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Inspirational Reads

Baby Name Remorse?

January 2, 2008

I know there are some parents who read this blog. I just read this article on CNN about parents feeling regret over the names they gave their children. And it's nothing like "I shouldn't have named him Cadillac" or anything like that. It was more people concerned that they picked popular baby names.

Having a popular name isn't all that bad. One of my best friends in high school was Matt Webb, and I lived with Matt O. in college. Even now, I hang with Matt O. at work (different O.). Matthew is a pretty common and popular name. Back in the dating days, I would always get "I love that name" when I introduced myself to the ladies. Usually, it was followed up with "I always wanted to name a baby that name" which made me move along because I'm not one to have a junior hanging around. But that's just me. Even now, the commonality of my name is...troublesome...at times, especially when it comes to hanging with my wife's family. See, her sister married a man named Matt and she has a cousin named Matt, so when we get together there's me, Matthew (my brother-in-law) and "Cousin Matt", who is the cousin (and who hates the Red Sox and Cowboys more than I do...so he's a good guy, in my book).

I've never wanted to change my name due to it being common. If I did change my name, I'd change it to Alexander, just because I like the name. Now, my children, both have good names, I believe. We've never (we as in the buxom and comely Boudicca and I) regretted naming our children what we named them. We did have a conversation once as to why we didn't consider the name "Peter" for our son (he is named after a certain Doubting Apostle...not a certain cheeky tank engine). I reminded Boudicca, in all her buxom and comeliness, that we didn't want him to think he was named after Peter Griffin (insert Peter Griffin laughing noise here).

So, my question is...have any of you had remorse over what you named your children? Or remorse over what your parents named you? Just curious. I'd like to see if this is really as common as the article makes it out to be. And for parents, was it really that tough to pick a name for your child?

8 comments:

Ψ*Ψ said...

I despise my first name. Any idea how many Jessicas were born in the mid-80s? I'm looking into getting the "sica" legally hacked off.

Anonymous said...

At one time in our small department, we had three Andrew's, two Anthony's, and three Ann(e)'s working there. Now we have four Laura's.
I think it's a ploy to make life easier for my boss (obviously he planned it). At least calling out "Laura" would get the attention of most of his female employees.

As for myself, nowadays I often introduce myself as "I'm *****, yes, spelt like that green liquer you see in bars". And no, I am not called Absinthe.

the iNDefatigable mjenks said...

Your name is Apple Pucker?

Sadly, Absinthe was my first guess. :D

Chemgeek said...

I first thing I thought of Apple Pucker too.

The Ex said...

I hope that isn't a serious question. OF COURSE I have remorse over what they called me.

For crying out loud.

Lisa said...

my husband wanted give our son his father's middle name "lewis" because he admires his father's spirituality. so i went along with it since my daughter has my mom's middle name. although his dad is spirtual, he's also had two failed marriages, lives in poverty, can barely keep a roof over his head, and bums money off his kids. now i think what kind of legacy is in the name "lewis" and i want to change it. am i wrong for feeling this way?

Anonymous said...

i read that same CNN article and laughed at the parents who were silly enough to change their children's names. now, 6 months after my daughter was born, i regret her name terribly. i constantly wish i'd chosen something else, simply because the one we did choose (adelaide) is too harsh-sounding and doesn't really fit her. but what can i do? i'm not going to change it; i just have to live with the regret.

Anonymous said...

The first time I heard my son's name was when my husband blurted it out to the nurse on the phone hours after my c-section. I was drugged up and cried. He didn't have the decency to change it to any of the 9 names I had brought on a list. Even though he freely admitted that the name (and really any name) mean nothing to him. Now we are home with the baby and I feel more like the baby sitter than the mother because I can't relate to the name. I am really sad about it and think less of my husband for it. I can only hope that I will learn to like it and will connect with the baby soon.