Crazy Names

[snoglobel.livejournal.com]

I came across this Mommyish article on crazy baby names, and thought this group might appreciate it as much as I did.

From: http://mommyish.com/stuff/stfu-parents-crazy-baby-names/

Clip: (with much more in the article and in the link)

 

Wednesday, July 27 - 12:30 pm ET

 

STFU Parents: Crazy Baby Names

4 hours ago by STFU Parents | 43 Comments | Share a Tip

It’s hard to say when exactly parents started focusing on giving their children unique (or “yoonique”) names, but it seems that the trend has completely spiraled out of control. Ask anyone the craziest baby name they know, and chances are they’ll say something you’ve never heard before. A couple of days ago I asked STFU, Parents readers this question on Twitter and Facebook, and the names ranged from Female (pronounced Fem-AH-lee), to Jazzman, to siblings named Tamara, TaDae, Yesterdae and Tonite.

I think the biggest change I’ve noticed with baby names in recent years is that nowadays a name can be considered unique based on multiple factors: overall wackiness, pronunciation and “yoonique” spelling. Back in the day, if parents wanted their child to have a unique name they just came up with something that didn’t exist or that sounded original. But now if you ask parents what their baby’s name is, they might say something that sounds traditional like “Kevin” but the spelling is actually “Quybhin.”

I receive so many emails on this subject that I’ve decided to devote today’s column to baby names. Say what you want about the trend, but it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. So buckle up and enjoy the ride as we take a look at some of the most common types of unique names.

1. The Awkward Spelling

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When you have to tell people right off the bat how to pronounce a name, you know the kid is doomed for life.

Also related: http://www.stfuparentsblog.com/post/8138883877/this-weeks-column-on-mommyish-deals-with-one-of

Comments

[after-the-ashes.livejournal.com]

I somehow got the pronunciation right from reading the name, and wasn't as horrified as I expected. Maybe because such normal names prefaced it.

[holidaylights.livejournal.com]

When you have to tell people right off the bat how to pronounce a name, you know the kid is doomed for life.
Poor Genevieve and Mireille and Siobhan. They never had a chance.

IDK, it wouldn't be my choice, but I think Xili is cute, and snarking on someone excited over the birth of a family member just seems a little...gratuitous.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

There's a difference between completely made up spellings of names and names that have been around for YEARS that are ~somewhat~ well known (sure a Siobhan might have to tell half the people she meets how to pronounce her name, but a lot of people WILL know how to pronounce it, because, it's a legit name).

We snark all the time over birth names, and most people are pretty excited about a new birth in the family, regardless of the name.

[holidaylights.livejournal.com]

I'm not disputing that having a very counter-intuitively pronounced name can be irritating - just think "Xili" is an odd example since it's completely phonetic.

And yeah, I'm not a huge fan of the name snark in general, but obviously mileage varies.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___heyvanity/]

Xili Bess is bad, but I pronounced it FAIRLY similar to ZEE-lee, I said Zi-lee. I've seen worse, but it's pretty bad.

[melly-issa.livejournal.com]

I think Xili is more pronouncable than the poster's name Lerin...

[cremepuff.livejournal.com]

It looks like "Leerin'" to me, which wouldn't sound so great...

[solitudete.livejournal.com]

Looks like Erin wants to be French... "L'Erin."

Or leering, which is so pleasant.

[cremepuff.livejournal.com]

Xili's certainly an...interesting name. The only problem I had was that at first glance, the X looked like a K and I thought it was a unique spelling of Keely.

There are far more snark-worthy names out here, but I'm a huge fan of the STFU Parents site, so thanks for posting!

[laminy.livejournal.com]

Xili's pronunciation makes sense though, so it's not actually that stupid. At the worst, I might have said zie-lie.

People pronounce my name wrong almost all the time. Annoying, but doomed for life? Not even close.

AND NOBODY NAMED THEIR KID FEMALE. SHUT UP ALREADY.

[solitudete.livejournal.com]

Oh man.. "Adorabella" cracked me the heck up, and the Scout/Talon/McKiley/Kenzly convo just ruined me.

I have to admit that even Xili is more appealing than the kidbot horde composed of Brayden/Jayden/Hayden/Kaden + Mikynli/Mckyli/Mykynzie.

[pleasure-past.livejournal.com]

Not going to lie, I'm judging all of the people in those comments who included centuries-old names, with the original/most common spelling, in lists with Londyn and Mersadeez way harder than I'm judging the people they're making fun of. Not WASP =/= made-up. *sigh*

That said, some of those names are pretty bad. I really hope that SquirrelyBob wasn't true. I mean, there's inconvenient names like mine, where you're constantly correcting the pronunciation and telling people how to spell it, and then there's names like that, which will seriously get your application thrown out. :l

[vanish.livejournal.com]

When you have to tell people right off the bat how to pronounce a name, you know the kid is doomed for life.

I have to disagree with that, because not every name is so straightforward. Even a name like "Dana" or "Alicia" can be pronounced more than one way. However, I'm not digging the name itself, and I'm certain that someone is going to look at it and think, "Silly Bess".