Monte Carlo Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I'm a bit of a Danny Finklestein fan, he runs a comment blog for the UK Times newspaper. Here he hat-tips Freakonomics on the subject of names... LINK Personally, although I find the new crop of kids' names amusing, what really REALLY annoys me is the adoption of shortened names on birth certificates. For example: Harry. Harry is enormously popular (due to, I suspect, JK Rowling as opposed to Shakespeare) but everyone under 40 forgets that it is a derivative of Henry. Do people christen or register their kid as Henry? No. Result? A real name with enormous cultural significance dies out. And I think that's sad. Ditto John (people christen their kids 'Jack' never realising that it's a derivative of John). And loads of other names. Anyway, what names are fashionable at the moment where you live? Cheers MC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taks Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 isn't john just short for johnathan? my son is john. we don't let people call him johnny or johnathan. his grandfather was john, too, though aunt margaret always called him johnny. there's a hole in the bucket dear liza, dear liza, there's a hole in the bucket dear liza a hole. then fix it dear henry, dear henry then fix it dear henry fix it! taks comrade taks... just because. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 one bonus of working in telecommunications is that you get to talk to people with all sorts of crazy names eg instead of Katie, i had one that spelt it Caytee when your mind works against you - fight back with substance abuse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosbjerg Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 I talked to a guy called Danny Ten-thousand (in danish).. that was awesome.. Right now the most used names (for newborns) are Emma (girls) and Lucas (boys), now why these people don't just call their kids Loukas or Hemma/Ermen I will never understand.. they are simply destroying these old names! Names change and that's how it is.. I bet your own name is a abrevation of an even older one. Fortune favors the bald. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monte Carlo Posted May 9, 2009 Author Share Posted May 9, 2009 Monty is clearly a shortened version of Montgomery and Carlo is latino / Italian for Charles. As for John / Jack.... think of President John F Kennedy, known to his friends, family and ten million girlfriends as Jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 i have a nephew i keep referring to as Zelda his name is Lincoln, but they call him Link for short, and that just makes me think of the games.... when your mind works against you - fight back with substance abuse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SteveThaiBinh Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 Mohammed. And that ain't changing any time soon. Other popular names are Fahad, Abdulrahman, Ahmed, Turki and Ala'a. "An electric puddle is not what I need right now." (Nina Kalenkov) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyCrimson Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 In California 2005, the most popular newborn names - Daniel and Emily. They cycle around. For unusual names (for the US anyway), one of my nieces is named Usha, which is an Indian/Hindu name. “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calax Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 well names usually skip generations, so kids have grandparents names. Thus I'm now going by my middle name which I haven't seen, but there were 3 guys with the same first name as me in my school career. Victor of the 5 year fan fic competition! Kevin Butler will awesome your face off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enoch Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Yeah, Calax is roughly right on the trends, at least in the States. If you want to be ahead of your time, give your kid a name that a lot of people around 50 or so have. Not many people naming their kids that now, but in 10-15 years, it'll be adorably old-fashioned and all the rage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aristes Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 My Indian name is "God is my Judge." I thought Harry was short for Harold. *shrug* It's probably short for both. After all, if Jack can be short for John, then Harry can be short for Henry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 there's also Jim for James as well when your mind works against you - fight back with substance abuse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calax Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 my name is "valiant fighter" "Olive tree/host of elves/ancestor" (town in england minus a w) Victor of the 5 year fan fic competition! Kevin Butler will awesome your face off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hurlshort Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 We named my daughter Skylar, and now I keep hearing about other newborns named Skylar. I've also heard it's a boys name, but I don't buy that at all. I liked the sound of it, and with both my wife and I being teachers, we wanted a name that we didn't already associate with a student. Desiderius would be a good one for our next child. I suppose it is a boy name though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fionavar Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Right now Ocean is one that I have heard more often ... The universe is change; your life is what our thoughts make it - Marcus Aurelius (161) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taks Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 After all, if Jack can be short for John, then Harry can be short for Henry. not sure how either qualifies as "short for" since both cases the "shortened" name has the same number of letters and syllables. taks comrade taks... just because. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hell Kitty Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 A real name with enormous cultural significance dies out. Telling parents they haven't given their kid a real name certainly isn't going to get you anywhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosbjerg Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Telling parents they haven't given their kid a real name certainly isn't going to get you anywhere. But that would also be silly I think, how would we get new names?. I only have problems with parents naming their kids after TV shows and fictional superheroes (from the last 50 years) etc. I think some of the newer names to pop up around here are quite beautiful and most have their origin in much older religions it seems, or simply natural places like Ocean, some even from other religions - Hindi names are getting more popular. Fortune favors the bald. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pidesco Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Won't somebody think of the poor children. "My hovercraft is full of eels!" - Hungarian touristI am Dan Quayle of the Romans.I want to tattoo a map of the Netherlands on my nether lands.Heja Sverige!!Everyone should cuffawkle more.The wrench is your friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amentep Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Hmmm, some names of people I've met or heard about from co-workers over the past 20 years, off the top of my head: Trivia Vulva Lemonjello Orangejello Argasm (pronounced Orgasm) I cannot - yet I must. How do you calculate that? At what point on the graph do "must" and "cannot" meet? Yet I must - but I cannot! ~ Ro-Man Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tigranes Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Korean names usually constitute a single syllable for your surname (such as Kim, Lee, Choi or Park) then two syllables for your given name. There is also, especially in older days, a tradition of using a common syllable in your given name for brothers (so Ji-Sung, Ji-Dong, Ji-Won and Ji-Wook for a family of four, for instance). Koreans continue to use transliterated versions of Chinese letters for their names, as well, to give some meaning (so my given name Sun-ha equates to letters for 'Good' and 'Summer', which... okay, so I guess it means jack all). The last decade or so has seen some come up with more 'creative' names though, such as one that could be translated as Kim Seven Bright Shining Stars In The Night Sky (and yes it's just as unwieldy in Korean). I seem to remember that one such 'unique' child committed suicide as a result of bullying regarding the name, though I can't recall it with any confidence to suggest it actually happened. I'll dig up a few interesting ones when I'm at work tomorrow, there are some crazy names in the media out there. Let's Play: Icewind Dale Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Icewind Dale II Ironman (Complete) Let's Play: Divinity II (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG1 (Complete) Let's Play: Baldur's Gate Trilogy Ironman - BG2 (In Progress) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shryke Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 ooh the funniest i had was Kila Chook Kila pronounced "killer" and chook of course being slang for a chicken what made it more funny was the fact that he worked for Tegel Foods (a chicken company pretty much) when your mind works against you - fight back with substance abuse! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Walsingham Posted May 10, 2009 Share Posted May 10, 2009 Hmmm, some names of people I've met or heard about from co-workers over the past 20 years, off the top of my head: Trivia Vulva Lemonjello Orangejello Argasm (pronounced Orgasm) No-one is called Vulva, except in the TV series Spaced. "It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"." -Elwood Blues tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reinoc Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 Hmmm, some names of people I've met or heard about from co-workers over the past 20 years, off the top of my head: Trivia Vulva Lemonjello Orangejello Argasm (pronounced Orgasm) These parents need to be shot in the knees or , at the least, wear a sign around their neck saying "I named my child [insert stupid name]" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gorgon Posted May 11, 2009 Share Posted May 11, 2009 I'm going to name my son Monty Crababble. Na na na na na na ... greg358 from Darksouls 3 PVP is a CHEATER. That is all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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