What's In a Name?

We're not seriously looking for names yet, being the procrastinating types. I was just thinking about my criteria for a good McDonald baby name this morning, though.

Unusual.
Okay, so my name is Jill. I feel that it is a fairly white bread name, while I don't mind it. I had a crazy Norwegian last name, Sandtorf, until I married. There weren't tons of other ladies out there with the same name.

With a last name like McDonald, I want the kids to have a semi-memorable first name. There is a scale of weirdness here, where one must walk the fine line between a quirky name and one that will get a child severely beaten every school day for twelve years. We've all heard them, haven't we? My current favorite of this ilk has to be Syphilis. (!)

It used to be a slight bit cool to give a kid a last name for a first name, but now every redneck does it. Kennedy would be popular with the Republicans, don't you think? What about Reagan? Don't give in to peer pressure! Also, DON'T name your baby Nevaeh. It's heaven spelled backwards. So, like anti-heaven. I think you just named your baby hell, in hilbilly code.

How many Twi-fans are naming kids Bella and Edward and Alice? Years ago, I liked the name Jasper, but now it's a Twilight name, so no deal. Or, perish the thought, Renesmee. That may have been what finally broke me in the last Twilight book. DO NOT even get me started about combining existing names, or giving a baby a name that is traditional, but spelled without phonics. Krystyl, for example. Do you really want your child to have to spell their name every single time, for everyone they meet?

Traditional.
I love old people names, and family names. We've used several: Margaret, Garland, Kenneth, Mabel, and Irene are all names from our grandparents. However, I probably won't be using Okla, Bloomer Rae, or Coonrod any time soon. See drawbacks in the "Unusual" category.

A great resource for old names is actually on the Social Security Website, where you can look up the 200 most popular names for boys and girls in each decade from 1880 to 2000. Now that is informative and interesting. Notice how Adolf drops off the charts in the 1940's. I wonder why? You can also see what the most popular names are now, and avoid them like the plague. It's what I always do.

Nicknames.
We've turned out to be a nickname family:

Olivia is Livvie, Livver, Liviline, or Livva-B.

Hollis is The Boy, Hollis P, Hollis P-Jiggly-Dragon (from Liv when she was three), and Buttery (also coined by tiny Livvie).

Margaret is Maggie, Magna-Doodle, Magador, Maggie-Moo, and Her Royal Highness Princess Margaret.

Ivy is Ivy-Smacks, Ivaline, Poison Ivy, and Squeaker.

Lochlan is Loch (Lock), Tiny Boy, The Other Boy, or Boykin. When we're trying to work and he screams all day, we call him other things.

Now, about Margaret/Maggie. My grandma was Margaret. She DID NOT like to be called Maggie. All my family is sort of loyal to this, and calls our daughter Margaret. I don't. To me, Margaret is Grandma, and Maggie is my little girl, and that's okay with me. Don't haunt me for this, Grandma.

Inside Joke or Reference.
Sadly, I have done this to my child. Ivy is our fourth, and the Roman numeral for "four" is IV. So, Ivy. It's only a small joke and it's a real name, and it fits her perfectly, so I hope she won't hold that against us someday. I nearly named her Azalea instead.

As a hardcore nerd, I've also toyed with the idea of some obscure sci-fi name, or honoring a deceased scientist. I'm pretty sure some of our friends named their little boy Malcolm after the Captain Reynolds of Serenity on Firefly. And that's actually cool. I'd love to have an Albert(Einstein), a Herschel (astronomer), a Neils (physicist), Pascal, or a Darwin. No, Mom, I promise I won't name a kid Darwin.

Or Literary names. Sherlock, Mycroft, Fitzwilliam, Roland, Eleanor, Jane, Aragorn, Albus, Sirius, Bram, Arwen.

What about a name from a Beatles song? Julia, Eleanor, Sadie, Rita, Michelle, Lucy. I already know lots of ladies with those names, though.

Approved by Both Parents.
Let's just say that if I ever produce twin boys, they WILL be named Fred and George, no matter what Toby has to say about it. I'll be all, I CARRIED AND BIRTHED THEM AND THEY WILL BE NAMED WHAT I WANT. I will put my foot firmly down on that one. Besides, these are both family names, so there.

I have always loved Calvin and Hobbes, and our kids always look just like Calvin. You know, short little legs, crazy hair, and giant heads. Calvin is bright and busy boy who gets into a lot of trouble with his imagination. What could be a better name for a little boy? Unless, like Toby, you have a troubled uncle named Calvin, who everyone already thinks of when they hear the name. Let us not mention the pink-shorts-birthday-cake-picture that's burned onto everyone's brain. Oh, I did.

Other Considerations.
Have you ever noticed that some people ruin a name for you forever? I, for one, will never like the name Casey, or Mindy. However, I adore the names Louise and Nan and Wilma. Hmmm, I think there's a lesson there for us all. I wonder if anyone out there can't stand Jill because of me?

Obviously, Ronald is right out.