Naming Names

When I first arrived in the United States from Taiwan, I found the idea of having two people sharing the same first name strange. In China/Taiwan, no two people have the same first name. Every person has an unique name chosen by his/her parents.

The I encountered the Latino culture, where Jose, Maria, Juan, Carlos are almost ubiquitous. And then there is the Vietnamese names. There seems to be no more than a dozen to chose from--Thuy, Huy, Nguyen, Mai. Lastly, the Arabic names have the smallest variation. Every other person is a Muhammhad.

Personally I would like my children to have unique names, but not too unique so that nobody knows how to spell them. I hate the idea of naming your son/duaghter after yourself. It's stealing their identify from them. I want them to be their own persons.

What would you name your kids? I have mine picked out already with my wife.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

How unique are you talking here? I'm guessing you just mean that there
isn't the amount of repetition found elsewhere, as opposed to the
parents actually going on some sort of quest to check that their chosen
name is, indeed, unique, right? :biggrin:

I'd also like to give my children somewhat rare names, but not so
unique as to bring on ridicule. You all too often hear about utter
tripe names like "Del Monte" for god's sake - while you are certainly
going to have the only child named "Del Monte" on the block, product
placement does not belong on the birth register.

I have possible names picked out for pets, but I don't think I could
convince any woman to let me name our daughter after that
loveable little ninja from Final Fantasy VII
I'd certainly never
name a child after myself though I don't see anything wrong with naming
them after another relative or person. My middle name has been handed
down through my family for about 4 generations I believe. I would
almost certainly continue that tradition, unless a more pressing event
(or demand from the mother) caused me to reconsider.

It's Alexander, in case anybody was actually curious :smile:

What are the names you are thinking Satchmo, if you don't mind sharing?

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Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Well, my parents thought the same. My name is Rainer, which you
realy don't hear much. It comes from Germany and means Natural
Leader. My brother and sister are Sanborn and Denver
respectively, and my mom and dad are penelope and erasmus
respectively. My opa is name Rudolph :smile:

It's a great conversation starter. Something interesting,
different and with a good meaning is what I'd suggest. What did
you choose for your kids?

Realistically, I would name my kid after a Norse god; Odin, Freyr,
Heimdall, Loki, etc. Though ideally, I would want to give it an
embarassing, socially-stigmatizing name, like 'Potato' or something. :smile:

I have a girl named Apple in my class.

Gwnyth Paltrow's daughter is an "Apple" too.

Chinese names are pretty unique. The first name is made of two characters, but there could be one or three characters on occasions. Either of these characters is chosen from a potential 30,000 pool of characters. So the chance of ever running into another person with the same name as you is pretty slim. Here is a short lesson in Chinese characters, if you're curious.

For boys, we came up with Dylan and possibly Brandon, but Brandon is too common. We might end up with something else.

For girls, we've chosen Sydney and Ashley. I know they're pretty common still, but they're not the most common ones.

I wanted to name the sons Jerome or Jamal, but my wife thinks it's too ethnic, especially for a Chinese boy.

I like Jerome. It sounds very virile.

One of my friends is called Weasel. Seriously, that's her real name. And now she's a doctor, it's kinda funny.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Why do people insist on putting a 'U' in 'Muhammhad' ? It makes no sense since it's pronounced "Mo-Ham-Ed", meaning, that's the closest spelling "Mohamed", how I spell my (middle). I can see using two 'm's in the middle, but past that ... why funk it up so much. I'll never understand that. (I means seriously, it sounds retarded-ly cracker to call an Arab guy "Moo-Hamm-Add". (Most people ... who speak Arabic ... pronounce "Hom - Ed".

And, by the way, there's a reason why Muslim's name their kids what they name them. The last name actually changed every so generations. You're suppose to name your kid Whatever, then the 1st middle name is the fathers name, 2nd middle name is the grandfather's name and the last name is the great grandfather's name. However, usually once they drop it they start over so the last name lasts a few generations.

Anyway, yeah, I don't like a lot of English names. (Common). You always try to find something unique and sounds nice ... it doesn't matter how unique a name is if it sounds like ass.

I like the name Ilona ... not sure if that's how you spell it, but it's pronounced (Ill-Lawn-Ah), girls name, hopefully.

Then again, there's a good way to choose girls name. Use non-manly boys names. I met this chick named Dale before. Very ambiguous. I'm sure they spelled it differently though.

I met this one dude his name was Elane or something, it's pronounced "A-Lawn" ... I was like, "That sounds retarded ... no wonder he's 46 and in my sophomore class" this was a couple years ago.

I would so name my kid Odin. I'd then instruct him to have two sons and name them Thor and Loki. And insure that Loki is a little bastard.

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Blame it on Microsoft, God does.

I like Sydney, go with that :smile:

We like Sydney too. But it's also a gender-ambiguous name for some people. It's mostly a girl's name today.

I did propose to my wife in Australia, even though I did it in Melbourne.

I have a gender-ambiguous name myself, but it's not Pat. I like my name, even though others think I am a girl before meeting me.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Why won't you say it if you like it so much? :wink:

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Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

I have 3 kids..

Connor. ( meaning - high Desire )

Shannon. ( meaning - small one, wise one )

Christian. ( meaning - anoited )

Reno I too carry a middle name that was a last name of my great
grandfather, he had no sons, so it was passed down as a middle name to
preserve his name. I passed on to my oldest son Connor.

the name is Reed.. if your wondering.

I love my youngest sons name.. Christain Aleczander.

My mom spelled my first name with an extra e.. I used ot get points off
my paper work because teachers thought I was spelling it wrong. -
Jefferey.

naw I would never name my kid after me.. I feel the same as you guy so far.

My best friend from Scotland named one of his two girls Brooklyn. I also know a Dakota.. and a Sundee..

I knew from the start what each of my kids names were gonna be.

I'd always choose something that I myself would like to be called, but something interesting that reflects on me and whoever it may be wife. I've always thought of Phoebe being a wierd and cool name- not many people called that in the UK at all tbh.

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

My newest little cousin is called Liberty...which made all the rest of
the family kind of awkwardly smile and squirm when it was announced :biggrin:
Libby is a nice enough shortening, but Liberty just didn't sit quite
right with all that many folks. Even worse is the fact that the mother
hates people using shortened names - she's quick to correct anybody who
calls their eldest little girl Elizabeth anything but her full name,
and I'm sure it's the same with Libby.

...I mean Liberty :wink:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Ew, liberty has such an american ring to it... hate to use something patriotic...

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

i remember a news story from a few years ago, when a couple named their little girl 2la. i don't remember which one, but one of the parents said the name had come to them in a dream.

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i eat paint

I forsee barcode style names appearing in overpopulated areas in the future...

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

I'd always choose something that I myself would like to be
called, but something interesting that reflects on me and whoever it
may be wife. I've always thought of Phoebe being a wierd and cool name-
not many people called that in the UK at all tbh.

Myrk-, every time I hear the name Phoebe I think of Holden's little sister in Catcher in the Rye.

And Rainer/Frenchy, your name is badass.

I don't know what I'd want to name my kids. It's not something
I've put much thought into, although a couple of times I've heard a
name I liked and tried to tuck it away in my mind for later, but of
course, I've forgotten them all.

Satchmo, in case you are interested I have a Chinese name. Bo
(2nd tone) Han (4th tone) Cheng (2nd tone). The meaning of which
I've almost completely forgotten. I know that Bo is a phonetic
shortening of my anglo surname, but the character means something,
which I've forgotten (maybe tree, or strength or something). Han
is the character for the Han people. Cheng, I think, is the
character for continuation, or legacy. My Chinese grandparents
gave me this name because even though I'm only half Chinese, I'm the
only male in the family that can carry on their bloodline. That
was a pretty crummy explanation, so I'll have to ask my gonggong and
popo about the accurate definitions.

[quote]

For girls, we've chosen Sydney and Ashley. I know they're pretty common still, but they're not the most common ones.

[/quote]

Have you thought about naming your son Ashley. My name is Ashley and
apart from the occaisional 'but thats a girls name' it goes down fine.
It also shortens nicely to Ash. It comes highly recommended by me :smile: .

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Ham and Jam Contributor
http://www.hamandjam.org

'Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'

There's a guy on my hall with the name Ashley. At first I thought
it was a little strange, but I call him Ash all the time, and Ash is a
pretty sweet nickname.

So yes, for a guy I think that's a good name. But for a girl... it seems too common. I'd vote for Sydney instead.

Ashley and Sydney are the two main characters in Vagrant Story, so you
score bonus points :smile: Ash is a cool nickname too - potential nicknames
are definately something that should be considered when choosing a name
I reckon.

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Bo (2nd tone) Han (4th tone) Cheng (2nd tone).

I know exactly which characters you're talking about.

My Chinese name is Li-Ming. The first character means strength, and the second character means brightness or intelligence. I like my Chinese name, and they're simple characters to write.

I hesitate to reveal my real name in English. If I do, I would lose my anonymity and I have to watch what I say in the forum in case my employer is reading it. I would hate to reign myself in for the discussions.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

I probably couldn't name the kid Nanaki (or RED XIII for that matter), but if I have to pick a name really it would be Jack. Even though it may be and movies and stuff I've never met someone with that name ever before. Also I think its pretty funny that my friends name Hathikar is funny. Not becuase it's the "Englishenised" version of his name, but becuase his brothers names rhyme. Montikar and Sathikar and some others I forget.

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Reckless disregard for childrens well being, women and nothing but utter contempt for other cultures.

Well, I want to name my kids something that MEANS somthing cool.

I hate how everyone is naming thier kids the same thing:

Madison if its a girl

Hunter if its a boy

I also hate how people use "thier own spellings" of the names like there is a girl in the school i work at named "maddysyn" instead of "Madison." WTF?! Spell it right, and name them something good like "Phineas!"

[edit] Im gonna name my kid ".com" so dont any of you feckers steal it!

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

i know ppl who named their 2 kids "gift of god" and "gift of god 2".

no lie

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

People are stupid. Don't let those people pick names for their kids, shoot them, and name them yourself.

David Bowie's child: Zowie Bowie
Frank Zappa's children: Dweezil and Moon Unit

'nuff said.

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My site

<span style="color: lightblue;">Nickel, plz name your kid Phineas and give him a spear for his birthday (you know what I mean)

I got to many names. Officialy I'm named after my grandfather, but then I also got a 'normal' name...Dutch habbit I guess.

</span>

I kinda like "Hunter".

We need to come up with four names in advance--two boys and two girls. We're planning to have two kids.

I'll send the name for my wife to pass or veto.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Which celebrity named their kid "Pilot Inspector" again?

There was a whole VH1 special on stupid celebrity kid names.

Which celebrity named their kid "Pilot Inspector" again?

Hicomeandhelpme!!!

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"Azelito, stop being a f**king bitch. All I see you do is complain and insult people in your recent posts. We don't care, go find a razor you emo pansy..." -Windows98

Damn. Okay, I take back my vote. Phineas is the best name ever.

Children are the cruelest people on Earth. To stigmatize your child
with a name that other children will make fun of is horrible. Make no
mistake, other children will do it, even with common names, why give
them ammunition to traumatize your young one.

Anyway, speaking as a child who was branded with a name my parents thought was cute I feel its wrong.

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There is no history until something happens, then there is.

Phineas makes me think of the book A Seperate Peace by John Knowles.

I think Phineas sounds a little too pretentious. It'd be kinda like naming your kids Franny and Zooey.

UD, your comment made me think about that Simpson's episode where Homer
is trying to find a name for his son that won't be easily made fun
of. He eventually settles on "Bart" after rhyming it with every
word but the obvious "fart."

after having kids......heavyweight boxer george forman did it best...

george I, george II, george III, george IV....cant remember if he had a fifth....

Doc Brasso... :dodgy:

If I had a son, i'd name him Jeremiah, and haven't a clue what to name a girl.

My cat is called Weezer though, so I can't help but feel that it wouldn't be a very good name that I come up with (I wanted to call the cat Frankenstein, but my sister wouldn't let me, and insisted on shortening it to Frankie. El Diablo was also out the window! Personally, I don't see the problem... :wink: ).

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You Got To Get Through What You've Got To Go Through To Get What You Want But You Got To Know What You Want To Get Through What You Got To Go Through

I named my snake El Diablo! It was this awesome like reddish colour, so it fit.

At our school in our grade their are 24 matthews and 16 jasons!!

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I would love to change the world, But they would'nt give me the source code.

the middle name is also pretty important.. for the most part, it's just a middle initial, but it completes the name. i was actually thinking recently about what i'd name my kids when the time comes. dont laugh. this is probly what i'd name my first born:

boy - Mako (after the shark. 'blue lightening') Saul (meaning: called by god) Watson. Mako Saul Watson.

girl - Roxanne (you dont have to put up the red light) Ruby (after my grandmother) Watson. Roxanne Ruby Watson.

The middle name is important, and that's why I've got it all worked out.

Dylan's middle name is going to be Zachary, so his initial would be D.Z. That just sounds so cool. He can even use it as his alias online, like DEEZEE.

I can just imagine it, his buddies calling him "Hey, whazup Deez!"

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Am I the only one who thinks of FF7 when I hear Mako?

strangely enough, i think thats why the mako shark always caught my ear, lol.

ff7>all

<div class="abouttext">Message submitted 28 minutes after original post:</b></div>
dude satcho you're from la? i from glendale.. armenians around here use like 10 first names. ara, arineh, arpineh, arson, sergio..

oops doublepost.. of sorts..? wtf? something is seriously wrong with the pit today

It's going dirt slow to me.

Been like this for a few weeks now hasn't it? I've no idea what the problem is but at times it takes minutes to load a page :sad:

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Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Yer I keep trying to tell Lep, but hes always away. Reno, email Lep and tell him of problems.

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-[Better to be Honest than Kind]-

I think it's time for anew host, and a new URL. How about www.snarkpit.cc?

Where is Lep, anyway? I seem to remember he left for exams or something, and that was months ago.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

dude satcho you're from la?

You're probably the closest mapper to me geographically. If I ever go up to your neighborhood, I might drop by.

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"The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return." -- Toulouse-Lautre, Moulin Rouge

Maybe 1 in every 20 people I meet can get my name right, and I've seen some very creative spellings of it too.

It appears that in my family line, names are based on our
religion. Since my family -- more specificly my mother's side --
are a long descent of Catholics. I happen to be one too, and my
father converted when he married my mother.

That said, it looks as though our family line names their children after a Saint's name. Mine being "Joseph".

Meh, but that doesn't mean much in my family -- every boy on my mother's side is named "Joe". :razz:

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Breaking the laws of mapping since 2003 and doing a damn fine job at it