Posted on 02/14/2003 11:27:55 AM PST by Hillary's Lovely Legs
In a previous article, I introduced three members of my family: Brianna, Brianna's mother and Brianna's still-baking sibling.
After learning that my aunt intended to name a female infant "Taylor Jade," I gave my opinion of the name.
"What a wonderful name, I exclaimed, for a future professional hooker! If you want your daughter to augment her breasts and slurp other things in lieu of water, stick with that name."
A look of horror washed across my aunt's face, and she left. To her credit, she didn't stick with that name. To my amusement, she went with one even worse.
It's a girl!
Huh? Wha? It's 2 a.m. What's a girl?
I had a girl! Isn't that great?
Who the heck is this?
It's your aunt, and I had a girl!
Huh? Oh, Taylor Jade made her arrival?
We decided on a new name.
Well, bully for you.
We settled on "Riley"!
Oh, God, Riley is so trashy. Why don’t you just hand her over to the porn industry to raise? Because when I think of Riley, especially with your last name, I think, "How much does she charge?"
That’s awful. That’s a really rotten thing to say. Besides, we’re spelling it R-Y-L-E-E. That makes it classier.
Oh, sure, if the class you’re trying to rise above thinks a double-wide trailer is luxurious. Don’t you know there’s a direct correlation between extraneous "y"’s in a kid’s name and the number of laws they’ll violate? And what’s with the "-ee"? How cutesy is that?
You can be really rotten sometimes.
I know, it’s a gift. I’m just trying to save the kid some pain. There’s a cardinal rule in naming kids, and it is "Thou shall not mix ethnicities." Rylee sounds Irish. Your surname is LeManne. Rylee LeManne. It’s like me being Rosita Connelly. It’s not allowed.
But I’m all about the nicknames. You know that. I named Brianna "Brianna" because I like "Bri" for a nickname. I picked "Rylee" because "Ry" is so damn cute.
Jesus Christ. Bri and Ry? Like cheese and bread? You’re naming your kids after cheese and bread?
Well, I never thought of it like that.
You should have. It’s perfect for an incestuous lesbian stage show, though. "The Incestuous Lesbian Duo, Bread and Cheese LeManne." What’s the tagline going to be? "Hey, Bri, come over here and spread some on me?"
*click*
That's the last time I try to help a family member.
But my aunt isn't alone in doling out cutesy or "unique" names to her living accessories. It's a nationwide trend.
With society churning out Columbine Borg at a rapid pace, naming a child is one of the few remaining acceptable outlets for individuality. We want our kids to conform because conformity is the glue that holds society together. But giving them a name that no one ever thought to bestow upon a child -- Dysmenorrhea, for example -- allows parents to demonstrate some level of non-conformity.
Of course, buying a child a chemistry set and encouraging the exploration of the wonderful world of chemicals is far less embarrassing than saddling a child with the name "Cannon."
Along with creative names come creative spellings. Maybe the parents weren't clever enough to invent a name. Maybe they liked the sound of a traditional name, but they still wanted their child to have a leg up on the Lakens and Teagans.
But does spelling matter when the teacher calls on Julie, Jullee, Jewlee, Julliee and Julye?
"Rylee" is but one example of misspelled monikers. Traditional names become undecipherable.
Mayghan? Is it pronounced like the more traditional "Megan"? Or May-ghan? May-gun? My-gun? How can anyone tell in a country brimming with Brinleys, Hollyns and Kestins? Where Matthew becomes "Matthue," a too-trendy Carson becomes "Karsyn" and an overdone Taylor transforms into "Teighlor"?
Then there are the parents who completely lack creativity. They give rise to the Trumans, Willows, Xanders, Dawsons and Dharmas. They're television or movie addicts, and a name that fits a fictional character will surely fit their snookums.
And the stranger the name or spelling, the more apt the parents are to eschew discipline.
During finals, I escaped to the local public library to study. Libraries are quiet, or so I've heard.
Fifteen minutes into studying, a book fell on the floor. Again and again, a book fell on the floor. I got up to see who the klutz was, and it was none other than an adorable female toddler.
She purposely threw the book on the floor. Again and again. After five minutes of that, and perhaps noticing annoyance on the faces of other people, the mother half-heartedly attempted to discipline her angel.
"Kinsey, stop it. Stop it, Kinsey. Please, Mommy is trying to read, Kinsey."
What the heck? Kinsey? Like the Kinsey Institute? Either Mommy is kinky or stupid.
My vote was on the latter because for 20 minutes, Kinsey entertained the library with her antics.
I doubt a Jennifer would do that, but I bet a Jenypher would.
Really, Tyler, Madison... get real, dad's and mom's!
If you want presidents names for a little girl, Buchanan, Filmore, Arthur, Polk and OF COURSE, Bush would be so much sweeter and lovlier.
At least we can spell amateurs.
As I mentioned on the last one of these name threads, the verybest name I know is one my wife had a couple years ago in her Spec Ed class -Nyquil Neosynepherin. This year she has a little boy named Tyvek- like on the insulation you see on a house under construction.
Couldn't agree more. I saw this AFTER I posted about pretentious parents. These names are nauseating - just like the parent(s).
Another popular name in some communities is Hesus. Not sure of the spelling but it means Jesus. Honestly, how can one disgrace Jesus like that? No mere mortal is worthy of His name, yet it's quite common in some ethnic groups. Or how'd you like the name STONE as in STONE Phillips? I have little doubt his parents got stoned now and then.
I suggest work on the left side of the US Senate chamber.
People who try so hard to give their children names such that they will not share a classroom with 4 more usually wind up all choosing the same unusual names and when the kids get into school there are 4 more in the classroom with the same name. The best way to give your child a rare name is to choose a name from a non European non Arabic language. There are pitfalls there, too, however: see the Vietnamese Dung and Phuoc, or Hoai Mi.
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