Unusual baby names - a gift or a curse?
Reading this article at The Register made me feel very sad for this poor baby in New Zealand, whose parents are fighting in court for the right to name him “4Real”. Yes, for real, they want to name him “4Real”. The court does not want to allow names that begin with a numeral. The parents insist that it’s their legal right to name their son whatever they want to name him.
While I would agree with the general principal that the courts should not mandate what a parent can or cannot name their child, one has to stop and consider the welfare of the child as well. Are the parents being selfish attention-seekers? Have they fullly considered what their child will be subject to because of the name they want to give him?
We’ve all heard about some of the truly unique celebrity baby names, some not so odd (like Gwyneth Paltrow’s daughter “Apple” or Bob Geldof’s daughter Fifi-Trixibelle), some really, really strange (Moxie Crimefighter? Pilot Inspektor? Tabooger? What were they drinking?…..er, I mean thinking?) and some that are actually rather cool (Tiger Lily, Sonora Rose).
However there is an enormous difference in the life of a celebrity child and the life of a non-celebrity child. Kids of celebrities generally go to schools with other celebrities’ children, many of whom also have unique names, and have tutors while traveling on location with their parents. Non-celebrities children often go to public school, where the vast majority of children have typical and popular names.
There are two well-know facts about childhood:
1. All kids just want to “fit in” with their peers; and
2. Kids can be very cruel to other kids who don’t “fit in”.
So what happens to kids who have a name that is SO unusual or unique (okay I’ll say it - yes, a “weird” name)? They get picked on. Teased. Bullied. Sometimes ostracized. I’ve witnessed it firsthand over the years at a number of different schools - even the small private school my stepchildren attend.
I’m very aware that some folks like their unusual names. The Zappa kids, for example, all unusually named and all seemingly happy with their monikers. Dweezil Zappa actually had his name legally changed TO Dweezil when it was discovered that, in fact, his birth certificate had a different (and normal) name on it, even though he’d always been called Dweezil.
But babies don’t have any say in what they are named - they’re too young to understand and decide for themselves if they like the name or not. And as youngsters they have to live with the fallout. Yes of course they can legally change their names when they get older, but it’s those critical, self-esteem building adolescent years that contribute to one’s overall perspective on themselves and others, and spending those years miserable because of a name they were saddled with seems quite cruelly unfair.
And who knows what other problems lurk? Will he have trouble enrolling in school? Getting a driver’s license? Opening bank accounts or credit cards? Or any of the myriad other mundane life-tasks that involve some corporate or government computer system that might not accept a legal name beginning with a numeral?
What do you think? I’d especially like to hear from anyone with a unique name - please share your experience and tell us what it was like for you growing up.
