Baby name choices-what to say or not to say

Agree 100%

Among the 70+ Kindergarteners at my granddaughter’s school this year there were only 2 sets of duplicate names. One was the most popular name in the state their birth year. The other was Bruce. You just never know what will be popular and what will sound weird. Let’s be honest, did Barack Hussein Obama sound like the name of a US president before it was one?

I feel like it’s fine to like and not like names, just the way we like and don’t like foods. But “it’s not for me” when discussing names abstractly is a much better response than any kind of judgment call. And when in the presence of the baby? I’d go with “Oh, what a sweetie.”

Kids today have a much wider variety of names than they did when we (boomers/early gen X) did or even than when our kids (millennials) did. The percentage of children named the top ten names is much lower. And children today are more likely to be exposed to children from a variety of ethnic/cultural backgrounds if they go to public school. Finally, they generally have extensive anti-bullying education too.

So if asked directly for your opinion, you can give it, but be gracious. And if you aren’t? Just smile and celebrate the new baby!

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:100:

Looking forward to voting for future-President 9.

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Yes it did. Here is why. I’m positive I would have spelled that name correctly the first time I heard it without seeing it. Might have missed the “c” in Barack. However, I would not have guessed it right if the parents chose to spell his name as “B’Arakk Hjusse-in.” :wink:

Yeah, but spelling is not why people heard the name and “knew” he couldn’t win. Spelling might be YOUR bugaboo, but everyone has their own. Which is why we all ought to interrogate our own.

Hannah referred to “cutesy spelling,” so here is my perspective on the topic. “Barack” with a normal spelling sounds like a normal not out of this world name. At least to me. Add a cutesy spelling… source of jokes galore, I guarantee,
and some would be turned off by that.

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Just no to anything that celebrates Mr. Musk. :laughing:

Hope Ms. 9 has a fully developed brain by the time she runs for presidency and ditches her parents’ stupidity.

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Elon Musk and Nick Cannon have so many kids, by so many different women and by different means. And some interesting names thrown in to boot.

And is that a good thing? Two macho individuals believing that their genes are so superior they must be spread around as much as possible?

Now… Russell Wilson and Ciara are expecting another kid! One of theirs was named Win. :slight_smile:

I don’t mind the name Win and actually have a fondness for it. One of my husband’s college roommates was Win (shortened but went by Win). It really went well with his last name . And he was a cool guy who died much too soon from cancer.

Not crazy about men having 10+ children with multiple women. That’s my thought since you asked if I thought that was a good thing.

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I agree 100 percent.

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I really like Wynne for a girl (I currently know two Wynne’s).

I wonder how Gwynneth Paltrow’s daughter, Apple, feels about her name now that she’s older?

I personally love the name Apple. The uproar over that name was ridiculous. I watched an interview with Paltrow years ago about it, and she was surprised by the reaction. Chris Martin came up with the name - they thought it was “sweet and wholesome “.

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Maybe Apple is cute for a baby (you are the apple of my eye), but I wouldn’t be thrilled with it as an adult - especially if I’m a regular person and not a celebrity’s kid.

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My niece named E r i n transitioned. Would have made life so much easier for family members had the name chosen been, “Aaron,” but he went with something very different. In fact, the reason I have E r i n spaced out is that I have my phone and iPad set to change it to the new name if I accidentally type the dead name.

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This reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where George shared he wanted to name a future child, “Seven.” And then someone stole that name and used it

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Cue the inevitable Star Trek memes about 7 of 9…

Good luck completing US or foreign government forms using a number, rather than letters, as a name.

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Old-fashioned names in my family tree are Ada, Iva, Clara, Ruby, and Stella.

I named my Instant Pot, “Pearl,” and my red convertible, “Ruby.” We have friends with a two-year-old granddaughter named, “Maude.”

I have a funny, “Win,” story. Win Rockefeller was an Arkansas politician. At a younger age my state and local government professor had worked on one of his campaigns. During a full day of campaigning, Win was making a speech and (because he’d been in so many little towns that day) forgot where he was, which was the town of Wynne, Arkansas. “I’m so delighted to be here today in,”…… pause….”It’s wonderful to be visiting,” ….pause…… my professor realizing what was happening is stage whispering, “Wynne, Wynne,” from the sidelines. Exasperated, Win turned to him and said, “Dam* it, Bob! I know my name - where the hel* am I???”

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I might jazz it up with a suffix…

Like “Ralphmore” or “Ralphington” or something like that. hehe

I like names from nature, even Apple. My daughter’s Chinese name is Apple Flower, and I’ve known at least one (English) Cherry. I think there are quite a few male Berrys out there. I was just looking at my family tree yesterday and my gggrandfather’s name was Greenberry and this was not a rare name at the time.

I also like the names (leaving out floral names):

Cedar (my husband worked with a male Cedar)
Juniper,
Brooke,
River,
Oakley,
Aspen,
Willow,
Linden,
Lake,
Sky,
Sunny (other daughter’s Chinese name)
Birch,
Wren, etc.

Honestly a large percentage of common names are derived from things from nature, mine included. Ex., Everyone whose name ends in an “ly” means “something” meadow: Ashley = Ash tree meadow. But name a kid the modern word for something from nature and suddenly that’s too crunchy, lol.

Btw, one of mine would have been named Juniper or Oakley, had I not been vigorously overruled. Still kinda salty about it, especially later when the iron fist conversed regularly with Cedar from work and never once said “jeesh, this guys name is so weird.” :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

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