Naming Your Babes in the Computer Age
Inspiration for a name can come from the strangest places. My current dog, Sven, just seemed like a Sven although he comes from Australian origins. My previous dog, Otto, had a name inspired by a WWII scientist that was working for the United States; there were also scientists named Otto working for the other side. The dog was not named after the scientist, but when we looked at him and said “Otto” it just stuck.
Surprisingly, naming my children was easier then naming my dogs. I know that some expectant parents pore through books, or undergo extensive debates with family members about their babies’ names. Our names just came to us and fit with our personal aesthetic. The decision on our daughter’s name was validated by Laura Wattenberg’s The Baby Name Wizard which placed it as a companion name to our son’s name, and highlighted the fact that it is an underused name with big potential. I know I am one of the lucky ones.
It used to be that a Top Ten name would hold a larger share. Although Elizabeth was #9 in the 80’s and remains #9 today, there are fewer Elizabeth’s being born since there is more variety. There was a viral element to naming – a name might start among a select few and then reach critical mass as more and more people considered that name, and then after exhausting the name, it would be retired.
Lately I have been hearing a lot about the vampire naming trend that seems to be sweeping the nation. Truthfully, I do not see how this is such a big deal – names like Bella and Jacob were already quite popular and I have to imagine Stephanie Meyer selected them for this very reason. Edward and Bill, although not as trendy, are also not one bit eccentric. I have yet to meet a baby Sookie, but I am hearing that it’s going to be an up-and-comer.
My daughter’s name (which I have yet to unveil to the masses) was very loosely inspired by ancient Greece. Growing up around a large Greek population, names like Athena and Demetra were not terribly uncommon. While Greek mythology can be a great inspiration, the suggestions in this article seem a little haphazard.
I know it is a matter of taste, but there are at least a couple of names mentioned there that would just draw blank stares. I am all for originality, and I’m not saying that inspiration can’t be found far and wide. Modern parents know that already and articles like this are condescending to a generation that has been exposed to so much information and diversity via the world wide web.
What we need isn’t a “data dump” of every possible name in the universe categorized by origin. With all the technological advances of the past decade I am surprised there aren’t more people like Laura Wattenberg with customized algorithms to help parents find perfect names. eHarmony pioneered this for online dating; Amazon and every other ecommerce site have recommendation engines for products you may like…why can’t we get serious about naming our children? Why do we have to rely on articles and sites that offer up “Hercules” without irony? Nymbler.com and Baby Name Wizard are a start, but the other naming sources out there really need to step it up.
