Little Bit of Green

Perhaps the most important thing you will give to your baby, apart from life itself, is a name. So take your time choosing it and try to opt for one that he or she will wear with pride in later life. The first decision is do you look at traditional names, do you go to the other extreme by making up a name, or do you opt for a middle course and maybe choose a traditional name but with different spelling?

There are advantages in choosing an unusual baby name: people with such names stand out from the crowd; at school they won’t have to use an initial after their name because someone else in the class has the same name; and they won’t get confused with anyone else. However, nobody will know how to spell their name; it may be mis-pronounced; and other kids can be very cruel. There’s nothing worse than being teased and kids will quickly pounce on a weird name as a reason for teasing or bullying.

Studies have shown that people react negatively to those with unusual names. The author of The Name Game and The Baby Report Card, Dr Albert Mehrabian, reports that, sociologically, a general finding is that people don’t react well to things that are new and unusual. They aren’t comfortable with it, and that applies to names.

Dr Mehrabian has spent the last 10 years studying how a person’s name affects them. Compared to a traditional name, unusual names are rated dramatically lower in all categories: a person’s morality, cheerfulness, and success. A lot of people think they are being creative. They think they’re making their kids individual. Blue hair is individual, but is it desirable?

Mehrabian says he has counselled many adults who were ridiculed by their co-workers because of their names, and finds that the more unusual the name the harder it is to adjust.

Johnny Cash’s song ‘A Boy Named Sue’ may have been amusing at the time, but the theory that naming a boy Sue would toughen him up is a fallacy. I knew a man whose middle name was Mary. His parents wanted him to have a saint’s name and for some reason chose Mary. He was ashamed of his name and tried to keep it very quiet.

Try to avoid the really weird names. Celebrities like Gwyneth Paltrow who named her daughter Apple, and Frank Zappa whose kids were name Dweezil and Moon Unit, can afford to give their children weird names as the kids are much less likely to be bullied. Avoid the really weird names and spare your kids from teasing.

Your baby is already unique, he or she doesn’t need a unique name to be special. Bear in mind that your baby will grow into an adult, so make sure the name you choose will suit your child in later life. Too many cute baby names sound silly when baby grows into an adult.

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