[BadCat]

I've been dipping in to the Baby Names forum a bit lately, which is firghtening in itself, and I have a question about unusual names, unusual spellings, top 10 names and what have you.

With the vast array of unusual names now in use including names from non-anglo cultures, unusual spellings, made up names etc, are those who suggest that children with unusual names will be unemployable bogans actually just behind the times? After all, there are so many unusual names being used now that they aren't really unusual as a whole any more.

This is not about what sort of names you prefer but about recognising that your preferences are but a tiny subset of possible names. People will continue to name their children in both traditional and unusual ways. Surely this is a good thing? Surely an ever expanding variety of naming options is a wonderful thing? You don't have to like all the names but really how is naming your child Jack and different than naming your child Skate? They are both just words that the child will answer to throughout life.

So, what do you think? Time to get over your pre-conceived notions of what is appropriate in a name and accept diversity? Or time for a national register of approved names to prevent people naming their child Ellexah?


I think the diversity of names is wonderful and I think that increasingly, employers and such will not bat an eyelid at someone named Glacier or Mage. And I think that is as it should be.

[Wahwah]

I say each to their own but don't complain when people judge because it has always happened and always will. I have a common name that had no negative connotations when I was born but now is judged as being boganic.

I don't have an issue at all with the proliferation of new names but because people will judge I feel parents do have to consider how resilient their child will need to be in order to cope with any likely teasing or endless comments. It takes a long time for society to change overall so for every Ellexah there will be 100 Alexa's.

I personally think alternative spelling is a bit pointless if the pronunciation is the same as the conventional name. Why bother?

[LookMumNoHands]

I'm in total agreeable with you on this one Badcat.

When Mr Leong Phat Kok joins this forum and agrees that he finds it hard to gain employment because of his name, I may change my opinion.

[chickendrumstick]

I think that at the end of the day, a person's name isn't a true judge of their character. I wouldn't have a problem hiring an Ellexah or an Alexa, as long as she was a decent employee.

Unfortunately it would seem that there are a reasonable number of people with terribly spelt or made up names that are a part of the group in society that doesn't value hard work and being a decent employee.

This post has been edited by chickendrumstick: 10/11/2012, 11:11 AM

[PurpleWitch]

I cant stomach made up names.

My boys have Irish names because, well, we're Irish. I wanted to spell my second sons name the traditional way but my ex wouldn't have a bar of it. We compromised. His name gets misspelled all the time.

My "boyfriend" is Anglo Indian. If we have a child? He wants the child to have an Indian name. I wonder how the child will be judged for having an ethnic name.

I cant stomach made up names.

My boys have Irish names because, well, we're Irish. I wanted to spell my second sons name the traditional way but my ex wouldn't have a bar of it. We compromised. His name gets misspelled all the time.

My "boyfriend" is Anglo Indian. If we have a child? He wants the child to have an Indian name. I wonder how the child will be judged for having an ethnic name.

[Sweet like a lem...]

Dunno. I don't judge people by their given name but I might harbour some unsavoury thoughts about their parent's creative spelling ideas. Poor baby Daisie will spend her life going "That's Daisie with an ie."
If you want to name your child Skate Stormtrooper that's fine; just don't spell it Skayte Stawmtroupah.

[casime]

Like it or not, there will always be people, particularly employers, that judge people based on their names. Particularly in some industries. Little Jypzy-Rhose is going to have to work a lot harder to be taken seriously than Joanne will. That's just how it is. I have worked in Job Services and I have seen it happen many many times. There's a reason why many immigrants to this country prefer to use a name that is westernised, rather than their own, when it comes to interacting with potential employers. Whether it's right or wrong, first impressions do matter, and since I can't change the way people perceive someone based on their name, I made sure that I gave my child a name that wasn't going to make life harder for him as he grows up.

[red_squirrel]

Names carry connotations. They may be foreign, made-up or traditional.

In some industries you don't get a look in if you went to the wrong school, unniversity or live in the wrong area. Turn up with a made-up name and they'll have a good laugh.
Like it or not, it indicates you come from an uneducated or bogan background. You may not be yourself but it says your parents were.
If they were educated and wanted a unique name they would have opted for something from the classics or mythologies not made one up themselves.

[countrymel]

My nephew got beaten up at school the other day - when recounting the horrible experience for me, my sister said "It was a *insert name* and unfortunately due only to the first name I was able to get an idea of the kind of child it would be, and the kind of SE, and educational level background this poor messed up violent kid had emerged from.

Sad but true.

[YellowKittyGlenn]

TBH where I work there are many many a Dr with unique or unsusual names and they get along just fine. TBH in 10-20 years no one will longer care that the name is unique or unusual because it will no longer be they will get along in their careers just fine.