Brand names: Some Americans are naming their children after consumer products

WORLD ^ | 11/15/03 | Gene Edward Veith

[rhema]

NAMES, THE EMBLEMS OF A PERSON'S IDENTITY, used to mean something. "Abraham" means "father of a multitude." "Moses" means "draws out," as of the River Nile and as he would draw the people out of slavery. "Jesus" means "God saves," so that His very name testifies to His deity and His saving work.

In other tribal societies, people are sometimes named for animals ("Sitting Bull") or for something else in nature ("Red Cloud"). The same holds true for European tribes: "Beowulf" means "bee wolf," a figure of speech for "bear." In the Middle Ages, children born on a Saint's Day were named for that saint, giving them their patron saint. Puritans started naming their children after virtues, such as Faith and Prudence, or after other abstractions such as Increase.

Then the meaning of names began to lie generally in some association, as in naming a child for someone in the Bible. Many names have family significance, with children named after parents, ancestors, or other relatives.

The main criterion for names today, though, is not so much their meaning as whether they sound good. Some parents, in order to ensure their child's utter individuality, make up unique names, a set of musical syllables and unusual spellings designed to ensure that no one else in the world has exactly that name.

As the pop culture—the world of entertainment and commercialism—drives out traditional culture, from education to the church, it shows up too in the names people choose for their children. Decades from now, adults will find themselves saddled with the names of by then old-fashioned pop stars who happened to have been big at the time their mothers gave birth. Soap-opera characters, it has been noted, are a major influence on the names of real babies.

A new trend in baby names, however, takes the pop-culture influence to a new level. Cleveland Evans, a psychology professor at Nebraska's Bellevue University and a member of the American Name Society, studied Social Security records for the year 2000 and found that many children today are being named after consumer products.

Twenty-two girls registered that year were named "Infiniti." Not "Infinity" with a "y," as in the illimitable attribute of God, but "Infiniti" with an "i," as in the car. There were also 55 boys named "Chevy" and five girls named "Celica."

Hundreds of children were named after clothing companies. There were 298 girls named "Armani." There were 164 named after the more casual "Nautica." Six boys were named "Timberland," after the boot.

Sometimes the clothing namesakes are more generic, with a special emphasis on fabrics. Five girls were named "Rayon." Six boys were named "Cashmere," seven were named "Denim," and five were named "Cotton" (though perhaps this was for Increase Mather's son).

Forty-nine boys were named "Canon," after the camera. Seven boys were named "Del Monte," apparently in honor of canned vegetables. Twenty-one girls were named "L'Oreal," after the hair dye, presumably to let them know that "you are worth it."

"Sky" might be the name of a nature-loving flower child's offspring (as in River Phoenix), but 23 girls and 6 boys were named "Skyy." This is a brand of vodka. Parents are naming their children after other alcoholic beverages, too. Nine girls were named "Chianti." Six boys were named "Courvoisier."

Perhaps the ultimate product name for kids uncovered by Mr. Evans was ESPN. Two separate parents, one in Texas and one in Michigan, named their sons after the sports cable network. A reporter for the Dallas Morning News traced down the family of big sports fans and learned that the correct pronunciation of little ESPN's name is "espen."

So what does this mean? Are children being seen in the same terms as consumer products or other possessions? Certainly, just as there are trophy wives, there are now trophy children. The desire to own a baby is driving much of the new reproductive technologies. Babies are already being bought and sold in the practice of hiring surrogate mothers.

Certainly parents have the right to name a child anything they want, and it is wrong to give someone a hard time just for having an unusual name, which, as in Johnny Cash's boy named Sue, can be a character-building experience. (Maybe he could have changed the spelling to "Sioux.")

For some, the "Christian name," as it is called, is given at baptism. And its true significance comes from that one individual identity being identified with and joined to a greater name: "ESPN, I baptize you in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit."

Christians find their own name and identity—whatever it is—in the name of Jesus, "God saves."

[beavus]

I'm naming my son "Old Scratch" and my daughter "Dr. Pepper". My lawyer wife wanted to name her Sue, but I put my foot down.

[Teacher317]

In 1991, Hillary was a top-tier name for new baby girls... by 2001, the name was not in the top 100. The biggest, fastest drop of name popularity of all time. What was it about 1992 and the name of Hillary that made it so atrocious, offensive, and unpopular? Hmm.

[aruanan]

Forty-nine boys were named "Canon," after the camera.

Of after the TV detective. I guess the writer is relatively young.

[Geezerette]

I worked with a lady whose maiden name was Philpot before she married and changed it!!

g

[TalBlack]

I don't remember the exact location of the cemetery but it is in Downtown Manhattan NY, the monument is visible from the street and the given name of the deceased is listed as "Frozen". The family name on the monument is "Fish". To the best of my recollection he was born in the mid or late 19th and lived to old age. Don't ask me how!

I'm thinking 14th St. but it was probably lower.

[Velveeta]

Hey! Watch it....BunnySlippers!

[aruanan]

Christians find their own name and identity—whatever it is—in the name of Jesus, "God saves."

Interesting that he shares the same name as the one who led the Israelites into the Promised Land.

[Carb_Addict]

There is a Beverage Jones in Alabama....found that when doing a White Page search this morning....lol

My 3 sisters named at least one of their children an unconventional name.....I admit to helping to come up with some of them.
;-`)

[Fzob]

----Mu neighbor's kid, Purina, was nearly eaten by a pit bull.


LOL

[Lijahsbubbe]

And then there's the singer named 'Nivea'.

[Dave Elias]

" "Moses" means "draws out,"

This is debatable. M(o)SH(e)h, the Hebrew version means 'Drawn out', although the context is not clear, it may be a reference to being chosen. However in Egyptian, Moses or MSS as it should more correctly be written in its base form (no vowels) means 'Son of'. Thus for example Rameses means 'son of Ra' and Tutmoses (the pharoah at the time Moses was adopted) means 'Son of Tut', a reference to whatever deity was ascendent at the time.

'Son of' fits nicely into the narrative too, adopted as he was by the Pharoah.

Interestingly too, the whole story has remarkable parallels to that of Pharoah Amenhotep IV (Akenaton), so much that many scholars suspect that the two have been interwoven over time.

Akenaton is an interesting character who is well worth looking up.

[Geezerette]

That "Placenta" baby must be the same daughter of my co-worker's cleaning lady!!! My co-worker was from Pennsylvania!!!!

I hadn't seen the other post when I did mine.

wow.

g

[Celtic Conservative]

while working at a church camp I met many interesting named kids. One kid was called Demon. It was pronounced dah-moan, not dee-mon. After working with the little spawn for a week, I decided the second pronunciation was more appropriate.

Slainte,

CC

[Maceman]

Rayon? Del Monte? Naming your kid after liquor? Good grief.

Why don't they just name the kid "Whatever"?

[meowmeow]

My mother is a genealogy nut. She has a collection of strange names from the last 300 years. Recently she found one Dixie Cupp. Predates the actual product. I seem to recall an article a few years back about the search for an actual person named Dot Com. One was eventually found, a crusty old lady who thought the guys sponsoring the contest were a bunch of nerds, although she accepted the free prizes eagerly enough.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

My mom had a young lady in her English class named Yevonne. She pronounced it Y von.

[mylife]

my dr told me about a baby girl in Philadelphia who her husband treated -- the girl's name was Female (pronounced Femalli)-- she hadn't yet been named when she left the hospital after being delivered; her parents saw Female on the birth certificate and assumed someone from the hospital had stepped in and given her a name, and they liked it, I guess...

There is more than one! I witnessed a woman naming here child the same thing in a hospital in CA!

[boris]

My father, while in medical school, performed a delivery in a black neighborhood. The mother had no idea of what to name the baby (a boy). So he and his partner named the kid after the dean of Jefferson Medical College (in ~1938). So there was this little black boy running around with the Dean's name and "Jackson" or something as his last name. This was, um, unpopular in that time, and my father and friend were called to the dean's office: "Gentlemen, I believe that in life, everyone should get one mistake, and you have had yours. If I see your faces or hear your names again during your years here..."

==================================

Another doctor I know was personally in a similar situation. He named the poor kid Meconium Brown.

--Boris

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Just call me 'Cash'!

Never play poker with a guy named Cash, Ace, Doc or Lucky.

[Erik Latranyi]

This is my daughter --- Lapdance Onenightstand

...and my son --- Trojan Condombroke