Baby names, interesting article

[edurnemk]

I love DS's name, I chose it and it definitely suits him.... but I have some regret for not insisting more on another form of spelling of that name. It's a name that can be spelled in 3 different ways, I wanted one spelling, DH wanted another and I gave in. But the spelling I wanted had more relation to our family history and it's the spelling that's known the most in most countries... well at least until an actor by that name became recently famous...

[Carrots]

This is one reason I like solid, traditional names. Even if a celebrity has your name, it's not like anyone will feel like you named your Kate for Kate Gosselin. But if you name your child Paris, then all bets are off. Of course, not everyone feels that way.

Hee hee. My stomach did a flip flop when I read this. Katherine (Kate) has been a front runner for our new baby's name. Kate Gosselin makes me sick - but, for some weird reason, I never connected "our name, Kate" to Kate Gosselin. KWIM? It is hard to put into words. Maybe I should just name her Apple. j/k

[newg]

DH and I both love names that have a bit of a story to them....DD was named after me and has DH's mom's middle name as her MN............so for this girl, we'd love to have some family connection with her first and middle name...........possibly a spin off DH's name and my middle name, or a spin off of DH's grandma and my mom's middle name...............
I think you do have to be a bit careful when picking a name........but like PP said, we also like the name Kate/Cate and I would never associate it with the whole Kate G. thing.............I have a harder time with certain names associated with kids I have taught over the years!!

[boogiemomz]

For a more controversial take, anyone read the chapter in Freakonomics about naming?

yes! controversial indeed... we read it when i was pregnant and it gave us some good food for thought, but we tried not to let it influence us too much. now i don't even remember most of the key points, except that many names first become really popular in higher socioeconomic status populations, and then a few years later when those names are too common in those circles, they then become very popular in more middle-class/lower-class populations. interesting theory. they have lists from over the years of the most common names of children of Ivy League grads, for example... interesting to see how they change. though i'm not sure where the authors got this information.

[truly scrumptious]

No one has asked us about LOTR since we moved out here. I guess that's the difference between L.A and NH

Actually, I did wonder about LOTR when I saw your siggy. Also because I happen to know another couple who named their DD exactly the same as yours - Arwyn, and they DID name her after Arwen.
FWIW, I think Arwen is the prettiest name in the LOTR

[maestramommy]

Actually, I did wonder about LOTR when I saw your siggy. Also because I happen to know another couple who named their DD exactly the same as yours - Arwyn, and they DID name her after Arwen.

Well, cough cough, so did we I toyed with Eowyn for a while, because I LOVED the character. But I decided that would be too much to saddle on a poor child. And we looked up Arwen and found out it was an actual name, not something that Tolkien made up, which fulfilled Dh's requirements for a name.

One of my bf from HS, his DW had a little girl last year, and they named her Arwyn too! We reconnected on FB shortly before the baby was born, and he asked about my Arwyn. Turns out they are huge LOTR fans as well. I wonder if 20 years from now there will be a ton of Arwyns and Arwens running around.

[sariana]

I toyed with Eowyn for a while, because I LOVED the character. But I decided that would be too much to saddle on a poor child. And we looked up Arwen and found out it was an actual name, not something that Tolkien made up, which fulfilled Dh's requirements for a name.

Eowyn seems like a real name too, maybe Welsh? Or do you know that he made it up? It can be difficult to tell, as there are so many "real" names that I just am not familiar with.

I think it's much easier for girls to have less common names. There are so many pretty words that can be turned into names. But boys don't want "pretty" names, so it is more challenging.