Annoyed....

[elizebethjoy.livejournal.com]

I'm a little appalled after reading some of the responses in gothikbutterfly's post. Specifically, when folks were saying stuff to the effect of "what were they thinking?" in reference to the parents of someone with an "odd" name. Really, what do you do when you meet someone whose parents were from the Ukraine, or some other place where the names aren't familiar to most Americans? Do you really make a snap judgement on that person's parents? Don't you think that's a little closed-minded? How about assuming something good, like that their parents are from an exotic place, or have a interesting family background?

On a slightly different topic: I know people feel strongly about names, but tact is an important part of being a member of society. It IS possible to not like a name, or a person's opinion, and not trash that person using strong and, sometimes, innapropriate language. It would be great practise to try to phrase your opinions in such a way that you don't cause new members to run away crying. I mean, come on, gothikbutterfly's baby was due yesterday, and some of you treated her like garbage. Couldn't you find a more eloquent way of expressing yourself?

And for the record, there were some posts from people who didn't like the names she suggested, and were able to say so in a way that fostered conversation and constructive feedback. Thank you so much for being here and for speaking up.

Comments

(frozen)

[elizebethjoy.livejournal.com]

Certainly true, but if I met a Chasval in real life, I would have no idea that he was named for an anime character. I would assume the best before the worst, like that it was a family name (maybe a last name?) or somesuch.

I think that when you first made your comment, there was no clarification between "odd name" and "odd name from pop culture or bastardization of words/names." Instead of thinking of Atreyu, I started thinking of friends and family who have names from other cultures or from a family history. In my family, we have Forest, Leolani, Sylwia, Jerzy, Loee, etc. All the parents had a good reason for naming their child, and that reason may not be evident when you first meet one of the people with the weird name.

You made the comment, sure, but I know that you're not the only person who feels that way. You just happened to be the first to say it. I do kind of wish that you had clarified what you meant by odd name; I absolutely agree that there is a difference between, oh, Pilot Inspektor (for an example) and Li Shen. But it does worry me to think that if I named my son that, poeple might assume he was named after a cartoon character instead of his grandfather.

To make a long story short, I was projecting my own fears based on what you wrote, and hormones and nausea didn't much help. Anyways, I'm going to stop trying to push my morals on everyone... sometimes I forget that the internet is NOT the best place to stage a debate.

Many congratulations on your pregnancy; sounds like we're both going to be having New Years babies. :)