Yeah, but according to this Calvin has a good history and progeny. You’ve got Calvinism. You’ve got Calvin Coolidge. And most importantly of all, you’ve got Calvin and Hobbes! :)

We read through a lot of name books on our second and we settled for Cutter (it is a derivative of Cutler). We, meaning my wife and I, used this name for the last 5 months of the pregnancy so it was his name. In the hospital I casually mention to my wife that he might have to deal with some teasing due to the bug spray name and she was shocked. “What bug spray” she asked. “I thought you knew,” I said. So we kept the name but changed the spelling to Qatar, like the country, figuring people named their kids Jordan and Chad. My daughter was named Kennedy, but my wife used an old Irish spelling that she just loved, Cenneigdigh. As for me, I like saying here are my four sons and my girl Cenny.

TStevens,

Qatar and Cenneigdigh? If you are being serious, then I predict your children will be seeking legal name changes at a very early age.

Totally serious, and they really seem to like them so far. For a bible name I do have a Zeke as well.

TStevens, do you have Cutlers in your family? We were considering it for a boy name (it’s my family-of-origin surname) but alas, three girls later, and no Cutler.

No matter how you spell it, Cutter rhymes with Butter.

LOL, Bookslinger. That’s certainly the best Bible name.

TStevens:

Wow. Suddenly, having a son whose name means “bald” doesn’t seem so bad.

Austin (10):

You might as well have named your daughter Kedsj83h*f824&g and told people to pronounce it Jennifer.

In addition to being hilarious, this gives me a potential out: His name is spelled C-A-L-V-I-N, but it’s actually pronounced “Alexander.”

I mainly did it because I am a bad parent who enjoys being mean. And as someone who also almost became a therapist (changed paths with my masters) I thought I would give future therapists plenty of business.

No Cutlers, but just got it out of a name book. I did think it would be funny to name my kids Nephi or Moroni but insist on the incorrect pronunciations I used to here on my mission, just to yank peoples chains at church. Like saying Nephi as neph (in nephew) and the I as an EEEE sound. So it could have been worse. I do have a Joe as well if that makes it even out.

Qatar does rhyme with butter, but you can say Stinkiel instead of Ezekiel.

Sixty years from now, all boys’ names but one will have become girls’ names, and all boys will be named John. Thirty years after that, the girls will have appropriated John as well, and boys won’t have names.

DKL (4): Colbhach?! Come to think of it, how cool would it be to have three boys whose names all mean bald? I like the consistency.

Hmm, TStevens, I’m still thinking you might be joking since you misspelled your daughter’s name. But if not, didn’t the practice of “cutting” occur to you? As in high school kids who are “cutters”?

And my mom’s neighbor is naming her new boy Howdy.

Tagore,

My first name is obvious enough. My son is named Paul. I’m not going to reveal my last name here (you already know it), but when asked what we should name our upcoming boy he said, “Curious George!” While I have nothing against the name George, I think in our case naming him Ringo (or Richard) would (oddly enough) be less obvious.

When my boy was born, I knew I wouldn’t be sticking around long, so I gave him a name to toughen him up to survive on his own. I wonder how the kid made out. Well, enough of this internet computer stuff; time to get back to dealing stud.

I am Deb. My brothers married Debbie and Debra. We couldn’t let that happen to the next generation, so my kids have unusual names—and they like the variety. How can you look at a sweet baby and say “you are wonderful, precious, one of a kind…and there are only 4 more Brittneys in every class you’lll ever be in.”

Basically, if you are going to be teased, your name will not make any difference.

That is so not true. Take it from me, a girl named Susie. SusieQ, Susie Chapstick, SusieQ Baby I Love You, Wake Up Little Susie, I got it all and I got it constantly.

Was never teased for anything else.

I love the Simpsons when they’re thinking up names for Bart. Homer gives it the teasing test: “Art, Cart, Dart…we’re good!”

seriously.

how do really cutsie names play out in adulthood?

I am trying to imagine how “Cenneidigh Stevens” looks to a prospective employer? Do you think she/ he will suffer resume discrimination?

sorry to shoot a bullet through the fun.

mfranti, you are right (as usual). I definitely understand people’s desire for their kids to be differentiated in some way from their peers, but I am of the opinion that this should emerge naturally as much as possible. Saying “I want my kid to stand out, so let me find him/her a strange name” is imposing a parent’s need for differentiation on a child who may not want it. It’s selfish, born out of a parent’s desire to stand out in some way.
TStevens, I am not saying you’re a bad person! I know a lot of other people who have given their kids strange names, and I think it can be prevented if parents just ask themselves “Am I doing this for my child, or for me?”

My wife and I chose semi-common first names and semi-unique middle names. We tell our kids we’ll call them anything they want us to. Other than a six week period of time my oldest son asked to be called Jerry, they’ve chosen their first names.

“Naming a child on the basis of increasing their employment chances seems a little wrong.”

I am not suggesting that at all. And I agree with you. I was just thinking long term since it came up.

Name discrimination does exist. And at the risk of sounding harsh, a name that sounds too, ummm, foreign? ethnic? are less likely to receive a call back.

call me conservative but I am of the opinion that fun names are best left to pets.

It beats the alternative ;)

Huh?

Melanie, I think you’re overreacting.

I’ve never had any resume problems that I’m aware of. Neither has my wife.

My school, every year, looks at hiring new people. I’ve sat in on a number of hiring decisions about a number of people. The name factor never came up once.

My law school, along with me, has an Eniola.

My old law firm, along with the Pauls and Tims, had a Faiza, Rajiv, Adhiti, and many other less common names.

I really don’t see names being so much of a problem in finding a job.

Dan, just to clarify I think you have made a lot of good points and I can see validity to your argument. I also think you put too much stock in it, as in if you give your child an uncommon name then all the bad things that could be associated with it are true. I think that that says more about how you view the world rather than how the world actually is.

Also, all parents constantly impose beliefs, hopes, and values on the children beyond a name. I think this is called parenting rather than dismissing it as artificial.

I did take the time last night to discuss with my kids their names as I was making dinner, and I know this isn’t a valid study due to me asking the questions, but they all expressed they did not have any problems with their peers because of them. In fact, and this may lend itself to the artificial point you made, my oldest said he wouldn’t be him without his name.

Anyways, we seem happy with our lot, but I will concede that it can and is a burden to some children. But I believe this is a chicken and egg problem, and that the the child would have the problem with or without the uncommon name rahter than the name causes the problems. The again I am often wrong and this belief is open to change.

I was reading the Payson, Utah newspaper (My roommate subscribes) and one of the one year olds announced in Payson is named Scottlyn(pronounce it with a Utah accent)and her sister is named Arlington. Yeah, the kids are Scotland and Arlington. Although I agree with the principle of Dan’s point–I think its debatable whether or not naming your girls Scottlyn or Scotty and Arlington may be a worse offense than Cenneigdigh and Qatar.

I have always believed that one test for a name is to go to the front porch and yell it out, like you are calling the kid home for dinner. If you can do that without feeling foolish, you probably have an okay name.

My sister-in-law wishes she had done that. She named her daughter Kaitlin and son Kaden. When she yells for one to come home, it sounds like she is yelling for the other.

CS Eric:

Did I ever tell you that Mrs. McCave had 23 sons and she named them all Dave?

Kevin (26): Thank you. Now I can console myself with the fact that the name not only means bald, but also chauvinism. I feel much better now.

i don’t mind names that look weird because they’re of a different language, i just hate names like emuleigh. of course, i’m 1g american and my given name is gaelic, so i sympathize with a cenneidigh.

our oldest has a “normal” name, but one that is not common. our second has my name, but spelled differently because the language changed. we went nuts trying to name our youngest. when she was two months old, we flipped a coin because insurance was about to reverse charges and we didn’t want babygirl on the birth certificate. unfortunately, it’s been a few months and it still doesn’t fit her. at least it’s a very common, but untrendy name.

for boys, we only like traditional names. i’ll groom my boys for congress and give them all names like robert, john, kenneth, and joseph.

[...] Lexus, Quatar, Cenneigdigh or, past the mid-90’s, Beyonce. A friend of mine has a great story about giving a [...]