Am I dooming my future children?

[FallenPrism]

Another thread has brought up the issue of parents giving their children easily taunt-able and generally goofy names. My question to you all is this: am I dooming my children to the same fate by giving them uncommon names (Daughter: Lyra; Son: Maes - - yes, my wife and I are super nerds)

Also; any of you giving/or gave your children unique names?

I'm a huge geek and I don't get the refrences. As for my children, I will be naming them Axle and Tracker.

Ok, fair enough, I guess they're not that weird...though our dog is named Tahiri and our cat is named River.

New Jedi Order! I approve.

OP: I thing both of those names look fine as far as tauntability goes (namely, no easy taunts spring to mind) but mispronunciation is pretty likely, especially with Maes, since there are so many options that kinda fit. But honestly, these are the sorts of things that your kids will just have to learn to deal with. I have somewhat the opposite issue - my first name is extremely common, but it is three syllables long. So in my case, when I tell people my name, I get the strangest misspellings given how common the name is.

 

[Syntax Error]

Another thread has brought up the issue of parents giving their children easily taunt-able and generally goofy names. My question to you all is this: am I dooming my children to the same fate by giving them uncommon names (Daughter: Lyra; Son: Maes - - yes, my wife and I are super nerds)

Also; any of you giving/or gave your children unique names?


EDIT: Maes is pronounced Mays

If he grows up and becomes a Brigadier General (hopefully not post-humous), I will shit my pants.

EDIT:
I'm Reuel. I will be 24 next week. People still call me Roel/Raul. My nickname is Huey. People call me Louie or some other name. So yeah.

 

[Jakub324]

I don't think so, those names are normal enough, but still unusual.

 

[No_Remainders]

Yeah, Lyra is cool, Maes is not.

 

[Fenix7]

I would be. I want to name my male children Gilgamesh and Malakai.

Malakia means wanker in greek. Jus thought you should know

 

[StBishop]

Still way too young and foolish to be a father. However, I don't want a John or Bill as my son. I want something unique, yes, but not easily tauntable. I don't see how Lyra will be ridiculed. Maes? I dunno, kids can be creative with their insulting...

I hope I pronunced it correctly in my mind
Maes? More like maize! Corn-boy!
However, if kids start calling each other names like these, it's better than alternatives.
I'd probably have odd names for my kids though, and until other kids get the references, your own are fairly okay.
If you wanted to be mean, make a common name spelled differently (ex Jeff = Geoff) so they're doomed to a life of mispronunciation.

Geoff is a shortening of Geoffrey.

It's a traditional and normal name. Jeff is an abomination.

(No my name isn't Geoff).

I don't think it's a problem. I personally like traditional names with at least 2 syllables preferably 3. (William, Richard, Geoffrey, Edward, Arthur, Albert for sons and Margaret, Elizabeth, Charlotte, Abigail, Evelyn for daughters.)

I would be. I want to name my male children Gilgamesh and Malakai.

Malakia means wanker in greek. Jus thought you should know

Yeah, Malakai is a mispelling of Malachi, a traditionally Hebrew name.

 

[Spade Lead]

I read the entire first page and NO ONE has picked up on the fact that Lyra is the Italian currency... Seriously? That could be a mistake.

 

[NoNameMcgee]

Please don't call your son Maes... I don't even know what thats from, but just, please. Don't.

Choose names that aren't common but also not unheard of, that you find attractive in some way. I havent put much thought into boy names, but here are some names I like for girls (I dont plan to have children so lease feel free to steal them)

Jasmine
Sophie
Amelle
Francesca
Veronica
Emelia/Amelia

Choosing a "nerdy name" for your child just because you and your wife are nerds is a bloody stupid idea. Pick names that sound good to say and to hear and wont get your child bullied or make them hate their name.

 

[370999]

I think I can contribute to this discussion in a way few others can. My parents gave me a pretty unusual name. I'd rather not say what it actually is but it's a latin word that shows up in scifi writing fairly regularly.

I do not like it.

I won't bore you with a lot details, but nothing positive has ever come from it. Mostly I just have to correct people, repeat myself and spell it for them. Also, I'm really tired of the 'That's an unusual name!' conversation.

I have given serious thought to changing it but dispite how much I dislike it it is part of my identity now and I can not decide on a 'normal' name that I'd like to go by instead and doing so really is a lot of trouble to go through. I might still change it one day though.

I have never told my parents I wish they'd just given me a normal name and I probably never will.

So, from someone who has an unusual name, don't do it. Do not make your child carry that (admittedly fairly small) burden because you think it's cool.

This is it. You are forcing your child to spend hours of his life telling people how to spell and pronounce his name. Also there is no reason why he would think it is cool or even be interested in the same thing. I would be a bit pissed of if my name was some TV character or worse a video game character's name. This is the name your kid will have to introduce himself with in board meetings with/

That said, OP go crazy. Just remember you aren't the one who has to live with it, your kid is.

 

[370999]

I read the entire first page and NO ONE has picked up on the fact that Lyra is the Italian currency... Seriously? That could be a mistake.

Wrong spelling. That said you do know of this currency called the Euro?

 

[Tizzmarelda]

I read the entire first page and NO ONE has picked up on the fact that Lyra is the Italian currency... Seriously? That could be a mistake.

Wrong spelling. That said you do know of this currency called the Euro?

Turkish currency actually. i know this only because i got short changed at the cinemas with some.

 

[The Elcor Batman]

I have considered naming my children with something out there, multiple times. although i never remember any of the names i picked.

That's still a while away though. I have lots of time to think.

 

[CommanderKirov]

Other kids will call your daughter "Lycra" and your son Mouse.

DO YOU REALLY WANT THAT FOR THEM?

 

[Xaio30]

My question to you all is this: am I dooming my children to the same fate by giving them uncommon names (Daughter: Lyra; Son: Maes - - yes, my wife and I are super nerds)

Lyra is awesome and I will name my own daughter either that or Arley. 'nuff said.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

I know tons of people with unusual names, and around here it's no big deal. I know people with names like Ornella, Ellika, Eden, and Villemo. And these are weird even for Swedish names.

 

[nuba km]

they are just uncommon names but by no means bad names, I just say call your son Mays so he doesn't have to correct people all his life in how to pronounce the name.

I just don't like people naming there child stupid names.

 

[Fraught]

There's nothing wrong with an unusual name, as long as either:
A) you have an honest look at yourself and ensure that you aren't using your child's potential future embarrassment as a way to show the world how clever/worldly/nerdy you are.

But that's, like...the only reason people do it. The only reason they can do it!

 

[Rahnzan]

The more common the name, the more successful the individual will be in life. You want to set your kid up? Name him James and her Brittany. They'll go places. Point in case, when was the last time "Laquisha" made any friends or money?

Nothing about an "original" name makes your child special or unique, you should strive to give them values that are real. The name doesn't make the man, the man makes the name. Infact, if you give them a stupid name like Destiny or Xavier (I would like to apologize in advance for my own life experiences), they're more likely to try and fit the bill of what everyone expects "Destiny" or "Xavier" to be like. Around where I live, they would be Stripper and Punk-ass gangsta respectively.

Maes? Isn't that corn? Lyra not so bad, but friggen Maes? or is it Mah-ehz? or My Ass? Mauz? Ma's? Momma's boy? Maes, really, imagine the teachers trying to get that one out with a straight face without you there explaining how it's pronounced. This doesn't take a lot of creative power. If you absolutely have to give the kid a goofy name, give him a normal middle-name. Something he can fall back on when he's too embarrassed by years of ridicule to let you know his name is actually Melvin or Agnew or Jeeves.

In short, you're setting your kids up to fall.

 

[Brownie101]

Lyra's a good name in my opinion and I suppose Mays isn't all that bad. Not a great idea, but not a horrible one.

On the subject of names, a family friend recently had twins and named their son Kaan.
Now, I don't know about all of you, but the first thing that came to mind when I heard this (Or read it in the text) was "KHAAAAAAN!"

 

[Sansha]

My little cousin's name is Phoenix. He hates it - he introduces himself as Nick, which his parents hate. He says the day he turns 18, he's changing it to Nick. Which I'm paying for, actually.