Will they take your child seriously?

Question

For all the parents out there that have given their children weird and wonderful names, do you believe society will take them seriously as they grow older? These names are very cute when they're little but what happens when they go out into the adult world, will we ever have a prime minister Barney, or Charlie, Madison, Lexie or Thor?? Do you think a persons career is determined by what they are called? For the record my son is called Joshua and my daughter is called Erin. I believe these are names that are nice now and won't embarrass them as they grow older and will stand the test of time.

Answer 1

I think unique names are great. They encourage your child to be an individual and I hope my children grow up to be the type of adults who are above being embarrassed by immature people who mock other peoples names. For the record my babies are named Galadriel, Tucker, and Gwendalynn. All beautiful names from great literature.

Answer 2

First of all, names do not make the child successful. Hard work makes a person successful in life. If you choose to take the easy way you will not be very successful. And yes someday there may be a prime minister Charlie or Barney or a president named Lexie or Thor. People name their babies what they want too, but how successful you are in life totally depends on how hard you are willing to work for what you want.

Answer 3

Well my 7 month old son is called Arthur which is unusual but not outlandish. Everyone seems to love his name!

I think sometimes people think in the short term when they give baby names and choose names that sounds cute on a baby but won't sound right on a 50 year old company director with grey hair and 2.5 kids!!! Thats why I don't really like names that end in "ee" and are short forms of longer names - I think its best to give a full version of the name in case they prefer to use that when they're older (ie Charles not Charlie. They can be called Charlie when they're small but a grown man might prefer Charles.)

Sadly some people don't seem to think about the fact that their child might be a future prime minister or businessman when they choose their name!

Answer 4

The world has moved on from Clare, Matthew, John, Peter. when all these kids are older (Molly, Lilly, Madison, Lexie) their names will be common, my niece has 3 Madison's in her class, the names will not be seen as wierd or whatever!

My dad told me that when he chose my name (Sarah) and my sister's name (Laura) they were very original, now they are really common, i had 2 other sarah's in my class at school.

i agree some take it too far, but names like the ones you have montioned are not "wierd" they are very common amongst younger children and will be seen as "normal" names when they're older.

my son is called Harvey, i picked it because i liked it, i also picked it because i think it suits every age. i did not pick my son's name thinking "will this name be ok if he was prime minister"

your names are cute, Joshua was once seen as a wierd name, about 10-years-ago, now it's fairly common. Erin is beautiful.

think of all these actors and singers, McCorley, Orlando, Whitney, Beyonce, Shakiera, 'Harvey' from so solid crew lol

each to their own!

Answer 5

I think that nowadays unique names are actually becoming more common. Growing up I had too many Nicoles, Jennifers, Johns, and Jimmy's in my class and anything that starts with Chris. I think in a few more years it won't matter.

I taught dance for 8 years and I noticed that after about 4 the preschoolers coming into my class had more unique names than "regular" names.... out of a class of eight there were.... Savannah, Madison, Charis, Emma, Skyler, Brittany, Destiny, and Zoey.

I feel the more unique the name the more likely it is people will remember you. Its also nice because there are probably not too many people with the same first and last name as you and are less likely to be confused with that person when it comes to credit type things or people trying to look you up.

The only thing I think will hurt a child is if you name them after something like a fruit. I can't remember what celebrity names their child Apple. Or if you give your child a first name that rhymes with the second name.

Answer 6

Hiya,

I kind of have some experience of this. I'm called SuSanne not Suzanne and I always stood out from the others at school because my name was different. I loved it. But then I stood out for all the right reasons coz I loved school and did very well. My daughter is called Thea, which is Greek and means Goddess and I don't think she'll have a problem. It's pretty and unusual but it's not like Apple or Peaches!
My second daughter is Georgina, which isn't unusual in itself, but there's not many Georgina's around that are only nearly 2! When we have our 3rd daughter, we're going to call her Alexia. Again, not that unusual but lovely all the same!

Answer 7

I want to call my son Noah Balboa (No-ah Bawl-boo-a).
I have the same concerns.
But you can always shorten or change it later.
But yes I think that someone called Tony or Gorden would much likely get the job as prime minister, against someone called Barney or Thor. But someone with a boring name won't be remembered for the same reason as the other too.
They are your children, you call them what you like.
My name is normal but uncommon (Gina). People remember me because I am the only Gina they know.

Answer 8

I think that a child will only be embarassed of their name if they aren't instilled with the proper self-esteem by their parents. My husband has a very unique name and has the confidence to pull it off. My son has a unique name and is growing into a strong, independant thinker who isn't bothered by other people's opinions. Are you going to teach your child to worry what other people think of something as superficial as a name? Don't you want to teach them to judge on values and character? My son is being taught to worry what people think of what his actions are, how nice he is to others, and what he adds to the world. If someone has something to say about his looks, his name, his clothes, they aren't worth listening to. I do believe every parent needs to go with the names they want, and if Joshua and Erin are those names for you, then that's fine with me. However you should recognize that you could be criticized for making your child feel like one OF a million. Your children will always be Erin M. or Joshua with the brown hair. There are so many children with those names that they will grow up annoyed that when someone says the name Joshua, 4 little boys look. I genuinely don't have a problem with you naming your kids whatever you want, but there are two sides to everything. Yes, the world is superficial, but it is our job to teach our children to rise above it. My son will only be stronger if indeed his name poses a challenge by people like yourself. The worls is changing anyway. There are SO many people using different names now that by the time our children are older, they won't seem so different. It will be common to have a uncommon name, so in their world, Prime Minister Barney won't be so weird. Maybe to you, but that's how you judge people, I guess.

Answer 9

PM Earl Grey was a Charlie
Madison is no worse than Winston
PM's Archibald and Clement were hardly mainstream either.
Horatio was the best ever
and Shirley Crabtree, he always commanded respect.
There's Sir Barney Wallis as well.

I would draw the line at giving a daughter a boys name like like Paris. Its just asking for trouble.

Answer 10

To some degree a name does come to play, like sometimes if an employer cant prn your name they wont call you back, so you dont get that job. My sister has noticed that so at times she will put her middle name so she knows they can prn it right. Really a person who grows up named Princess or Queenie would get discriminated against and need to have a good record cuz it sounds underclassed.
Society can be a (B) pain but if ppl with those type of names tried harder in life then names might not matter. Too many ppl fall into the well i grew up in this area so might as well accept it and not try to be better.

Answer 11

I don't think Charlie, Madison or lexie are weird names, but i do think that parents should think of what will happen when the child is older before they name them anything weird