When my 1st child was born, we named her Roanna - derived from a latin word meaning 'sweet and gracious'. My dad said, "why such a complicated name? By the time she learns to say her on name, she will be in college!" That's my dad :)
Well, from what I have seen, heard and learnt over the years, however simple or complicated your name may be, people will always find ways of making it sound complicated or different! My name for instance, considered to be simple by my dad, with only 4 letters, is quite a common name in India, yet pronounced in a zillion different ways by a zillion different people. So what's the point?
I believe we have every right to name our children what we think is good for them. We just need to use our rational thinking and not come up with names that may sound embarrassing or lead to 'name calling' when they grow up.
People in Kerala have a history of getting carried away with names, though of late it's definitely better. Names are either rhyming words for the whole pack of children (Biju, Ciju, Riju, Shiju, Tiju, Niju...and so on) or different combinations of their parents' names (which means a Jethro + Susanne can actually name their son Jesus!) or alphabetical order (Anand, Biju, Chandran, Dinakar...)and there's a fetish for names starting with 'A', and that too with double a, so they're always first in class (Aaron, Aakash)! Some choose situations to come up with names. There's even a Shield and his brother Trophy, can you beat that!
I wonder if it's a good idea to let kids choose a name when they're big enough to understand and choose what's best for them! What do you think? Also share some of the names you think can't get any weirder.... ;P
Well, from what I have seen, heard and learnt over the years, however simple or complicated your name may be, people will always find ways of making it sound complicated or different! My name for instance, considered to be simple by my dad, with only 4 letters, is quite a common name in India, yet pronounced in a zillion different ways by a zillion different people. So what's the point?
I believe we have every right to name our children what we think is good for them. We just need to use our rational thinking and not come up with names that may sound embarrassing or lead to 'name calling' when they grow up.
People in Kerala have a history of getting carried away with names, though of late it's definitely better. Names are either rhyming words for the whole pack of children (Biju, Ciju, Riju, Shiju, Tiju, Niju...and so on) or different combinations of their parents' names (which means a Jethro + Susanne can actually name their son Jesus!) or alphabetical order (Anand, Biju, Chandran, Dinakar...)and there's a fetish for names starting with 'A', and that too with double a, so they're always first in class (Aaron, Aakash)! Some choose situations to come up with names. There's even a Shield and his brother Trophy, can you beat that!
I wonder if it's a good idea to let kids choose a name when they're big enough to understand and choose what's best for them! What do you think? Also share some of the names you think can't get any weirder.... ;P
5 comments:
:) well well my name is huge it seems .. the only differnece or the good thing is that mine starts with a "B" and not V which is common in punjab side :)
I do think that parents should give the name as they are the ones wbo have brought the kid into this world :)
Bikram's
I was listening to 'Cecilia' on my way home back from work and now i read the message above your comment box :) That made me smile. Aren't you a bit young for Simon and Garfunkel?
My dad changed his name from Shyamal to Bijon when he was 13. His reasoning was, "I aint dark!"
I think it is only fair that the person is given the right to choose his own name when he is old enough and the name that we as parents have given can be the pet name.
Whats in a name? :) I dont know how many of us really like the names we get :) I wasn't happy and always craved for a "better" one. The Kerala names always amuse me....I know of people with interesting names - Nice Mon and his brother Happy Mon for one :)
Unfortunately these days you are stuck with your name. Most babies have a passport. They have bank accounts, health insurance etc etc and naming them later or changing it at a later date will pose quite a problem. Guess parents just need to take a little care while choosing the name. But for anyone else, apart from the parents, to interfere in the choice of name of the newborn is probably not the right thing.
HaHaHa. Nice one. An American professional basketball player named Lloyd Bernard Free has legally changed his name to World B. Free.
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