A Boy Named Sue
Today's New York Times obituaries mention the death of Kelsie Harder, one of the world's leading onomasticians-- an expert in names and their origins. His rumination about why his parents gave him a girl's name sparked his interest in this area of scholarship. Dr. Harder's parents wanted to give him an unsusual name and liked the sound of Elsie, his sister's. They stuck a "K" in front of Elsie.
"We are at the mercy of our name givers," he said. "These things influence us for the rest of our lives, and we have nothing to do with it."
As an author of two books on baby names, he warned that boys name "Jr" ended up on psychoanalyst's couches.
I'm also intrigued by the choices some parents make in naming their children, and I wonder what provokes them to call their kids after brand names ("Mercedes," "Tiffany"), names that are overly religious ("Jesus", "Mohammed"), and names that have a new age cast ("Africa", "Rainbow"). As in the Johnny Cash's song, the unfortunately named can prevail despite or because of their name. However, for some, it may be a psychic wound that festers for their entire life. In Dr. Harder's case, it appears that his name didn't hurt him, and he even gave his first name to his son, but without the "Jr."
Most parents want their children to both stand out-- be individuals in their own right-- and fit in-- be accepted by peers. In the early years of life, conformity has more value than non-conformity as the former is needed to build a base for achieving. If this is so, I suggest that a child's name needs to pass the snicker test. Kids in the early grades spend more brain power than we sometimes appreciate figuring out ways to needle their classmates, and a poorly-chosen name is a hurdle that most kids don't need at that time in their life.
When we chose our two son's names, we considered diminutives, initials, word sounds, syllable counts, and connection to heritage to arrive at what we think are names that they can take pride in for the rest of their lives. We think we chose the right names.
"We are at the mercy of our name givers," he said. "These things influence us for the rest of our lives, and we have nothing to do with it."
As an author of two books on baby names, he warned that boys name "Jr" ended up on psychoanalyst's couches.
I'm also intrigued by the choices some parents make in naming their children, and I wonder what provokes them to call their kids after brand names ("Mercedes," "Tiffany"), names that are overly religious ("Jesus", "Mohammed"), and names that have a new age cast ("Africa", "Rainbow"). As in the Johnny Cash's song, the unfortunately named can prevail despite or because of their name. However, for some, it may be a psychic wound that festers for their entire life. In Dr. Harder's case, it appears that his name didn't hurt him, and he even gave his first name to his son, but without the "Jr."
Most parents want their children to both stand out-- be individuals in their own right-- and fit in-- be accepted by peers. In the early years of life, conformity has more value than non-conformity as the former is needed to build a base for achieving. If this is so, I suggest that a child's name needs to pass the snicker test. Kids in the early grades spend more brain power than we sometimes appreciate figuring out ways to needle their classmates, and a poorly-chosen name is a hurdle that most kids don't need at that time in their life.
When we chose our two son's names, we considered diminutives, initials, word sounds, syllable counts, and connection to heritage to arrive at what we think are names that they can take pride in for the rest of their lives. We think we chose the right names.
Labels: words
posted by My Mall and News at
1:09 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home