Re: Baby Names Reveal More About Parents Than Ever Before

[Guest guest]

This article goes nicely with a book I have read and one that I am reading.

In Freakanomics, the writers say that odd names were often an attempt to create some kind of racial identity (either foreigners using names from their name pool or from resident racial groups using names that sound ethnic) or by parents who just didn't care (such as children with swear words for names or are names after furniture in the delivery room). Strange names typically have more disciplinary problems in school, poorer work history and future prospects. This is partly due to bullies seeing an easy mark, employers being put off by the name and parents being less than stellar.

I'm reading the "Illusion" book that I mentioned in another post now. I'm about 40 pages in and there it too much good stuff to post it all here. However, like this article states, the oddities in names is a desperate attempt to seem different and unique. It is also purely superficial, which fits in perfectly in a society where substance is ridiculed, made the second prize and otherwise presented as worthless compared to a good image.

The old common names were there largely because they were family names. When families were stable, it was common to name a child for ancestors or even living relations. This had an effect of bonding the family together, in most cases. My name, for example, has belonged to at least one male in every generation since at least the 1500's. That's not saying mine is some great, illustrious family, because it isn't. It is simply that good records exist in all the places my family has lived. These are real records too, not some kitschy website set up for people looking from something and willing to take anything as true because it comes from a computer, but real ancient paper records that members of my family traveled to Europe to study. Funny that and how my close family actually turned out.

Anyway, since family is considered silly and stupid, even a hindrance, by pop culture, there is no need to use family names. I mean, why bother with that when a character in a movie has such a cool sounding name and you really love that movie, for the moment, when the child is born?

In a message dated 12/2/2010 5:35:51 P.M. Eastern Standard Time, no_reply writes:

Baby Names Reveal More About Parents Than Ever Before

[Guest guest]

" When families were stable, it was common to name a child for ancestors or even

living relations. This had an effect of bonding the family together, in most

cases. My name, for example, has belonged to at least one male in every

generation since at least the 1500's. That's not saying mine is some great,

illustrious family, because it isn't. It is simply that good records exist in

all the places my family has lived. "

For a good stretch of generations, each generation of my paternal line had the

name of a very famous person. Though this is common in lines that are not

related to mine, my line holds the true direct lineage to that famous person.

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