Someday, maybe within the next 10 years, Eric & I will have a kid. And we will be faced with the task of naming it. When we're thinking through all the possibilities, there will be a significant number of names that we automatically eliminate because:
1) We know someone with the same name, and do not like that person
2) Someone else (friend/relative) has recently named their child that name and therefore it is "taken"
3) Someone's dog/cat/gerbil's has the same name, and we won't want our kid to be "named after" an animal
Ex #1. In my teens I really liked the name Allison. I knew no Allisons, and therefore didn't have bad associations with the name. I thought "Alli" was a cute nickname. But then my cousin had a daughter and gave her the American name of Allison (she goes by her Korean name for the most part). Then I met a couple of Allisons I don't like. So now, the name is unusable due to #s 1 and 2.
Ex #2. I really, really love the name Sofia ("Sofie"). I think that if I had a daughter named Sofie, she would grow up to be lovely and patient and kind. And good at ballet. And she would be a little spunky, to boot! BUT THEN. I just found out that my friend named her brand new dog Sophia. And my other friends just had a daughter and named her Sofia. So now my favorite girl name has been eliminated due to #s 2 and 3.
Now. I understand that I cannot control what people are named, and that parents can name their kids whatever the heck they please. HOWEVER. I think it is perfectly reasonable to request that people name their pets normal pet names. What happened to good ol' Rascal or Rover or Lucky or Spike? Save the cute human names for future cute humans! Chloe is a cute name for a kid! Don't ruin it for future human Chloes by naming your cat Chloe. For crying out loud. Better yet, get creative! Let your creative juices flow with your pet names, not your kids' names! You can name your dog Precious or Helium or President, or Inspektor Gadget or Apple or Jet or whatever. Then everyone wins: kids aren't traumatized with crazy names, and pets get a unique name that reduces the incidence of name-elimination by #3.
(end rant)
4 comments:
You're probably aware of it, but there's a scrubs episode about that (when JD names a hamster what Turk was going to name his kid).
My cat has a human name. LOL. Blame my mother. When you think of names please be cognizant of initials too! Just look at how well-adjusted I am now.
Also what makes you think you're going to get all girl babies? Better start thinking of some back-up boy names!
Love the reference too to the kid as "it". :D
you should STILL keep the name Sofia, I think. or you can call her anna pavlova. Anna Pavlova Signoff. (Signoff-Kim?)
when i get a dog, i plan to name him bob, or bill, or dan, etc. for the comic nature of calling after bob (or bill, or dan, etc.) and having people turn around when hearing their name only to realize you were calling a dog. i apologize in advance.
also. we have a cousin whose daughter's name is Allison? WHO had a daughter named Allison? I feel so out of the loop...
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