From time to time, I feel that I might have slipped into another dimension. This happened most recently when I spotted the annual ‘beautiful baby’ competition in my local newspaper. Three pages of baby mugshots – my, don’t they all look the same at that age, but I digress. It was the names that caught my eye.
Every year, the government’s Office of National Statistics releases the top ten names of boys and girls in England and Wales. I’ll publish them at the end of this blog post. So, back to baby names. There seems to be a trend for apparently (and I’ll be kind) ‘impressionable’ young parents to name their children after so-called stars of third rate television soap operas or ‘Z’ list celebrities. Two words come immediately to mind – good and grief!
In many cases, it seems as if the parents have lost the ability to spell. For example, Izabella, Ellauise, Gillyanne, Hana and Hunnie. Imagine the problems they are creating for their children in adult life. In conversation with the customer, the company’s rep writes down Honey or you have to say “My name is Honey. That’s spelt Hunnie.” It begs the question: “Why?” There is a very fine dividing line between originality and stupidity. From what I saw in my local newspaper, the line is crossed with increasing regularity.
If the trend continues, I guess we could see a trend where people are named after their home town or everyday objects. What about Nately Scures Smith, Scunthorpe Brown, Book Millar, Frying Pan Robinson, Artichoke Allen or Potato Head?
I really would be interested to hear your views on names. Don’t be shy, let them out!
A Selection of Names from the Paper
Jayden, Payton, Charlie-Ray, Deon, Taia, Skyla, Paris, Tao, Kalib, Chase, Yanah, Isla-Jaye, Alekos, Elzbieta, Colby-Jay, Brianna, Lexie Ryley, Caelan, Poppy-Faye,Lataya, Izabella-Kate, Isobell, Mya, Ellauise, Ajay, Gillyanne, Shrina, Jai, Kameron, Tallon, Macy, Neo, Demi-Leigh, Erin-Grace, Hunnie, Malakai, Hana
Top Ten Girls’ and Boys' Names in England and Wales 2008
OLIVIA, RUBY, EMILY, GRACE, JESSICA, CHLOE, SOPHIE, LILY, AMELIA, EVIE
JACK, OLIVER, THOMAS, HARRY, JOSHUA, ALFIE, CHARLIE, DANIEL, JAMES, WILLIAM
OLIVIA, RUBY, EMILY, GRACE, JESSICA, CHLOE, SOPHIE, LILY, AMELIA, EVIE
JACK, OLIVER, THOMAS, HARRY, JOSHUA, ALFIE, CHARLIE, DANIEL, JAMES, WILLIAM
I did read an article once about a village in a very large country where all the children were named after various tpes of contraception that hadn't been used correctly. Honestly! The mind boggles.
ReplyDeleteI used to work in insurance. I made a hobby of collecting some of the odd names I came across... Three of my favorites are Godfried Shrimph, Brunhilda Bobo and of course, Lewie Lipshit.
ReplyDeleteYep. One wonders about those who named these poor hapless individuals!!! (grin)
Hi
ReplyDeleteRosie,
All I can say is good grief! Fantastic!
Beth,
Wonderful stuff. I just googled the latter name you dropped and found two, albeit with a variation in spelling. One is a drector of Forbes . . .
I stuck the words 'stupid names' into Google and found several sites recording acts of stupidity by parents. If you want a really good laugh, put IJMC + stupid names into Google and it will take you to a post that will also boggle your mind!
Well, at least in the top ten there are some old classics like James and William... but in any case, I think the whole world is slipping into another dimension... not sure for better or for worse.
ReplyDeleteStay well ! Watch out for the loonies !
I recently read an article about people in New Zealand starting to call their kids by odd names, for example: number 52 bus shelter and Fish and chips were two I remember (no - I am not joking) you should Google it - it was terrible! Meanwhile, here, recently, The news told of the cake shop refused to put a childs name on a birthday cake, because his name is Adolf Hitler (no - still not joking. Incidently, his sister was Arian Race Hess or something equally dreadful)
ReplyDeleteBut, that aside, I have (for the first time in my life) been thinking about child names, as we now have a little one. And it was so hard!! As you may know - she is adopted, and she is Hispanic, so we really needed to get it right. Something that is not too British sounding (like us) something not too Spanish sounding, something that is suitable for both child and adult AND that we could both agree on!
We settled on: Marli Isida May
Marli (originated from Mary Magdalen)
Isida (given name by birth mother)
May (both my grandmothers middle names are/were May)
It suits her, and I only hope she likes it as she grows with it. At least with 3 names she can pick another one should she choose!