Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have a very random question. What is going to happen to the naming conventions for babies in Western society? It is increasingly becoming in vogue to combine the last names of the two parents (i have no qualms with this) separated by a hyphen.
So a name like: John David Smith-Jones may be used in this generation. Now they are going to have a kid with someone who has a hyphenated last name as well. So a name like: Jill Anne Smith-Jones-Drew-Fisher will be used for the kid. Repeat ad infinitum.
At what point are we going to change the naming system for newborns? What would you suggest the new naming conventions become like? Are we going to start having names that are like Screen Names, where everybody has their own unique name/id?
I would suggest that parents can name their baby whatever they want.
In many European countries (Switzerland that I know of), you can't just give a baby any name you want. There is a big government book of Swiss Approved Names and you get to pick from that list.
I’ve wondered about this myself—what the resulting name would be if two hyphen names decided to marry and continue with the hyphenation thing. Instead of the clumsy sounding Smith-Jones-Drew-Fisher I think they should drop the hyphens and crunch the names together to form a new name.
For example, Jill could become Jill Anne SmiJoDreFish—or without the caps she would be Jill Anne Smijodrefish. Voila, a new name is born.
I don't get what the big deal is. obviously, if your name is a hyphenated name and your husband's name is also hyphenated, I don't believe there is a law that states you must combine the hyphenated names together (ie, Jill Anne Smith-Jones-Drew-Fisher). a woman can chose to keep her maiden name or the couple can decide on something together (pick one name from each of them so it's Smith-Drew or Jones-Fisher). I can't imagine many people wanting to carry that massive name around w/ them through life, if only for practical reasons such has filling out forms w/ a limited number of slots for last name
as for first names, I think some first names out there are ridiculous and in some cases detrimental to the child, but I don't agree w/ pre-approved lists of names. there should be some guidelines (something to keep idiot drunk parents from naming their child *uck, Sh*t, and other unpleasant words) that nothing beyond this. I can only hope a delivery room nurse can knock some sense into a parent wanting to name thier child something over-the-top moronic or if they can't, the child can go by a nickname and legally change their name at 18
I can only hope a delivery room nurse can knock some sense into a parent wanting to name thier child something over-the-top moronic or if they can't, the child can go by a nickname and legally change their name at 18
Funny you should mention that...13 years ago when my daughter was born we decided to name her Madison (this is before all of the popularity with the name) and I actually got the name idea from the movie Splash (I know, pathetic). Anyhow, the nurses were at a loss when I said what we were naming her ie: How do you spell that? Are you sure you want to name her Madison? Personally I found it offensive, it's not like I wanted to name her Blanket or Orange for crying out loud! I know what you mean though, as I met twins named Merlot and Chardonnay, and thought to myself "these kids are going to be screwed when they grow up and send out resume's"!
Having a long name is not that unusual in many countries. I'm French and most of the women in my family have 5 names before the last name. For example my grandmother is Theresa Ann Marie Louisa (and I can't think of the last one)-last name.
For hyphen last names odds are you could turn some of those names into middle names.
It is quiote common where i lve for a married woman to not sing her name with her middle name but to use her maiden name instead.Personally I say let teh people name there children as they want.I do think that teh parents need to consider the child and what other kids are going to out them thru as they have for ages tho.
My parents gave me 7 names (honoring all the aunts and uncles with one swell foop). I use the first two as my first and middle names. I never use the other ones, except at parties. Reciting the whole strong of names amuses my friends. The funny thing is, lots of people call me Normie and it has nothing at all to do with any of my names.
I think the hyphenation trend will subside as our society becomes more and more connected to databases. Hyphenated names are simply too long. If people still want to combine names they might come up with something short that references both names, or maybe something new altogether that represents something about themselves.
A couple that's into the ecology, for example, might both change their last name to Tree when they married. Then they could name their baby Buckeye or Willow.
I’ve wondered about this myself—what the resulting name would be if two hyphen names decided to marry and continue with the hyphenation thing. Instead of the clumsy sounding Smith-Jones-Drew-Fisher I think they should drop the hyphens and crunch the names together to form a new name.
For example, Jill could become Jill Anne SmiJoDreFish—or without the caps she would be Jill Anne Smijodrefish. Voila, a new name is born.
In some countries, i.e in Spain this "hyphen" thing has been around for decades. A newborn will inherit the the part behind the hyphen from its mother and the first part of the name of its father.
So if Mrs. Smith-Jones has a kid with Mr. Drunk-Boozer, the kid will be named Drunk-Jones. I think its kinda cool since it settles all this name quarrels in favor of full equality of both partners. After all, the main reason this whole hyphenation thing came is because women are traditionally expected to simply discard their names.
It's the first names I'm worried about. Saddling these hapless newborns with the ridiculous names in vogue these days borders on child cruelty.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
