(no subject)

[chillinbabejodi.livejournal.com]

This is probably a weird post but I'm curious..

What do you think of the names teenage mothers give to their child(ren)?
Do you think it's possible to tell wether or not a baby was born to a teenager by his/her name?
What names have teenagers you know given to their children? Are they all Aiden/Hayden/Braedens & Addison/Madisons ?

Comments

[seasonofspring.livejournal.com]

Being unique is a big thing for a teenager, so I think they're more likely to misspell names or come up with awful abominations because somehow a lot of people think that if they give their child a unique name, the child will be unique, not knowing that uniqueness is something that comes from the person rather than their name.

The problem is teenagers are so impressionable that they end up naming their kids the same trendy names everyone else is using (Madison, Addison, etc) often with a different spelling to make it unique. I also think they're more likely to name kids after TV characters, actors and musicians. When Gilmore Girls came out, the name Rory for a girl became all the rage, and nowadays with Gossip Girl I hear a lot of teenagers saying "I think the name Blake/Leighton is SOOO cute for a girl and so unique!" Grey's Anatomy is to blame for the recent crop of Addisons and Izzies; Sex and the City with Aidan; Lindsay due to Lindsay Lohan, etc. Whereas someone older might name a child after a family member, I think younger people are more likely to name a child after whoever startlet has recently broken into the CW that week.

When I was a teenager I remember liking Stephanie, Tiffany and the like, and really crappy/hippie/nature names like Sky, Rain, River, etc, because I thought they were unique. As I grow older I realize that some day my child might want to grow up to be a lawyer, doctor, etc, and believe it or not, misspelt/ridiculous/made up names can hinder a person's professional career. I remember reading a study not to long ago about name discrimination and how some people are more likely to get certain jobs if they have a proper name. The gist of it was basically that if two girls apply to Harvard and they have the same qualifications/grades/etc, and one of them is named NeveahLeigh and the other one is named Eleanor, Eleanor will get into Harvard because she has a respectable name.

I've also come to see the beauty in old fashioned names. I've fallen in love with their history and meanings. I'm sorry, but I find the name Beatrice a MILLION times more beautiful than, say, Addison. Often I thank God I didn't have a baby when I was a teen. I probably would've chosen an awful name.

Of course I'm generalizing, and I've known plenty of teenagers who give their children lovely names and plenty of adults who give their children crappy names. I don't think it takes an adolescent to choose an awful name, but someone with an adolescent mind.

[azelmaroark.livejournal.com]

I don't think it takes an adolescent to choose an awful name, but someone with an adolescent mind.

Took the words right out of my mouth.

ETA: I can only think of one teen mom I actually know off the top of my head, and her little girl was Lucy. Which is on my own list, so yeah.

[perfectcherry.livejournal.com]

I agree with this, because I've known plenty of young mothers of various ages (teens to early twenties) who have given their children ridiculous names, while others have given them much better names.

In high school I knew a girl named Navis who named her son Sivan, which was her own name spelled backwards. Recently I had some not-prepared-to-be-parents friends name their daughter Dillyn McKenzie - ech! I wouldn't mind it so much if not for the stupid spelling. A friend's teenaged sister name her son Dylan, which I think is nice, and her newest daughter Grace, which is also nice, which aren't idiotic, but are both quite trendy names.

I really wish more people would get back to old-fashioned names, as well, and that has happened somewhat with the resurgence in popularity of the flower names, Isabelle, and Grace, but I hope more parents will branch out further in that direction.

[sophie-louise89.livejournal.com]

AGREED.