Why do parents insist on giving children such weird names? Whats wrong with normal names?

Question

I just don't get it. There is a little girl down the street from me named 'angel', and she gets mocked ruthlessly. Teachers complain they can't pronounce the name, and can you honestly imagine 'honey', or 'angel', on a buisness card? (I know people with both names, and they both hate them) They'd never be taken seriously! Why not give a kid a real name and keep the nicknames to nicknames? Think about the way the children of the 60's suffered, with names like 'sunshine' and 'dewdrop'. Isn't it just irresponsible to curse a child with a name they'll be mocked for their whole life? How selfish can parents be?

Who wants a name that sounds like a stripper for the rest of their lives?

I reiterate. Can you imagine a buisness woman putting 'Angel' on a buisness card?

And I consider a 'normal' name to be something that is appropriate to the ethnicity (YES, race. An irish baby should probally have an irish name, not a middle eastern one!), gender (I know two girls with boy names- one is named Dominick, and the other is named Timothy. Think their parents wanted boys?), and something that has history and meaning. I mean, come on. Who wants a made-up name?

We were talking about this in my psychology classes. Children with weird names suffer, according to them, not their parents. Its harder to be taken seriously, those children are mocked in school (Come on.. how easy would it be to make fun of a child named 'angel'? Kids are cruel!), and harder to find a job and rise far in. People judge you by your name.

There is nothing wrong with names that arn't overly common- Abigail, Meredith, Damon, Colby, Madeline, ect are all names that you don't hear very often, but they also arn't 'weird'!

I personally have an overly- normal irish name. There were 8 people with my name in my kindergarten class. Sure, I'd like a slightly more unusual name, but I'm glad I have something with meaning, history, and that people don't forget!

And with the race thing- What i mean is, at the very least, your first name should match your last name. If you have an irish last name, it would sound very odd with a middle-eastern first name.

And my personal experience with this- i worked for a computer company for a summer returning tech-support calls, and I constantly had to stuggle with weird names. Most of the time, when I did, people responded with 'yeah, i get that all the time', and many wished they had more traditional names. I just think that if you want to give a child a strange name, at least make it something they can use on a buisness card!

Answer 1

I have a better question: Why are some people SO judgmental? Does it make them feel better to ***** about something as trivial as a name? Does it make them feel like they're better because they have a boring name?

I could go around in circles about this...I see BOTH sides to this subject, and it's ALL a matter of opinion, preference, tastes, etc. I just get sick of people judging people based on a freakin name. With all the other problems in the world, it just seems stupid to sit around dogging on someone named "Sunshine" or "Angel" or whatever. Who cares!

And anyone who judges someone based on their name isn't someone I want to be around anyway.

By the way, you said that people should be named a name that is appropriate to their race? What about the MANY mixed people living in the world?

Answer 2

Normal in the context of names its pretty subjective. Their are some names that I think are a bit ridiculous but there are also some that are so normal their odd. "Bob" "Joe" "John" "Max", those are all boring names (no offense to any of "those" present). So I think something middle of the road is a good alternative.

Children often carry the burden of their parents assumptions about the failures of their own lives, and sometimes I think parents name their children in hopes that they will not commit the same ones in the future. Parents in this way often attempt to live vicariously through them.

Plus I think Angel is a very good name for a girl (honey.. not so much). My first girl will be named "Hope". That is if I don't marry my girlfriend, she's an over controlling *****

Answer 3

I knew a girl named Angel and she liked her name. Some people with different names like them, and some don't. Just the same as people with perfectly normal names can love em or hate em. And opinions change over time. A person who thinks they are being mistreated in January can be loving life (and their name) in September.

If a person really does hate their name, when they turn 18, they can change it. Or they can talk their mom or dad into having it changed before then. My mom had her name changed at around 15. Her name was LaVerne.

I don't think parents do it to be selfish, though, or to ensure the childs will be a bully target all through school. If a kid is attracting the attention of a bully, the bully will find something to tease them about, whether they're named 'Star' or 'Betty'.

Answer 4

wow, define "normal." The top 10 names? The top 100 names? What YOU yourself consider normal? What doesn't sound good to your ear may sound good to someone else's. Now, if you are naming your kid as a joke, then that is cruel. But there are a lot of "Angel"s floating around (haha, no pun intended). To some people that is a beautiful name and doesn't conjure up stripper connotations, but thoughts of beauty and maybe spirituality. A LOT of people hate their names, even those with traditionally normal ones. And then there are people like me who deserve the guiness book of world records award for people with weird names who married into them. And then of course, the "weird" names that for a year or two aren't weird, like fad names like Naeveh.

I think you sound pretty egocentric right now (and somewhat racist, too. I didn't name my daughter an Irish name, even though I am Irish, but do you think Julie is normal enough??). Go look that one up in your psych book! :) (I mean that good-naturedly, btw)

Answer 5

but my frustration is with people who have common last names giving their kids common first names. My husband's name is David. Wow, real original. His middle and last name are very common. I'm sick and tired of getting calls from collection agencies for the wrong David!

Heck, once we tried to rent an apartment and they did a background check. They came back and said my husband had a criminal record in two states he had never even been to. Turns out the stupid agency didn't run his info based on his social security number ... they ran it on his Full name and Birthdate (yes ladies and gentlemen, even the same birth year!). We never got the $30 back and had to wait another week for them to redo the background check. And what do you know ... they came back and said my husband has a perfectly clean record. Go figure.

Anyhoo ... I think it is irresponsible to curse a child with a name that is extremely common. I have a name that is not common (in fact, I've never met anyone who spelled their name like mine) and I LOVE IT.

Answer 6

They're trying to be unique.They don't want their kid having the same name as 5 other people.Because that is annoying.I don't see what is wrong with the name Angel.If you were saying teachers can't pronounce that btw,they need to be fired.Immediatly.
But there are plenty of names out there.Some not normal to your area and people look at it badly then.A name I love is Miroslav.And in Texas at least,that would be considered weird.

Answer 7

Hmmm... I agree, all of those names you mentioned are... well, hideous. But unique names can be great! I mean, nobody wants to be named Dewdrop. But how about Mystery? I don't think thats a bad name; I know one mystery, and she loves her name. She can't imagine being named Jennifer, like the other 3 Jennifers in her Science Class. Jennifer B., Jennifer C. and Jennifer Y. Imagine going through life with an B. ALWAYS attatched to your name!

I feel so sorry for those kids your talking about... honey... ugh. Why don't they make nicknames for themselves? Like... Anne, or annie... kinda old fashioned, but better than a crossdressers name like angel.

Weird names can be so great, as long as they're.... pretty weird names. I think unique is a better word for them.

Answer 8

my opinion Angel is not a strippers name lol, candy,Bambi, and in my town the prosecuting attorney is a woman named angel she has been voted for the last 2 elections. and for me stupid ppl name there kids stupid names my aunt lol i love her but she named her kid Cinderella snow Roberts no joke this is the poor kids whole name, my cousin named her baby prince charming fleenor. my opinion these are very stupid names.

Answer 9

i agree with you and i say that because my step brother and his wife named their last daughter (which is one day older than my daughter) Jedi Alabama. i almost died when they told me that name. i named my daughter Lillian Paige. its nice and normal and an old timey name. now here are my nieces names in order from oldest to youngest, Dallas Ashton, Dixie Marie, Crimson Virginia Hope, and Jedi Alabama. now tell me that isn't a little creepy.

Answer 10

I agree. I guess that if the child really hates it they can wait until they are old enough to change it to something else by deed poll.