Wednesday 23 March 2011

What's in a name?


On a lighter note, the pregnant barmaid in the previous post gave me some funny news last night. She has been running through potential names for her coming child, and asking everyone for ideas.

A young couple she knows have recently had a boy, and their last name is 'Beaver'. So what have they named him? Sean Beaver.

Apparently they could not understand why she fell around laughing when they broke the news, and now it is too late. I hope the lad goes to a sympathetic school, and I hope he is surrounded by sympathetic work-mates when he leaves it. Let's hope he has a second name to fall back on too.

I think choosing the right name for your son is very important, but I cannot decide if it is the name which makes the child, or the other way round. For instance, I have never yet met a 'Neville' who has not displayed some sort of criminal tendencies at one time or another, and I've met quite a few 'Nevilles'.

Similarly, have you noticed how all men called 'Max' are over-bearing and arrogant bullies?

A famous British broadcaster wanted to call his son 'Scipius' after the Roman General, but his wife told him that it sounded like a kangaroo.

Certain names that used to be popular are now out of fashion. 'Adolph' for obvious reasons, and 'Alfred' for not so obvious reasons. I know a Dutch aristocrat called 'Adolph', and he is a particularly obnoxious and over-bearing man, but - at the moment - is showing no signs of wanting to dominate the world. He has shortened his name to 'Dolph' anyway, but since he has about fifteen others to go with it, I don't know why he didn't ditch it all together.

I used to like the name 'Rupert' - it reminded me of the bear with the same name - but then I met a load of idiot Hooray-Henry's in the 1980s called Rupert, and forever associate it with them. I feel the same way about 'Henry' for the same reasons too, which is a shame.

Any ideas?

20 comments:

  1. 'Angelica' for a girl. Or for a boy, 'Winston' is in need of a come-back; especially if it's white.

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  2. when I workied in the nat west in rhyl
    we had a customer called Beatrice Desdamona Iball............( think about it)

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  3. 'Angelica' would be bound to turn into a lady of the night, I fear. You'd really be asking for it. 'Winston' would bring out the latent prejudice in everyone - Churchill was not that popular amongst the working-classes.

    I'm still thinking about it, John.

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  4. Sean Beaver has to be up there for the worst name awards.
    I had to be very careful when I married as my first name is Anita. There was no way I would go out with Mr Lay, Mr Dick or Mr Fooks. ie Anita Lay, Anita Dick...you get the picture. xx

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  5. I've always believed in using family names for children rather than these contrived monikers people stick on their children nowadays. A family name gives a child a feeling of belonging and continuance. Besides, can you imagine some old gal sitting in a nursing home with her socks hanging down around her ankles and answering to Summer or Autumn? Whatever happened to Mary, Elizabeth, John and Thomas?

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  6. We were talking about Gilbert the other day - possibly another difficult one to live with. I vote for Otto.

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  7. I vote for Douglas. It works for both formal and casual settings. I me anyways.

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  8. I used to be a secondary school teacher and there were so many names of naughty children!! I have always found Lee (s) to be v naughty and my sister suggested Lee for my son as it goes well with our surname James but I said no as I didn't want my kid turning out like that and when she returned to school that November (had been off for hockey training), there was a Lee James but he wasn't there - had been suspended!!
    I like Tadhg

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  9. Some silly actress just called her daughter 'Apple'. Poor kid!

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  10. I, too, sometimes wonder if it is the name that makes the child. So Tiffany is a no-go for a girl. She will just turn into a stripper. (Sorry to all the Tiffs out there. I'm sure you are quite lovely.) William is always good for a boy - very regal. And, of course, there is my all time favorite: Baldrick (who's only interest in life is to aquire a great big turnip all for himself ...) Simply endearing.

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  11. I almost christened my daughter Venice. She says she would have hated that name. Decided on the more traditional 'Katherine'in the end. Sadly she insists on being called Kat. (I went to school with a boy called Wally Hogsflesh. He came complete with NHS wire rimmed glasses.)

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  12. The only self-confessed gay in my school was called 'Dick Withers'. This is true.

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  13. I believe in good old fashioned names. These new names people make up here in the states are silly and unprounceable. They could not possibly be taken seriously in a job interview, were they to get one.

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  14. My neice named her daughter Nevaeh. Heaven spelled backwards. And that's exactly what I have to do everytime I try to spell it - good grief! Ann is nice and simple, but of course I wanted something more exotic when I was young and pretended I was Samantha. Ann (see, I accepted it)

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  15. It's good to name your children after automobiles. We can all think of examples, but my favourites are: Lincoln; Chevy; Ford; Studebaker; Mini; Mustang (Sally); Delorean; Sunny; Cosworth; Volvo; Rolls; Royce; Ennio; and Thomas (the tank engine).

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  16. I wouldn't have forgot it, if I had ever heard of it in the first place, Grouch.

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  17. A couple of years ago VW used the German word "Fahrvergnuegen" in their TV commercials in the United States. I heard somebody say: "Oh my God, that's what some black woman will name her baby!"

    (Don't blame the messenger. I didn't say it, only overheard it.)

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  18. Continuing the slightly unacceptable racist theme (but not really) Colin Powell's parents called him 'Coh-lin' because they had only seen the word written down. This is why us Brits call Maryland 'Mary-land'.

    Some Australian friends in Bath were once stopped by a car full of Australian tourists, and asked the right road to 'Loogerbarooga'. It turned out to be Loughborough (pronounced 'Luff-borough'). This is a true story.

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