The Name Game !

[Trip]

Trip Trip Bo Bip..Banana Fanna fo Trip...Fi fi fo Fip..TRIP..!!!

Since Gwyneth Paltrow, had a baby this weekend, and aned her Apple, I felt the need to post this thread..I was named after the record, Linda, which Buddy Clark sang in the 40's..So many of the Linda's you may know, are my age...My Father, and many others I guess, loved this song, that's the reasoning behind MY name....Now poor baby Apple may grow up to love her name. Frankly. jmho..its child abuse....Kids have enough to worry about growing up, to be always explaining their unusual moniker...

Did Gwynth ponder long and hard like I did with my kid's name? Maybe I worried to much, but I wanted lyrical names that flowed with a one syllable last name..Initials that would not be untwoard, and no spellings that would always have to be spelled....It seems in the 70's, when I named them, Michael Jonathan and Nicole, I was ahead of the times, because all 3 names ended up on the most popular list..that's someting my daughter didn't want when she named my grandson Aiden, But sure enough, its right up there...

Between me, my daughter and my 2 daughter in-laws we have two L.A.P's one N.A.P, and a P.A.P

In the 70's, my sister called my Mother, and said I hope you don't mind, but I changed my name..at the time in California, it cost you nothing to change your name, as long as you could prove you were not doing it to avoid the law....She changed her name from Helen to Deven..just by changing 2 letters, and voila !!! To this day , I still have a hard time calling her, her new name..

So this leads me to the questions..are you happy with your name, if you could change it, what would you choose, Tiffany, Paris Moon Unit, Roman, [Debra Messing's new baby boys's name} Trendy , traditional. what are you?

I am nicknamed, Linn,Linnie, my Husband has called me Charlie since before we got married , 36 years ago..Here I am Trip..Tripster. Kuki calls me Triplet...And my name being Linda, and my screen name Trip.... well you understand why I could gag

So whats you your handle...any unsual names in your group of family and friends? My grandfather was Napoleon, as was his first son...Alonzo and Lucien were the other 2 boys..Lucienne was my Mom..all names that may come round again...As did my Dad's name Jacob...But my bet ..Hermione..Ethyl &Prunella, have seen their day....!



Post Edited (05-17-04 17:48)

[PapaBill]

I never believed in giving a child a name that they had to either explain or pronounce for people. Some feel that this helps to make children be individuals. I believe that a highly unusual name subjects a child to ridicule. We all know the Johnny Cash song " A Boy Named Sue".
My parent stuck to regular , ordinary names thus we were Donald , William and Joseph.
When my three girls were born we stuck to names that Gram liked. Thus, Christina,
Catherine and Andrea. Although they all have little family nicknames they are Chistina, Catherine and Andrea (not Tina or Chris: not Cathy : and not Andy). Same goes for the granchildren, ordinary names, not necessarily family names for the girls, definately family names for the boys, Thus, Caroline, Sabrina , Philip and Donald. Once again,
no shortened versions or nicknames (outside the family) .
I had a friend who named his son for an old family surname . Thus his son Seuell.
The kid grew up a bully, constantly in fights over his name (pronounced Soo Ell ).
In my family we don't even give the dog a weird name.

[rollerdonna]

I agree about not giving kids names that are unusual, hard to pronounce or funny spelling. My particular gripe here is with celebrities. We have a columnist in the Montreal Gazette who, whenever he announces the birth of some celebrity's baby with a strange moniker, says: where are the name police when you need them?
Apparently, I was supposed to be named Gail. When I was born, my dad said "she doesn't look like a Gail, she looks like a Donna, so Donna I am! (My sister later got the Gail as a middle name!) My kids were named carefully, so as to be pronouncable, spellable, and go nicely with their last name. Didn't help though, when there ended up being 5 Jessicas in my daughter's high school class! Both my kids' surname is Traviss
(with 2 s's), and to this day, my son Tyler is constantly being called Traviss instead. So much for my good intentions. As for unusual names, My mom is Gladys and she HATES her name, and my father's father was Rodolph, which always makes me think of the reindeer!

donna (who added the "roller" because I love to skate!)
P.S. Trip, being named after a song, do you get people singing it to you all the time?
I always get some clown singing "Oh D-o-o-n-n-a"!



Post Edited (05-17-04 17:50)

Elizabeth Taylor hates to be called Liz. My mother's name is Lillian, and she has always disliked being called Lily. My grandmother wanted to call me Alice which neither of my parents liked. I was nearly called Carol because I was born on Christmas Day, but my folks decided on Judith, which I never liked! So I've always gone by Judy.

But I certainly agree that it's cruel to hang on a child a name that he or she will be ridiculed for the rest of their lives.

J.

[Cruisenut1]

Well the full name is Cheryl, but have been Cher for over 35 years (I think mine got shortened before THE Cher got popular). So I have heard all the Sonny and Cher jokes.
I like the name, and it's easy to remember. I was named after Cheryl Walker, and old time actress (my mom said). I remember seeing her in a line up for a late night movie, but fell asleep before I saw my namesake, so still never saw her.
All of us have simple names, Mark, Erik, Ryan and me, (all 4 letters, easy to remember-lol).

[PaulaJ]

The only name my husband and I could agree on for our last daughter was Casey. My sister in law said "great I'll call her CJ (middle name is Jean)". I hated that so we spelled her name Kasey. Now the sister in law calls her KJ. My brother calls her K-C (he actually says K dash C). Her dad's nickname for her is brief Kase. She thinks her name is Princess.

Sometimes you just can't win.

My name is Paula, after my grandmother Pauline. The number one song people sing when they first meet me? ???? "Hey hey Paula...."

What will Gwyneth name her next child? Grape? Banana? Probably not.

Paula

[Lisa]

Well, my parents went with simple for all three of us....two LAP's and one MRP.

Lisa Anne (me), Laura Amy (my sister was supposed to be Amy Louise, but my Dad hated both names, so he compromised on Laura Amy) and Mark Robert (his middle name is our Dad's.)

BTW - do you know what song I was tortured with back in the 70"s??? I'm Not Lisa by Jessi Colter!

Hi,

I'm James (Jim), my brother is Stephen (Steve) and my sister is a Linda (though she spells it Lynda).

My niece was named Julie (born February 17, 1970; murdered May 4, 2001); my oldest nephew is Douglas; his brother is Sean (named after actor Sean Connery, the first James Bond). Doug's oldest son is Riley.

Stephen's wife is Bonnie; his son, my nephew, is Joshua; Joshua's wife is Jennifer (Jenn) and their son is named Hunter.

In California, I have an Aunt Sharon (Sheri) and Uncle Frank. Cousins Mitch(ell), Mike and Mary Lou(ise). Mitch's wife is Shelly; their children are daughter Cassidy and sons Hunter and Ian. Dogs are schnauzer Sam, golden retriever Buddy Bear and German Shepherd Phoenix. Mike's son is Michael Frank; Mary Lou's kids are Brandon and Stephanie.

In Canada: uncles Arnold, George and Tom; aunts Edith, Marilyn and Wilma; cousins Danny, Tom, Larry, Stephen, Lori, Anne, Michael, Janet, Ralph, David, John Paul (JP) and January (truth: born January 10, 1971, she was named for her birth month). There's a Michaela and a Meghan. Lots of other cousins I've yet to meet.

Jim

[fasteddie]

Can anyone have a more boring name than Ed? A friend thatI played football with started the Fasteddie nickname. Although he's the only one that uses it, I like it as a password for the endless websites that insist on one.
I have other nicknames, but they bring up too many painful memories from my childhood. <G> Does anyone remember the Cosby kids? The one that says hey, hey, hey? Let's say that at least it has been shortened to Bert over the years.

My brother Steve and his wife Sue named their two daughters Sarah and Stacie, so all of their initials are SG. Too funny, huh?

How how does that song go? Chuck, Chuck, bo buck, banana fanna, fo.......
Oops! Thought I was 13 again.

Ed

[DougR.]

I am always amused with the yuppie mania for giving "unique" names for their children. I remember when Bruce Willis and Demi Moore named one of thier girls "Scout" (I had a dog by that name) a columnist called it a "Hollywood" name. The most egregious example of an unusual name is one of my step daughter's male classmates: Brendon. Mom is Brenda, dad is Don. ewwwwwwwwwwwww!

[Bastet]

Hi,
My name is Karyn (yes, spelled with 'Y'.) I supposed to be Marcia until I was born & my mother decided I didn't look like a Marcia. -- She was expecting a dark-haired child and got a strawberry blonde. Aint genetics wonderful? Thanks PapPap. --- An older cousin had a friend, Karen, whom my mother liked, and hence I was named Karyn. The different spelling to make the name a little different. Yes, I have to spell it all of the time, but I don't mind. I like that it is slightly different, it sets me apart form the rest of the Karens. I can sign just my first name and people still know which Karen. It also shows me which people pay attention to details and which don't. You'd be amazed at the number of people who spell my name wrong even when I've spelled it for them or they've seen it writtten.

I like slightly unusual names for people, but not the bazaar Hollywood names. They're interesting and a conversation starter. And I think a lot of people like their names to be a little different. Why else the Lindas who spell it Lynda, the Pattys and Debbies who spell their names with an 'i' . The Bettys who go by Bette (an aunt of mine).

In my family, we have a family name, Austin (great-uncle, uncle, cousin, 2nd cousin). Until recently it wasn't heard often outside of the family. Now it's very popular. I liked it better when it was more unusual.

I do agree about the easy to pronounce and not highly unusual. While its nice to be a little special, being constantly teased is not fun.

[MichelleP]

I think I must be unusual for my age group but I'm another fan of simple, classic names.

My mom didn't put a lot of thought into my name. Originally she suggested Amanda, but my dad hated it, so she decided on Michelle. She thought it would be unique. Once I had a class with six other girls named Michelle. So much for uniqueness.

Last time I asked her about it, she said she wished she had thought to name me Bronwyn after the character in "How Green Was My Valley." I love that book and think the name fits me much better than Michelle. But who wants to go through the hassle of changing your name and getting weird looks from the people who knew you before as Michelle?! Guess I'm stuck with it.

Edited to add that the Beatles' song "Michelle My Belle" has always been the bane of my existence.

Mark and I have completely opposite taste in names. I really hate all of his choices and he really hates all of mine. We're going to have a tough time when we have kids.

Cheers,
Michelle P.



Post Edited (05-18-04 13:19)

[Jason]

I like the Name Mercedes Delta (see last weeks post).

The following is a copy of a post I made Back in Jan. of 2003.
My first name is really Keith. My father, John (Jack), was the top adviser for J.F. Kennedy. To cut the confusion of names in the Whitehouse my Dad was called “J”. As a child I would be at the Whitehouse very frequently, due to the fact that whatever Dad was doing with the family, whenever he got called, he would go immediately with us in tow. In the hallways of the Whitehouse they (secret service, house staff, aids, ect, ect.) would ask who I was. The reply was always J’s son. Some how that was misunderstood to be my name, Jason. So when the President, Uncle Jack, started calling me Jason it just stuck….ORRRRRR…..My name is Keith Jason ----- IV and my Fathers name is Keith Jason -----III, so I was always called Jason.

I am the oldest Jason anyone ever met. The name became popular in the 70’s. Before that, I had to explain about Jason and the Argonauts, and the consecutive months of J-uly, A-ugust, S-eptember, O-ctober, N-ovember. The legend goes; My great great great grandmother was in labor for all those months to deliver a 10lb 7oz Keith Jason 1.

Children named Michael (after a close friend), Lanny (after a relative), And Wendy (after a popular song at that time).

I guess I am one of those cruel parents, giving their children names that they may not be happy with in life.......but it could have been worse. What I really wanted to do was give them names that had family meaning.....

My firstborn were twins, whom I wanted to name them both of my sisters' middle names (Faith and Elizabeth), but they were boy. So we went with Florentino (nick name Tino), my husband's father's name for one, and I wanted to name the other after MY father, but my mother did not like that idea (bitter, divorce shortly before, etc.), so my husband named him Chic Correa (after the famous jazz artist, one of his favorites).

My 3rd boy is named after my dad, Richard, along with just a name we both liked, Jordan (he goes by Jordan most of the time).

They are 13, 13, and 12, and so far have not complained about their names. But I am sure my day is coming........Unique names for unique children, I wanted them to stand out in a crowd, and so far I believe they do.

[Melisa]

My mother just told me the other day that she wanted to name me Marissa (it is my daughter's best friends name). But, he mother didn't like it so she decided on Melissa - never Missy - I hate that. I have had people call me just Melis (like it takes to much to add the "a", and Mel, but most people call me Melissa.

I get people singing the Allman Brother's "Sweet Melissa" all the time, and have since I was a kid.

My parents (Bernard and Barbara) named all their children with names that started with "M" - Mark, Michelle, Melissa, Michael, and Matthew. We were always referred to as the "BM's" - get it bowel movements.

My daughter is Jessica and never wanted to be called Jess or Jessie, except now that she's a teenager and prefers Jess. My son is Eric. He is ten and we just adopted him. His middle name was Lee, but he thought it was a girls name so he changed it with the adoption to James.

My husband is George Perley the 3rd, and his son is George Perley the 4th. The 4th said he will not give his son the same name - Perley is kinda out there.

My granddaughters all have different names and it was always tough finding stuff for them with their names on it - Shayna, Kelsey, Briana, and Searra. Shayna and Briana are becoming much more common though now.

who is buddy clark ? and why did the words of that song mean so much to your Dad ? (i.e. did he have a girlfriend named Linda ? was there a famous movie star named Linda?)

my father gave me my middle name (which I hated) to honor his mother's maiden name because she died giving birth to him (thus I would never think of changing it). One of the few things my ex wife and I agreed upon is that when our was born, there would be no junior. We gave my son my first name for his middle name (which he hated) so when he had a son, he and his wife picked a first name that they liked and gave my son's first name as his son's middle name. p.s. we all like my grandson's first and middle name

so hopefully, the chain of male names that we hate has ended

[Trip]

Buddy Clark was a famous singer in the 40's...The words were catchy..It was written with Linda McCartney in mind..Her father and Buddy Clark had the same lawyer, I think the story goes...TheEverly Brothers redid the song in the 60's..maybe you remember this rendition. I guess up to that time. ..Linda was not a popular name.. BUT in the late 40's 50's it was extremeley popular...

[bigjohn461]

As you know my name is John..I added the big from my highschool days..that is what they called me on the football team...I was 5 11 and 215lbs...although the program listed me as 230(pysc)..just came natural..although through all my trucking years I was known as "cadillac"(my handle)..a guy tagged me with that one, one day when he said you are as big as a cadillac..just stuck...that is all most people knew me by..in fact one of my bosses, after working there for 8 mos..ask me one day..what is your real name so I can fill out some insurance papers for you...go figure....Now days..I dont care what they call me..as long as they call me for dinner..

I apparently was named for the actress Jennifer Jones, but I don't know anything about her. The son that still haunts me is "Jennifer, Juniper". A few people that I worked with at my former job at school consistently referred to me as Jennifer Juniper. My older brother (25 years older) always called me Jeffiner. Everyone wanted be to be a boy.
I have shortened my name to Jen. I picked Biblical names for my children's first names and family names for their middle - Elizabeth Anne (anne = my mom's middle name)
Josiah Frederick (frederick = my father's first name). The kids names have been shortened, but that didn't start until they were in school - Lizz and Joe. I mostly call my son Josiah, but have fallen into the trap of Lizz. My husband's name is Gary, which I don't really like, especially with the middle name of Wilfren (after his paternal grandfather).

I pity the man who marries my daughter because she has picked some really awful names for possible childrens names.

My siblings, their spouses and children all have pretty average names
John, Jane, James (Jim), Julia (Julie) and John-Paul - my brother's family
Penelope (Penny), John (Jack), Glen, John Mark (Mark) - my sister's family
Sarah, Gary, Matthew (Matt), Meghan, Mary - my sister's family

My mother-in-law comes from a very French Canadian family and some of those names are pretty unusual. Boys - Romeo, Ettien (not spelled right, but is somehow translated to Steve), Aime, Herve, Honora (Joe), Silver, Andy (but I can't remember what his real name was), Lionel and one other that I can't even remember. The girls had more normal names - Anna, Lillian and Gemma.



VTJen
Sensation 2/2003
Majesty of the Seas 3/2004

[LisaK]

there is unusual, unique and then there is down right weird when it comes to names. Unsual and unique are fine- parents just need to think of the possible nicknames that kids will attach to their name. Weird seems to apply to celebrities - those poor Zappa kids - Dwezill and MoonUnit, can you imagine? I was really surprised to hear that Gwyneth had named her daughter after a fruit. Yikes can you imagine the nicknames for that poor girl? "Fruit Loop" jumps to my mind.
i am Lisa Alison, my sister is Lauren Alexis(named after our grandfather) my brother is Scott Charles(dad's first name). My husband is Richard Allan, our son is Richard Allan Jr(we call him RJ) his school friends call him Rich.
Our friends named their daughter Isabella- beautiful name, they insist that everyone call her Belle or Bella, they didn't want her to get stuck with "dizzy izzy" when she goes to school (smart thinking on their part)