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Published On: Mar 09, 2004 12:47 AM
Total entries in this category:
Published On: Mar 09, 2004 12:47 AM
What's in a Name?
Choosing a baby name isn't as easy as you'd
think.
I'm writing this to help us remember how we
chose Riley's name. I have a terrible memory so I want to have a permanent
record of it. If you want to read this, that's great. Just understand that it is
mostly me rambling on to myself and isn't really tailored for public
consumption.
I never thought that it would be difficult to choose a name for a baby until we had to do so. I don't think that a baby's destiny is decided by his name, but I do think that a name is fairly important. I like my name a lot and I can never remember a time when I wasn't happy with it. I'm not sure if I would feel the same way if my name was different. Then again, I have no way to know.
Neither Shawna nor I are the type of people who have had names for our babies picked out for the last 10-20 years. We had no pre-conceived names in mind, but we both had a long list of names that we didn't want to use. We wanted a name that would reflect his personality, one that wasn't overly trendy or common, one that wasn't totally uncommon, and one that was fairly simple with a traditional spelling.
My only experiences with having an active decision in the naming of a living thing were with my cat (Charlie) and my dog (Linden). I had pets when I was much younger as well, but I was too young to have an active role in selecting a name. I had lots of choices for my dog's name and it was a bit hard to have to settle on a single one. With the baby, the opposite was true. I could only find a few names that I liked and they each seemed to have drawbacks.
Choosing to call my cat Charlie was an easy decision at the time. He was a tiny little thing from the pound, but he had a crazy/mean streak right from the beginning. He used to claw and scratch anything that moved and seemed to take enjoyment in hurting people. My girlfriend and I were constantly covered in bleeding scratchmarks on our faces and arms. He would even wait until I was asleep and then jump on my face clawing at me enough to sometimes draw blood. Hence the name... Charles Manson, or Charlie for short. Nothing else was even under consideration at any time.
Choosing to call my dog Linden was more difficult, but only because I had so many great choices picked out for her. Tuesday, because I got her on a Tuesday and after the actress Tuesday Weld. Aimee, because I had to wait 'Til Tuesday to get her (if you don't know what that means, study your rock history a bit). Cindy, because she looked like my grandma's old dog with that name and because she had a little mole on her cheek like Cindy Crawford. Willow, because she has red hair and a widow's peak like Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Bela, because she looked a bit like Bela Lugosi from the original Dracula movie with her widow's peak and because of the Italian bella. I considered Linden because I was a big fan of Trevor Linden, but I ended up calling her Caper the first day I had her. That changed on a walk the first night with my friend Scott and his dog Cassidy. We also knew a dog named Casey at the time and it was really hard to call "Caper" without yelling "Capey", "Caser", "Cape-iddy", or something equally silly sounding. So, why did I settle on Linden? That first night with Cassidy, my new dog ran alongside her and bodychecked her really hard a few times. Linden, it was.
So, my point is that it is easier to choose a name after getting to know the pet or the person and seeing what characteristics they possess or what they look like. Unfortunately, you can't really do that with a baby. You're expected to have a name right away. In fact, you have to register the name within 30 days of birth by law in BC. And even an hour after he was born, the nurses were giving us funny looks when we told them we hadn't settled on the name quite yet. But, even if you were to take the entire 30 days allowed to choose a name, you still wouldn't have a true sense of the baby's personality and interests. I mean, babies can only do so much when they're that young. So, it was back to choosing a name we hoped the baby would grow into and be happy with later in life.
Shawna and I were pretty much on the same page when it came to the types of names we were considering, but I didn't like all of her choices and she didn't like some of mine. When we found out we were having a boy, it made it a lot easier because we only had to consider boy's names from then on. We decided on James for the middle name right away because it was my dad's first name and is Shawna's dad's first name.
We both liked Brendan for a first name right away, but there were several problems with it that became apparent over time. First of all, Brendan is really close to Brent. Second, I was concerned that he would spend his whole life correcting people who called him Brandon. Third, his initials would be BS (same as mine and I didn't really have a problem with it growing up) or worse, BJ for Brendan James. Fourth, good friends of ours who live a few blocks away have a seven month old boy named Brayden and I foresaw confusion with the two growing up together with such similar names.
We both liked Jack, but Jack isn't really an actual name and I didn't want to name him John so he could have Jack as a nickname. I never understood how Jack comes from John anyway. We considered Jackson, but I didn't really like it or Shawna's preference of Jaxon.
I stumbled across Riley while watching re-runs of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD. I had never considered the name before, but I liked it. I also liked that even though I couldn't think of a single person named Riley, I knew that it was a normal name and not something made up or really trendy. I'd like to make it clear that watching Buffy only put the idea for Riley in my head; we did not name him after the Riley character on the show. I don't even like the character very much. We also really like the combination of Riley James and I'm already calling him RJ for short.
Seconds after the baby was born, Dr. Waterman asked what his name was going to be. Shawna said either Riley or Brendan. The doctor said that Riley sounded like a bit of a trouble-maker, and Brandon sounded like the strong silent type. His mistake of saying Brandon instead of Brendan pretty much sealed the deal.
We were at a doctor's appointment with Riley a few days after he was born and there were a few other babies in the waiting room. The receptionist called for baby Brandon. The woman sitting next to us looked very perturbed and stammered, "It's actually Brendan. His name is Brendan!" I could tell by the look on her face that she has already had to make the correction several times. That would drive me nuts. I'd rather live with a little trouble-maker in my house for the next 18 years or so than be correcting people for the rest of my life.
I never thought that it would be difficult to choose a name for a baby until we had to do so. I don't think that a baby's destiny is decided by his name, but I do think that a name is fairly important. I like my name a lot and I can never remember a time when I wasn't happy with it. I'm not sure if I would feel the same way if my name was different. Then again, I have no way to know.
Neither Shawna nor I are the type of people who have had names for our babies picked out for the last 10-20 years. We had no pre-conceived names in mind, but we both had a long list of names that we didn't want to use. We wanted a name that would reflect his personality, one that wasn't overly trendy or common, one that wasn't totally uncommon, and one that was fairly simple with a traditional spelling.
My only experiences with having an active decision in the naming of a living thing were with my cat (Charlie) and my dog (Linden). I had pets when I was much younger as well, but I was too young to have an active role in selecting a name. I had lots of choices for my dog's name and it was a bit hard to have to settle on a single one. With the baby, the opposite was true. I could only find a few names that I liked and they each seemed to have drawbacks.
Choosing to call my cat Charlie was an easy decision at the time. He was a tiny little thing from the pound, but he had a crazy/mean streak right from the beginning. He used to claw and scratch anything that moved and seemed to take enjoyment in hurting people. My girlfriend and I were constantly covered in bleeding scratchmarks on our faces and arms. He would even wait until I was asleep and then jump on my face clawing at me enough to sometimes draw blood. Hence the name... Charles Manson, or Charlie for short. Nothing else was even under consideration at any time.
Choosing to call my dog Linden was more difficult, but only because I had so many great choices picked out for her. Tuesday, because I got her on a Tuesday and after the actress Tuesday Weld. Aimee, because I had to wait 'Til Tuesday to get her (if you don't know what that means, study your rock history a bit). Cindy, because she looked like my grandma's old dog with that name and because she had a little mole on her cheek like Cindy Crawford. Willow, because she has red hair and a widow's peak like Willow on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Bela, because she looked a bit like Bela Lugosi from the original Dracula movie with her widow's peak and because of the Italian bella. I considered Linden because I was a big fan of Trevor Linden, but I ended up calling her Caper the first day I had her. That changed on a walk the first night with my friend Scott and his dog Cassidy. We also knew a dog named Casey at the time and it was really hard to call "Caper" without yelling "Capey", "Caser", "Cape-iddy", or something equally silly sounding. So, why did I settle on Linden? That first night with Cassidy, my new dog ran alongside her and bodychecked her really hard a few times. Linden, it was.
So, my point is that it is easier to choose a name after getting to know the pet or the person and seeing what characteristics they possess or what they look like. Unfortunately, you can't really do that with a baby. You're expected to have a name right away. In fact, you have to register the name within 30 days of birth by law in BC. And even an hour after he was born, the nurses were giving us funny looks when we told them we hadn't settled on the name quite yet. But, even if you were to take the entire 30 days allowed to choose a name, you still wouldn't have a true sense of the baby's personality and interests. I mean, babies can only do so much when they're that young. So, it was back to choosing a name we hoped the baby would grow into and be happy with later in life.
Shawna and I were pretty much on the same page when it came to the types of names we were considering, but I didn't like all of her choices and she didn't like some of mine. When we found out we were having a boy, it made it a lot easier because we only had to consider boy's names from then on. We decided on James for the middle name right away because it was my dad's first name and is Shawna's dad's first name.
We both liked Brendan for a first name right away, but there were several problems with it that became apparent over time. First of all, Brendan is really close to Brent. Second, I was concerned that he would spend his whole life correcting people who called him Brandon. Third, his initials would be BS (same as mine and I didn't really have a problem with it growing up) or worse, BJ for Brendan James. Fourth, good friends of ours who live a few blocks away have a seven month old boy named Brayden and I foresaw confusion with the two growing up together with such similar names.
We both liked Jack, but Jack isn't really an actual name and I didn't want to name him John so he could have Jack as a nickname. I never understood how Jack comes from John anyway. We considered Jackson, but I didn't really like it or Shawna's preference of Jaxon.
I stumbled across Riley while watching re-runs of Buffy the Vampire Slayer on DVD. I had never considered the name before, but I liked it. I also liked that even though I couldn't think of a single person named Riley, I knew that it was a normal name and not something made up or really trendy. I'd like to make it clear that watching Buffy only put the idea for Riley in my head; we did not name him after the Riley character on the show. I don't even like the character very much. We also really like the combination of Riley James and I'm already calling him RJ for short.
Seconds after the baby was born, Dr. Waterman asked what his name was going to be. Shawna said either Riley or Brendan. The doctor said that Riley sounded like a bit of a trouble-maker, and Brandon sounded like the strong silent type. His mistake of saying Brandon instead of Brendan pretty much sealed the deal.
We were at a doctor's appointment with Riley a few days after he was born and there were a few other babies in the waiting room. The receptionist called for baby Brandon. The woman sitting next to us looked very perturbed and stammered, "It's actually Brendan. His name is Brendan!" I could tell by the look on her face that she has already had to make the correction several times. That would drive me nuts. I'd rather live with a little trouble-maker in my house for the next 18 years or so than be correcting people for the rest of my life.
Posted: Thu - January 8, 2004 at 05:10 PM