My daughter is named Tali'Zorah. I suppose I'm crazy : )

[DeimosMasque]

Sorry if this somehow belongs in gaming discussion.

Anyway, tomorrow my daughter is scheduled to be born. I'm freaking out and all that, but that's not why I'm here. Since day 1, her first name was always going to be Tali'Zorah. It's not necessarily "named after Mass Effect", but rather my wife fell in love with the name during our first playthrough of ME1 many years ago. Confused friends and relatives are told "we wanted a nice Quarian name" just because it's funny to see the confusion become worse.

All that aside, a couple of people have told me that we're nuts for giving a child that name. I like it a lot, I'm assuming she'll like it, and I don't think she'll get teased for it or anything like that. Out of curiosity, am I totally off base about that? For further discussion value, this thread can be about the entire concept of video games being used to inspire names.

Posting this before I even look at the rest of the thread because I know what the majority of people are going to tell you.

And they are wrong. Naming your daughter Tali'Zorah is an AWESOME thing to do. You give her a truly great name and one that is easy to nickname if she doesn't 100% like it herself. What you do have to do though, is teach her that it is an epically wonderful name and that if other kids tease her for it, its because of their own jealousy rather than any real reason.

Raise her to be proud of her name and no matter what bad nick names people come up with for her she won't care.

 

[Caiphus]

Tali'Zorah is fairly easy for anyone with the name to just use as Tali though when it's preferred, my uncle likes to change between Jimmy and James whenever he feels like it

And Tali is a hebrew name though and does not carry the same baggage as African and Arabic names in the west

If we can predict that the girl is likely going to try and hide half of her name, then why give it in the first place? And what about when writing job applications like in my post? Or making reservations, introducing yourself, applying for loans, mortgages, etc?

If Tali is a hebrew name, that's fine. Most people have said it's fine. However, even from the Australian study:
. A Middle Eastern-named applicant needed 64 per cent more [applications to receive a callback].

It's still selfish. It's the very definition of selfish. The name means nothing to the child, and will only benefit the parents by playing out their own fantasy (as romantic as it might be). Parents are often slightly selfish when choosing names, but most at least consider the wishes of their child as well as their own.

If my parents wanted to name me Brian after Sir Brian Lochore, that would be fine, for example. If they wanted to call me Gimli, then it wouldn't.

 

[SNCommand]

Tali'Zorah is fairly easy for anyone with the name to just use as Tali though when it's preferred, my uncle likes to change between Jimmy and James whenever he feels like it

And Tali is a hebrew name though and does not carry the same baggage as African and Arabic names in the west

If we can predict that the girl is likely going to try and hide half of her name, then why give it in the first place? And what about when writing job applications like in my post? Or making reservations, introducing yourself, applying for loans, mortgages, etc?

If Tali is a hebrew name, that's fine. Most people have said it's fine. However, even from the Australian study:
. A Middle Eastern-named applicant needed 64 per cent more [applications to receive a callback].

It's still selfish. It's the very definition of selfish. The name means nothing to the child, and will only benefit the parents by playing out their own fantasy (as romantic as it might be). Parents are often slightly selfish when choosing names, but most at least consider the wishes of their child as well as their own.

If my parents wanted to name me Brian after Sir Brian Lochore, that would be fine, for example. If they wanted to call me Gimli, then it wouldn't.

I'm not predicting a thing, I'm just saying that if that's the case nothing is stopping that person from calling herself something else, give the unborn child some benefit of the doubt

Anyway, names for children are always mostly for benefit to the parents, I say parents should be free to name their children whatever means the most to them

And you can't take into account that it might make getting a job more difficult, it never was a problem for my wife having an Asian name so it shouldn't be something to be considered in my opinion when me or any other parent considers names, if it's that much of a hindrance that person could always legally change their name

 

[Hebby]

Just be aware that even if you find it cute, other kids may find it funny in a cruel way. Kids can be very harsh to one another.

 

[Nymi]

Yes, you're crazy. "Tali" on its own would be okay, though. But "Tali'zorah" is too far out.

 

[Linznathanson]

Hey! I know you're getting a lot of negative comments, but I think Tali Zorah is a ridiculously pretty name! I'm not a gamer, and if I just heard someone say "My name is..." I'd be perfectly fine with it! Just wondering if you went for a first name only or first/second combo? To me, it just sounds like it would be 2 names instead of just one... AND practically, it might be better to split up... Those stupid fill in forms (DMV, customs claims, job apps, tax forms, etc) rarely leave me enough room to enter in my 9 character last name, let alone a 10 character first name... You'd save her and yourself a lot of hassle filling that sort of thing out by separating it into two names.

 

[IceForce]

I know it's probably been mentioned a million times already, but could've you have just "Tali" as the first name, and "Zorah" as a middle name or something?

It's likely she's going to shorten it anyway, and "Tali" will become a nickname of sorts.
That being the case, you might as well just make "Tali" the complete first name.

 

[DoPo]

I'm not predicting a thing, I'm just saying that if that's the case nothing is stopping that person from calling herself something else, give the unborn child some benefit of the doubt

I'm confused - why don't other names have the same benefit? Also, I am further confused how would calling yourself whatever you like have any relevance when you need to give your official full name?

if it's that much of a hindrance that person could always legally change their name

*Always = when they are of age. Also, if they are allowed to (depends on the country and/or the name they want to change and what they want to change it to.). Also, it tends to cause a lot of headaches. But yes - they can technically do it and it's also "always" for a very particular definition of always. In other words, no, it's not actually always, and no, it's not as easy as you want to make it sound.

 

[RolandOfGilead]

Robin William's daughter is named Zelda, her mother played LttP a lot during the pregnancy.

 

[Caffiene]

I agree with the trend of "Tali" yes, "Tali'Zorah" no (Zorah as a middle name is fine I guess).

Weird names with excess apostrophes are a trope that gets made fun of even in fiction. OP has already said most of the time she will be called simply "Tali" anyway, so the only thing added by including the second half in the first name instead of a middle name is making a easy target for teasing, making ID and documentation more difficult (some places cant even handle apostrophes in first names at all), and giving teachers etc a hard time trying to spell and/or pronounce it.

 

[Chemical Alia]

Apparently I can't say anything on the internet ever without like, Kotaku.

"I was pretty embarrassed when I learned my middle name came from Dune," said one Escapist forum member, "and I even liked that book." Oh my God, I'm dying to know what the name is now. Don't tell me it's Duncan or Gurney, either. Please tell me it's Thufir.2

OH COME ON. It's right there in my username!

On topic, yeah, just stick with the first part.

 

[SNCommand]

I'm not predicting a thing, I'm just saying that if that's the case nothing is stopping that person from calling herself something else, give the unborn child some benefit of the doubt

I'm confused - why don't other names have the same benefit? Also, I am further confused how would calling yourself whatever you like have any relevance when you need to give your official full name?

if it's that much of a hindrance that person could always legally change their name

*Always = when they are of age. Also, if they are allowed to (depends on the country and/or the name they want to change and what they want to change it to.). Also, it tends to cause a lot of headaches. But yes - they can technically do it and it's also "always" for a very particular definition of always. In other words, no, it's not actually always, and no, it's not as easy as you want to make it sound.

I was talking about how calling someone Tali or Tali Zorah makes little difference when it's one of those names then a person can self decide if it want's to use all of it or not, or even use something else, like a person calling himself either Jimmy or James depending on when or who he's talking to, and it should make no difference on official documents what your name is, especially something as tame as Tali Zorah, one of my neighbors are named Attila, and another one is named Hoshiko, Tali Zorah would in no way stand out unless you've played Mass Effect, in which case I doubt you would think any less about the person

And changing names might not be as easy as writing a letter, but it's certainly no herculean feat

 

[verdant monkai]

What if your daughter plays mass effect and hates it and dislikes Tali? She would be pretty annoyed you chose it.

Thats not realistic in the slightest, come on.
Tali is universally loved.

I adore Tali.

She was my Romance throught all 3 games and second favourite character underneath Shepard. She is in my top 5 girl game characters.

Tali isn't universally loved though. There was a guy above my comment who said she was the least likeable squad mate, and also two my friends who played Mass Effect didnt care for her much.

 

[SanguiniusMagnificum]

Tali is a gorgeous name (okay, I'm kind of biased because I have a really sweet spot for someone named Thali, so yeah...), Zorah also sounds prettty nice.

Tali'Zorah is just plain stupid (for a human). No, honestly, she will get teased the living shit out of her with a name like that.

Just go with Tali or Zorah, that's my two cents on that matter.

 

[DoPo]

and it should make no difference on official documents what your name is, especially something as tame as Tali Zorah

Until your name is misspelled and you have to go fix that, of course. Until there is really no difference. Well, also the fact you'll have to spell it out every time you call something official. Or make a reservation. Or anything to do with speaking your full name to somebody. Well, also there is the fact that you'll be targetted by lazy developers who have anything to do with software that requires your names. See, forms are notorious for not allowing valid names because the developer decided to write a validation for merely most names, but not all. Hint, an apostrophe in the first name is not that common . Sounds like I'm stretching it here, but I know a guy who changed his name to a single letter and this has been somewhat of an interesting ride for him - apparently he literally cannot use the services of some companies, as they cannot accept his new name in their systems.

And changing names might not be as easy as writing a letter, but it's certainly no herculean feat

Yes, if it's possible, then...it isn't impossible. That's what you're saying here. You know that is a really crap advice, right?

Robin William's daughter is named Zelda, her mother played LttP a lot during the pregnancy.

Wow, that is amazing! It sort of puts my mom to shame. Well, pretty much all moms, considering that game came out when little Zelda Williams was 2. Thanks, mom, you clearly didn't love me enough to break space and time for my sake.

 

[schrodinger]

Heh, this crazy little thread actually made a Kotaku article.

Anyways, like people said:

Tali = good

Tali'zorah = meh, not the greatest, but little kids can be the biggest douches and they attack anything they deem 'weird'

Then again, there are babies named So'Unique and(ugh) North West, so it be so much worse.

Robin William's daughter is named Zelda, her mother played LttP a lot during the pregnancy.

Wow, that is amazing! It sort of puts my mom to shame. Well, pretty much all moms, considering that game came out when little Zelda Williams was 2. Thanks, mom, you clearly didn't love me enough to break space and time for my sake.

Zelda, RW's daughter, even does Legend of Zelda commercials for Nintendo. A bonus for her name!

 

[Troublesome Lagomorph]

The problem with unusual names is that even if they don't get bullied for them, they can grow to hate the name cause nobody can get it right. Tali is fine, but if you actually used "Tali'Zorah," she's gonna have a lot of problems in life, such as people misspelling her name on legal documents and the like. Also, nobody being able to pronounce (and spell) it may get on her nerves.

I get all of this cause my sister has an unusual name, and that's what's happened with her.

 

[Story]

I have nothing really to add that hasn't been said before. I'll just say, I agree that Tali is a really pretty if you decide to just leave that, which I personally would. Also congrats on having a kid.
This topic also makes me wonder how video games will be perceived 10 or 20 years from now...if Mass Effect will even be relevant.

The Matrix came out in 1999. That means your friend is no older than 14, 15 if she's had a birthday in the last 4 days. If that's all she gets bullied for, she should consider herself lucky. And Jesus, The Matrix wasn't even the first time someone has named a girl Trinity!

You really should just grow up.

She herself told me that she hates her parents for treating her like a cat or something and picking such a dumb name. Also dismissing bullying by saying it could be worse is how dozen of kids end up dead.

Go ahead though and name your kid after you waifu or whatever, it will immediately show the quality and maturity of your character.

Well, this is a small world. I can tell you with complete honesty that I have a sister named Trinity for the exact same reason. She's only 14 so it guess its too early to tell if she regrets it.
Also Trinity, which can mean a whole lot of things many of them conventional, doesn't sound too bad to me.

I was one of those "lucky" ones to get a name with a really bizarre spelling not because of some deep meaning but because it "sounded pretty".
...yes I'm an African American Women. It's like one of those...

 

[JayRPG]

Coming from my perspective, which is: A guy who changed his name to a video game name FROM a perfectly normal, common name.

Ah, so you did go through with the change in the end, I remember voting in your thread last year. Out of interest, which name did you end up picking, was it the Prince Vegeta one?

I will make a new thread at some point within the week when I get back home so I have access to a computer, I don't fancy typing everything on my phone lol.

 

[Soede Stuff]

TLDR

Name your kid Tali'Zorah.
I'm sure a ton of people here said ahh no how could you!! Kids are cruel. Blah blah blah.
All 3 of my girls are named after Bioware characters (2 Balder's Gate and one Dragon's Age)and they LOVE it. I dont mean they kinda like it, they LOVE it. They're PROUD of it and they dont mind telling you in total detail where the names came from PLUS showing you the limited edition trading cards we got with the game boxes.

In my very personal experience, it IS the people who go "Oh No! What will their employers think" who are the very problem itself! Kids get mocked for a million different reasons. That's no reason to hold back from giving them a unique name with some Story behind it! If she chooses to hate it, she probably would have hated being named "Madison" or "Mary" too.

The second biggest point of resitance was that they'd have trouble remembering how to spell my girls names.
'shrug
To that I say Kaitlyn, Caitlin, Katelyn, Katelin, Kate-Lyn, Caytelyn

People MAY have trouble pronouncing her name initially, but I can assure you that once they know it, it's far more memorable than the more common names.
When you call out Tali'zorah in the park, ONLY your kid will come running.
She'll never accidentally answer a stranger calling out a name in a mall cause, dude, she doesnt have to Share her name.

Edit: and not one single kid has teased them. Not one. They go "COOL!!!"