Two Part Post

[requiem-morrow.livejournal.com]

Good Evening All!

An eariler post got me thinking about diversity of opinions in this community. As a population sample, from what I've observed, the community appears remarkabley homogeneous. As someone with "different" taste in names, I must say that I've enjoyed the discussions this list has generated, even if it hasn't really impacted my name choices. I spent two years in undergrad and grad school studying names and perceptions of names. I thought I'd take a moment and outline my personal name "rules," which are pretty simple.

1. Not uber-popular (I don't want a child to be one of six ____ in their class, but some names may be worth it.)
2. Meaning (I prefer names that convey strength, beauty, and loyalty either by meaning or association)
3. Must pass the business card test to be used on a real person
4. Traditional gender of names do not bother me if I really like the name
5. I don't care for names that are extremely masculine or extremely feminine
6. Most "made up" names are out, but words can be names, too. All names started from a word, otherwise names would have no meanings.
7. The spelling must make sense. It can be creative, but it has to make sense. A ridiculous amount of extra letters doesn't make sense.

Now, that being said, I am comfortable in my opinions but will not beat anyone else over the head with them. Its your baby, find a name you love and use it! You can't please everyone. You might think its the greatest name in the world, but someone else will hate it.

That being said....some people take it toooooooooooooooo far (imo). This leads me to Part II of the post.

Part II

Names that made me laugh today:

Angary
Melkin
Mojievan
Kenevious
Bre'Shonaca Lasha (I actually laughed out loud)
Recheal Dearnique
Tiffany Crystal (ok by themselves, seems like a commercial together)
Catoya Breeanna
Edric
Toddrick
Alleggra E'vonn
Lekeebrion Diquion
Jordunn

I would love to hear about everyone else's "rules" when it comes to naming (what's classic has already been covered in previous posts----although if names were cars, any name still around after 20 years would be classic:)

Comments

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

My rules:
1. Must be "classic." Popularity doesn't matter that much, but I tend to stay away from top 10 names, unless I REALLY like it.
2. Must sound good on any age.
3. First name possibilities can't be the first name of a living family member.
4. No names that don't clearly state the gender of the child. I figure my kids are going to have enough trouble with their two moms; they don't need more questions about gender/sexuality than they're already going to get. I wouldn't use a name that has been common on the opposite gender in the last 30 or so years. That is, names like Noah and Elliot are BOY names; names like Marion or Shirley, which became feminine decades ago, are fair game.
5. No creative spellings. I don't care if the spelling makes sense, but the butchering of classic names like Michael piss me off. It's Michael, not Mychael or Micheal or Mikel or Mykel, etc.
6. Must have a decent nickname possibility that I could live with, regardless of whether or not I'd use it.
7. Initials can't spell words, like "ASS" or "PMS"

[requiem-morrow.livejournal.com]

LOL! My neice's initials are NAG:)

[tryyingtoevolve.livejournal.com]

Oh man! Poor kid. That'll be fun for her future daughter-in-law, though, lol.

[requiem-morrow.livejournal.com]

Mine are LAH. At work our email addies are 1st and middle initial with our last names. If you say it fast enough it sounds like lush!

[jordle.livejournal.com]

I had a friend who was going to be Natalie Ann G. but luckily her parents realised and called her Natalie Marie. Funnily enough I met another Natalie a few years later (Who is now a dear friend) and her name is Natalie Amanda G!! So I know a NAG anyway!

[requiem-morrow.livejournal.com]

When I was a teen I discovered the show the young ones. There is a male character named Vyvyan. I loved it! 20 years later, I still love it, but if I gave the name to a real person I would spell it Vivian or Vivienne. I prefer classic spellings for real people:)