Monday, January 14, 2008

The Name Game

So what's in a name? Names are part of our identity, names have a history, meaning and tradition as well as creativity. Names are also a source of pride for the parents naming their child. When I was growing up in the 1960's, I went to grade school with a lot of girls named Debbie. I wanted to be a Debbie also but as I grew older and less insecure I realized Joan was not a bad name to have. If you look back in history, you'll see the different names that were popular for that particular time. Since the two new grandbabies are coming into the world within the next few months, the subject of names has come up quite a few times. I think Jimmy (my son) and Allison have decided to name their little boy after my sweetie, whose name is Michael but I have also heard them talk about naming him Cameron. Whatever name they choose, I'll love that little guy to pieces. And my daughter Melissa and Jamiel just found out they are having another girl so they are trying to figure out what to name her. I read that whatever name a parent chooses for their child, he or she will grow into it and become it. So I bought a baby name book for them to look at, this book has over 100,001 names in it and I think they'll be able to come up with something. Anyway this book has a few different categories that I've never seen when I was picking out names for our children and I thought I would share a few with you. Okay so here we go, I'll just share a few from each category. My all time favorite category is the Mob names one. For boys in that category there's Vito, Fredo, Luca and Carlo. For Mob girls there's Moxie or Apollonia. Or you could name your baby after Disney characters, like Aladdin, Nemo or Gaston for boys or Ariel, Lilo or Aurora for girls. Or you could name your child after a car like Lexus, Bently or Dolorian for boys or Porsche, Audi or Chevrolet for girls. Or how about those Greek gods and goddesses? For boys it could be Zeus, Apollo or Pluto and for girls it could be Aphrodite, Persephone or Venus. They even have names for kids from firearms, barflies, optometrists, surfers rednecks..........you name it and they have a category in this book. I think most parents put a lot of thought and effort in naming their child so I don't sit in judgement on any name. I personally like the names from the 1880's and 1890's, well not all but I do like many of them, like John, James & Joseph for boys and Emma, Elizabeth and Anna for girls. Okay, I'll stop now but I could go on and on with this, it's kind of fun. So tell me what's your favorite name and why do you like it? Have a great Monday! This is Debbie, I mean Joan signing off. :-)





13 comments:

Sandi McBride said...

Oh my LORD! I wanted to be Scarlet before I just knew my name was Valerie...so why did my stupid parents go and name me Sandra??? I'm glad I'm not the only one who hated her first name...but now, I could have been a Joan...I like that...there was a tv show on when I was way little, I married Joan...Course, Leave it to Beaver was my fave...and I married Wally..(Wallace to his family, lol)
hugs
Sandi

Justabeachkat said...

I remember in school there were always lots of us Kathys. I wanted something different. We named our daughter Bree and she hated it when she was little but loved it as she got older. I love it when children are called by both first and middle names. One of our granddaughters is Kaley Grace and her sister is Sydney Anne. Another granddaughter is Karrigan. I love all three
I love using initials too...like calling a ball J.R.

Hugs!
Kat

Irene said...

I definitely prefer the classic names. Names that will not tie a child to a certain time frame.

I also like names that grow old with you. Some names, to me, sound like a child's name and I wonder, if the child grows up and wants to do something high profile, and serious, like run for president, would that be a good name then?

I am definitely not into the very different names like Apple, or Coco. I remember a couple who were in my baby classes before my first who were going to name their son Jag after the TV show. I always thought that seemed a little different. Although, if I ever meet a Jag that is the same age as my daughter, I definitely know who he is!

Donna said...

I think my favorite for girls, is Hannah....boy's.....Harry...yes, Harry...I know, I know..LOL

Anonymous said...

I get a lot of flack for my name, but I wouldn't trade it for another.

You know...Tammy Faye Baker and Tammy movies theme gets sung to me a lot, also Tammy Wynnette jokes...

I read something sometime back that said to stop and consider the name and how it goes together with the last name and possibly choose something the other kids can't pick on...but you know they are going to do it anyway...LOL!

Kellan said...

"This is Debbie - I mean Joan" - too funny! Can't wait to hear the name they choose.

Hey - thanks for coming over and leaving the well wishes - I am fine - only need to remember about that bra thing the next time I ever have to call 911. Hope to see you tomorrow. Kellan

Mimi said...

I love the name "Linda Darlene", I could not name either of my daughters that name because my brother had already used it for his daughter... but I always like the way it went together...and rolled off your tongue.
Mimi

Anonymous said...

Two years ago, I was mad when Melissa and Jamiel picked Maddie (because *I* wanted to name my own baby that... however far off she was), but now I'm so so glad they used it. I can't picture little Buttons being called by any other name.

I also love Cameron, but love Michael even more because it's honoring Uncle Mike.

I'm pushing hard for the baby girl to be Lillian/Lily... I think both of those names are just so precious.

My number one favorite name of all time is Grace. I WILL have a daughter named Grace one day.

Mary Isabella and Kiley too! said...

Amanda for girls and Michael for boys.... Mary

Kari (GrannySkywalker) said...

I always wanted to be named "Marcy". I have no idea why. lol

My son names his children after comic book characters. No, I'm not kidding. First is Madalynn (Maddy) who is named after the X-Men character "Storm" (Storm being her code name, Madilynn being her "real" name). Then was Conner, which is the name of SuperBOY in the comics and now their newest baby, due in May, will be Kara, which is the name of SuperGIRL in the comics. I shudder to think what else he's going to come up with. We're actually just grateful that Kara is a girl. Had she been a boy, they were going to name her Kal-El (Superman's real name on his home planet of Krypton). Can you imagine? Randey was swearing that if they named him that, he was only going to call him "Earl". lol (Not sure why he chose Earl, but whatever!). And my son is 27 years old, by the way! It's not like he's 18 and naming kids like this! lol

LivingTheLife said...

Oh my goodness...the name game...what's in a name??? So much really...and sometimes I think there is not enough thought to a name...I mean really..."Apple", "Shooter" and "Weezil"??? those are names that can't help but be made fun of...I've even been accused of spending too much time deciding a dogs name. I rather liked Hallee Berry's response to a reporter when asked what she would name her baby...she responded by saying, "I think I want to meet my child first then give it a name." Sneaky journalist trying to find out the babies sex...smart Hallee for not falling into that trap.

I love the names I named my children b/c of the signifigance behind each name...I'm sure your grandchildren will have the perfect names...I can't wait to see what they are and how each child looks.

When I was growing up...I loved the Bob Newhart show...and I loved Suzanne Phleshetts character "Emily"...I knew I would one day have a daughter and name her Emily...alas, I did have a daughter and named her Jacquelyn Lee...after her grandfathers...Jack and Lee...BUT...I now have the most wonderful daughter-in-law...and her mom and dad named her EMILY...I still love it to this day! But, I also love our Jackie or Jacquelyn's name...it suits her and it can be either short and sassy or mature and sophisticated...whichever mood she's in...eh!

Blessings...
Teresa Annette...now that is just "wrong" right there...who in the WORLD names their child that...I've never been crazy about Teresa...I should have insisted on being called Terre'...but ANNETTE...REALLY!! If my parents were still alive I would have to give them a talking to...not sure where they got that!! What would have been wrong with Teresa Ann...I could go by Terre' Ann if I liked...or Terre' but geez louise...Annette is more than a mouthful to be accompanied by Teresa...and then I won't even tell you what my last name was...but suffice it to say it was German...and included 8 letters and 2 syllables...Teresa (3) syllables Annette (2) syllables and my long German last name (2) syllables...PEOPLE...we must think about how names flow...and its all about the syllables...RIGHT???

Michelle said...

wow that book sure does have a lot of categories! Picking out names is feeling so daunting to me right now! We didn't find out the gender so we need to be prepared with a boy and girl name, well 2 names each counting the middle name! We haven't gotten very far and I'm 34 wks! Hopefully now that Joe is back we'll buckle down and seriously start thinking of some names!

A Captured Reflection said...

My son is a Joseph and my daughter is an Emma. John is one of my son's middle names too, so was really pleased to see they were names you liked as well :-)