Giving a name to your baby is one of the most important gifts you will give him or her apart from life itself. The first question to be considered is do you choose a traditional name, a traditional name but with different spelling, or do you go for a unique name? Increasingly parents are opting for the latter, but is this a good idea?
There are advantages: people with unusual names stand out from the crowd; at school they won't have to use an initial after their name because someone else in the class has the same name; and they won't get confused wi9th anyone else. However, nobody will know how to spell their name; it may be mis-pronounced; and other kids can be very cruel. There's nothing worse than being teased and kids will quickly pounce on a weird name as a reason for teasing or bullying.
Baby Strollers
Studies have shown that people react negatively to those with unusual names. The author of The Name Game and The Baby Report Card, Dr Albert Mehrabian, reports that, sociologically, a general finding is that people don't react well to things that are new and unusual. They aren't comfortable with it, and that applies to names.
Dr Mehrabian has spent the last 10 years studying how a person's name affects them. Compared to a traditional name, unusual names are rated dramatically lower in all categories: a person's morality, cheerfulness, and success. A lot of people think they are being creative. They think they're making their kids individual. Blue hair is individual, but is it desirable?
Mehrabian says he has counselled many adults who were ridiculed by their co-workers because of their names, and finds that the more unusual the name the harder it is to adjust.
The idea put forward in Johnny Cash's song 'A Boy Named Sue' that this would toughen up the kid is poppycock. I knew a man whose middle name was Mary. His parents were catholic and wanted a saint's name; it's a pity they couldn't find a male saint. He was ashamed of his name and kept it very secret.
Maybe there is a middle course? Avoid the really weird. Don't go down the road followed by Frank Zappa who named his kids Moon Unit and Dweezil - one is a boy, the other a girl; no idea which is which! Or Gwyneth Paltrow who named her daughter Apple. Just imagine what kids in the playground would do with those names.
Perhaps as more and more parents choose unusual names the problems will diminish as the unusual itself becomes the norm.
There is no need to give your baby a unique name to make him or her unique - every baby is unique. And remember that your baby boy will grow to a strapping man, while your baby daughter will grow to be a young lady. Make sure their names suit them when they are adult. If you really want to call someone a silly made up name get your self a doll or a dog!
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