHN-jello)because she could only eat orange jello after giving birth.

    And then there's the ever popular Female. Pronounced Fe-Molly.

    Sigh.

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  5. and my husband thinks I'm weird for preferring Abigaile's nickname to be "Abbie" instead of "Abby". :)

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  6. "If you don't have anything nice to say, then you shouldn't say anything at all"!

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  7. Anonymous, I gave a disclaimer at the beginning. Also this is a personal blog with my feelings/opinions. If I didn't say anything if it might not be nice it would be boring. If you are someone who is easily offended please don't continue to read it. (If you are someone I know and are joking I apologize. Also please post your name.)

    Amanda I love P'Chez!! Too funny. You win.

    Gretchen, it's better than Abbeeee.

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  8. I would like to add that my friend just told me about two kids named Your Majesty and Your Highness. I think I may name my next child Your Highness (regardless of gender).

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  9. I'm fairly tolerant of stranger names, but my peeve is when people cannot pronounce a name that sounds exactly it's spelled. I have been called the following names: Bree-anne, Brianna, Breeanna, Briahn, Brian, Breen, Bran (as in the cereal), Brand (as in Josh Brolin in The Goonies), and Fran (yes Fran, on more than one occasion). I've considered more than once legally changing the spelling to Bryanne.

    I will make sure my child has a name that is easily pronounceable. In fact, that has been the decider between Joely and Johanna. I love Joely, but I don't want my kid to deal with the same crap.

    In my advisory class I have a Star Renee, Mariah Star, and an Ester (which means "star"). Others include Keilee (Kee-lee), Shanea, Rohan, and Rhonetria. Most unique name I've taught was Ty'Shay.

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  10. Don't forget Sir Robert.... Randy

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  11. I played basketball with a girl by the name of Da'Love. Am I in the top three??

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