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

[Blow_Pop]

If you potentially want your child to hate you later in life, then by all means name them that.

My name is fairly common. I STILL get shit for it. I hate my parents for the name. And fucking despise my name. I can't figure out a name I like enough to change it to So for now I am stuck.

Tali is a good name but seriously think about the possible ramifications. Girls are evil, vile, vicious creatures from personal experience. Especially to each other (thanks hollywood and society you fucks) so be prepared for possible coming home from school in tears days/months/years. On the flip side, your child name her what you want. It could work out well. And could prevent her from gaining employment because employers are shallow assholes.

Come now, it can't be THAT bad if it's fairly common... Right? (PM me it, out of curiosity? I won't tell a soul!)

Edit: Just checked your profile again. Blow Pop can't seriously be common in some place in the world... Could it?

You checked my profile but didn't check the link to my facebook which has my actual name on it? Please tell me you are joking that you think my name is actually Blow Pop? (spoiler: It's not. It's a nickname from a job)

But since you asked. My actual name is April. Naming your child after a month that has plenty of songs/rhymes about it is NOT a good idea. And it makes it worse when your parents tell you that you got named that because you looked like April sunshine when you came out of your mum. And it's wonderful being in any month NOT April and getting told to shut up or go away or something because it's not your month and people actually expecting you to do so and getting pissy with you when you don't. Ape-face was a very popular one too during my school years. And April fool's day (April 1st) is the worst fucking day ever with my name. That and the general assumption I was born in April (I wasn't. My birthday is coming up really soon actually). Also having phrases associated with your name and books associated with your name like "Crazy April" (there is seriously a book called That Crazy April, I own it thanks to someone's idea of a joke gift) isn't fun either.

 

[Dominic Crossman]

Robin williams (not the singer but miss doubtfire if I got the names confused) named his daughter Zelda after the video game and that is widely know to anyone who has seen a Zelda advert from a couple years ago. As for the embarrassment it could cause, if a kid wants to be cruel, then it doesn't matter if you have the best intentions while naming a kid, they can and will take the piss out of it if they want to be mean. People used to take the piss out of an Adam at school because of the biblical Adam, and Aaron because it was spelt with 2 a's. Then there is my own name which I had trouble saying due a childhood speech impediment. Not to mention I hate being around Toms as I regularly hear their name as mine and end up looking moronic when I respond, to the point that I insist people use my first full first name instead of the shorted version, which makes me sound pretentious.

... I think I'm going off topic.
Also I would never bully Zelda Williams because she is hawt. (Sorry had to get that out there)

Edited: for typos and clarification. 3X

 

[Fredvdp]

]Dude. You're naming a person. Give them a person name. It's not complicated.

Tali would be. Tali'Zorah would not be fine. It would be very, very bad.

Agreed. Tali sounds like a reasonable name, but Tali'Zorah is a name I wouldn't even give to a dog. And the dog doesn't care. The kid will.

 

[Tsun Tzu]

Tali seems fine as a first name. Zora is also a fine name. Perhaps you could split it into first and middle names? That seems like it would be a bit more acceptable. And I suppose the amount of teasing she gets would depend on how popular Mass Effect is in 5-10 years when she gets into school.

As open as I am to breaking naming conventions... this option seems like it would make the most sense and cause your child the least potential "problems." I absolutely love Tali as a first name and, frankly, it's one of the primary options I'd consider for my own offspring, should they be female.

Then again, I'm adamant about naming at least one of my children, regardless of gender, some variation of "Gryphon/Griffin/Griffon" so, I can't really judge you too harshly. >.>

 

[CloudAtlas]

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

Good for your wife that she didn't have problems, but one individual example doesn't disprove all the scientific studies who came to a different conclusion. Besides, as you hopefully know, Asians don't exactly suffer from the same stereotypes as Arabs or Africans do, so your example is of limited relevance anyway.
And I doubt that many people would associate "Tali'Zorah" with a smart, well-educated, hard-working Asian person. If anything, it sounds somewhat Arabian-African-ish, what with the apostrophe and all, to an ignorant person.

I just... I still can't understand the OP, not a little bit. I get it, they love the sound of the name so much, but why not at least change it "Tali Zorah" instead of "Tali'Zorah". It sounds exactly the same, but the omission of the apostrophe & having a somewhat regular first name alone would already save you and your child so much trouble. At least she wouldn't have to spell out her name "Tali-apostrophe-Zorah-with-H-at-the-end" every fucking time on official documents.
There's just no fucking benefit to the apostrophe whatsoever.

And please, folks, don't come with "well she can change the name later if she doesn't like it" or "she can just abbreviate her name to Tali". If you expect that a child will legally change her name later with some likelihood (and resent her parents for giving her such a stupid name), and if you believe that a name is too troublesome for anyone actually bothering to use the full name, how the hell can you defend giving a child such a name in the first place as a good idea?

 

[Mikemc]

Tali is a cute name, so is Zorah. Just be sure the bullies don't clue in that
Tali = Taliban
Zorah = King Zorah is a fat, ugly, lazy, fish-face (Zelda 64)

 

[Chaos Marine]

If you name your kid that, she's going to have a bad time.

 

[SNCommand]

Tali is a cute name, so is Zorah. Just be sure the bullies don't clue in that
Tali = Taliban
Zorah = King Zorah is a fat, ugly, lazy, fish-face (Zelda 64)

Kids can make fun of any name though [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WNSf-KQORRk&t=1m23s]

 

[Batou667]

Tali'Zora is quite a cute name. In defence of it, there are plenty of exotic or cross-cultural names out there at the moment, and as for the bullying aspect, kids will make fun of literally ANYTHING. Whether it's your first name, or your surname (which can't even be blamed on "irresponsible parents"), if your name rhymes with something funny (or even something unfunny), or is similar to a celebrity or character name, or can be deliberately mispronounced - some genius in the playground will notice and attempt to use that as a way to wind you up.

My only caution would be to consider changing the apostrophe for a hyphen, or just make Zora the middle name. Tali-Zora is cute, exotic, whimsical. Tali'Zora is the middle name of the Gungan ambassador to Naboo. Basically, it screams "sci-fi/fantasy bullshit".

 

[Meghan Barksdale]

Tali is and arabic name meaning my dew or my lamb, zorah is a slavic name meaning dawn so they are both real names. so if you use zorah as a middle name she should be fine. also grats by the way.

 

[McElroy]

My friend has just about the toughest name to make fun of on its own, but then there was a tv commercial with a quirky kid with the same name playing Indiana Jones with an imaginary penguin and eating ice cream in the end. So he got teased a bit a couple of times. It happens.

I'm gonna go with the general consensus, though Tali on its own would suck here in Finland as it is the Finnish word for tallow.

My own uncommon first name is always overshadowed by my hilarious surname which is the Finnish word for "a little deer" and, of course, completely unpronounceable to any foreigner.

 

[Attercap]

First off, congrats on increasing the population by one!

The vitriol of forums is rarely a good gauge for what true human interaction will be like. One would think that cultural barriers would be lessened by global communication tools, but instead it seems to bring out far more backwater, backwards thinking, knee-jerk reactions. Anonymity is the antithesis to empathy.

I don't see anything wrong with the moniker of "Tali'Zorah." While it may be from a video game, it's unlikely that her peers will have played the game by the time she's in school and, in the end, most people won't care. At worst the name will be viewed as exotic or quirky. A person--regardless of how staid or unique their name might be--will always have to deal with stupid people and jerks. One's name could be "John Smith" and some people would find a way to make fun of it, or have to deal with someone who couldn't quite pronounce it or spell it correctly. So, what's important is that they have a caring family and have a decent group of friends.

 

[shrekfan246]

First off, congrats on increasing the population by one!

The vitriol of forums is rarely a good gauge for what true human interaction will be like. One would think that cultural barriers would be lessened by global communication tools, but instead it seems to bring out far more backwater, backwards thinking, knee-jerk reactions. Anonymity is the antithesis to empathy.

Of course, on the other hand, kids don't tend to hold much empathy in the first place. So if people who are ostensibly adults are getting all riled up and frothy about it on the internet, who knows what will happen with the children who don't have those filters in the first place. But, at the same time...

While it may be from a video game, it's unlikely that her peers will have played the game by the time she's in school and, in the end, most people won't care.

This could likely be true as well. Unless we have time travelers on these forums, none of us can really accurately predict exactly what will happen in this child's life due to their name being a bit strange.

I still think "Zorah" as the middle name would be a superior choice, though.

 

[Gary Thompson]

I'm sure she'll be happy that she has that name when she finds all the erotic fan art and fan fiction about the character she was named after.

 

[Naqel]

Just Tali would have sufficed.

The whole thing is going to probably be a source of suffering for the kid, not to mention everyone will probably shorten it to just Tali anyway.

 

[Gluzzbung]

For Christ's sake, name her something normal so she doesn't get the shit bullied out of her. I would try to be civil but at what point did you think this was a good idea? Do you think your daughter is only going to be capable of either being a popstar or a waitress, because Managing Director Tali'Zorah doesn't exactly sound professional, does it?

How is she going to explain it to people? "Well, my parents quite liked Mass Effect and Tali-Zorah is this alien lady whose race is almost extinct because they're very susceptible to disease and have been nearly completely destroyed by their own creations." There's another name for a character that apes this storyline: Frankenstein. Or perhaps "My parents just liked the name" will be better.

Also, aren't themed names meant to be reserved for pets and other animals and I firmly believe that's because they can't talk back and don't understand. Thank Christ Tali and Talia are real names but, even then, she'll change it. I'm 100% certain of that. There's no chance Mass Effect will have the cultural impact it has now, and, when you look at it, how many normal people really know and recognise the secondary characters of even a few major video game franchises today?

 

[Tono Makt]

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.

Yes. You are totally off base. Which doesn't guarantee that she'll be taunted and teased for it, or that if she is taunted and teased it will be because of it. Kids will tease and taunt each other regardless of what you name her, and with the proliferation of names in entertainment over the past 10,000 years, you might find that she's teased because her name is "Tali" and there's some cartoon out there from Europe with a crazy geeky guy character named "Tali" and that cartoon is played in your area on a cable package you don't get so you have no idea that it exists until your daughter comes home crying because she's being called a boy and that she has a boy's name.

As an example, my uncle is named "Scott", and his parents are farmers. Growing up in the late 70's he was teased mercilessly with "Beam me up, Scotty." even though he wasn't named after the Star Trek character, nor did he have any idea who or what the character was. (being the late 70's and out on a farm, his family didn't watch TV much, and only had the 3 channels they could get on rabbit ears antenna) Scott is a totally normal, boring, vanilla name. He wasn't named after anyone, my grandparents just looked at him and said "He looks like a Scott" when he was born. And still he was mocked mercilessly because there was a TV character named "Scotty" who was popular in the area around the same time he was growing up.

Oh, and yes, yes you are crazy for naming your child after a game character. Still, better Tali than Wrex.

 

[CloudAtlas]

I'm sure she'll be happy that she has that name when she finds all the erotic fan art and fan fiction about the character she was named after.

To be fair, erotic fan art probably exist for many women, real or fictional, who surpass a certain popularity threshold with younger audiences.
Still, you're totally right, if those sites are still up in 10-15 years, teenage boys will have a jolly good time if they're searching for rule 34 & Tali'Zorah - Tali'Zorah herself, however, perhaps not quite as much.

There's no chance Mass Effect will have the cultural impact it has now, and, when you look at it, how many normal people really know and recognise the secondary characters of even a few major video game franchises today?

I quite liked Mass Effect, obviously, and played it myself a lot, and I'm not even sure if I will be able to remember all those characters myself in 15 years or so. Thinking of Baldur's Gate II of the same company, chances don't seem to be that good.

Anyway, just ask anyone named after some character of a pop movie or book or a singer that happened to be popular around the time of their own conception but nobody knows anymore today. I'm sure those parents were just as certain that their kids will love their names as much as they did themselves, but if you ask these kids today, well, it didn't exactly turned out this way for everyone. After learning what my own mum enjoyed reading or watching during her late teens & early twenties, I have to say that I'm quite glad that she didn't turn there for inspiration, but to the Bible instead. And I say that as agnostic.

 

[JackApostrophe]

If you and your wife love the name then go ahead and call her Tali'Zorah.

Kids will always be made fun of whether they have strange names or not, and nobody has a perfect life in the first place. There are far, far worse names in the world and far, far worse reasons to give someone a particular name.

I was bullied because of my unusual name for a long time, and when I was old enough I chose to legally change it. I added to it.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

If you potentially want your child to hate you later in life, then by all means name them that.

My name is fairly common. I STILL get shit for it. I hate my parents for the name. And fucking despise my name. I can't figure out a name I like enough to change it to So for now I am stuck.

Tali is a good name but seriously think about the possible ramifications. Girls are evil, vile, vicious creatures from personal experience. Especially to each other (thanks hollywood and society you fucks) so be prepared for possible coming home from school in tears days/months/years. On the flip side, your child name her what you want. It could work out well. And could prevent her from gaining employment because employers are shallow assholes.

Come now, it can't be THAT bad if it's fairly common... Right? (PM me it, out of curiosity? I won't tell a soul!)

Edit: Just checked your profile again. Blow Pop can't seriously be common in some place in the world... Could it?

You checked my profile but didn't check the link to my facebook which has my actual name on it? Please tell me you are joking that you think my name is actually Blow Pop? (spoiler: It's not. It's a nickname from a job)

But since you asked. My actual name is April. Naming your child after a month that has plenty of songs/rhymes about it is NOT a good idea. And it makes it worse when your parents tell you that you got named that because you looked like April sunshine when you came out of your mum. And it's wonderful being in any month NOT April and getting told to shut up or go away or something because it's not your month and people actually expecting you to do so and getting pissy with you when you don't. Ape-face was a very popular one too during my school years. And April fool's day (April 1st) is the worst fucking day ever with my name. That and the general assumption I was born in April (I wasn't. My birthday is coming up really soon actually). Also having phrases associated with your name and books associated with your name like "Crazy April" (there is seriously a book called That Crazy April, I own it thanks to someone's idea of a joke gift) isn't fun either.

Facebook said the page was unavailable. That, and pretty much anything else said that was legit (I also didn't wanna creep too hard). I dunno, if someone could be named something like Hashtag, I had no doubt Blow Pop could have been legit. My bad XD And you said you can't think of a better name so you're stuck with April (Which is a fine name by the way), but if you hate it THAT much, wouldn't anything else be better? I don't see the whole issue when thinking about it that way. I guess it is your name, so you're gonna want one that you wanna keep. But in light of how much crap you've gotten from it, I think anything could be better. But that's just how I see it (Happy bday when it happens by the way :3)