...should be boxed on the ears. Just because YOU think you are special and unique, please don't make your child suffer for it. Just because you think Angelina is the awesomest, don't reflect your simplistic choice of role model in your child's name. Also, be aware of the fact that naming your child Unique will make you look especially daft when another kid at playschool turns out to be "Unique" as well.
Why the rant? A friend of mine sent me this picture . I'm really hoping that these fine Brandenburg people are simply big fans of their pedigree huskies - because those are dog names if I ever saw them.
But it gets better, I live behind a daycare centre so am pretty up to date one the names that warrant the most being shouted at. Tiiffäänni, Aiiliiiin, Äämbr and this poor creature called Verdana get yelled at a lot. Yannik-Noël and, I kid you not, Rex are also frequently called out. These are all mainly German-speaking kids, giving your kid an English name that is followed by Krummenacher oder Inäbnit is just daft. Double names are also a bit pompous, insisting that you child be called Annabella-Stefania at all times is just going to make nobody want to talk to the poor child. A few of those running around the daycare too...
I think people who plan to spend their lives travelling the world should also check for multicultural adaptability of the names of their kids. Alexander is a great name, as is Thomas or Simon. I'm sure the girl called "Dorkas" I went to sixth form in the UK with would have loved her German parents to take this into account...
So, what are your "weird and wonderful" name spottings? Have you given your child a "unique" name and dare own up to it? Should parents be banned from showing their TV education by naming their children things like Rory Lorelei?
I think you are judgemental and should be a bit more respectful of other people's culture (Aylin) or personal taste on how to name their kids.
Having a middle name has nothing pompous and who cares if someone wants to call his child with 7 middle names? None of my business or yours.
According to you, parents should be careful to not take a name that is english if they are not english, should not take a name who sounds too difficult to pronounce for you, no double name because it is pompous, etc...
Should we all, daft parents call you before to name our kids to be sure you approve?
You can have different taste and not like a name but to judge parents and call them names is lame.
my youngest is named, Anjali,its an Indian name, meaning a gift. We had to respell it so that the Germans would pronoun it right- Anjeli. But People still call her Anjelina, and I still get- oh, like Anjelina Jolie
But what really gets me that Germans give their kids English names, and then pronoun the names with German phonetics, its RIDICULOUS!!!
Really, I do not pronounce any German or French nouns with English phonetics,eg. lingerie, and if I would everyone would double over in laughter, so why is it okay to call Martin - Martain? or Peter - Perter.....and whilst we are on the topic of pronunciation, what is up with the work 'okay' when it springs forth from a Swiss Germans mouth - HO-ghay ( with that gutteral emphasis on the gh) - WTF?
I think kittster was objecting to parents calling their child by both their first and middle name. Not about parents giving their child a middle name.
But I have to say what is a silly name to one person/culture is not to another. I didn't want to name my child a boring common name that everyone has like John David Peter etc... I also didn't want an overly poncy name (although some people think it is) I wanted an individual unusual strong name and really I don't give a toss what anyone thinks of it
Names like Peter are not necessarily specific to english. Peter is a common German name and it is pronounced in German as you have heard it by Germans. Many of these names actually are Hebrew / Christian by nature and therefore are not exclusive to English pronunciation.
Nil, you really do choose to see things in the way that causes YOU personal offence. Aylin is a beautiful name, but only if it's pronounced properly - these parents are going for Ayilyin and other weird spellings not based on the Turkish origin. I also have a middle name but I don't force people to call me both names by hyphenating it. Not too fond of abbreviations, as I find it a bit rude when people just abbreviate your name without you having introduced yourself as such.
My point is that names matter - more often than not you will hear people say "well, what do you expect from someone called *some name*". There is just a certain type of parent that will give their kids a certain type of name and you just KNOW what the kid will be like. Unless it's one of them super-aware kids that goes against its parents madness. For example, I met this German couple who called their precious Marlon-Eike and if Marlon-Eike interrupted grown-ups talking, mummy would actually shush us and say "Marlon-Eike's thoughts are very important, I ask you to have the courtesy to listen to what he has to say". Umm, ok, Marlon-Eike was 3.5 years old at the time. Next stop, large balcony to speak to his people...
I guess properly means English - correct me if this assumption is wrong.
Did it occur to somebody that the said "proper" pronounciation may sound stupid in some languages ? (I don't force anybody to answer that, but one may).
I just say that because Begga is the only one who actually pronounce Björk "properly".
I think you should always be a little understanding with regards to pronunciation. It's a little unfair to expect everybody to be able to pronounce all names 'correctly', especially when people have different opinions of what correct is.
I grew up in a town which is one of the whitest in England, all of my friends had names like Ste and John, so imagine the difficulties when I moved to London to start uni . I lived in halls with about 130 people from all over the world. If people weren't understanding of my poor, often comical, pronunciation I would never have made any friends.
But at the end of the day I don't think names matter at all. And if you define yourself by just your name, or judge other people by theirs, then you've got problems.
I can (sort of) see where the Kitty-Katster is coming from. Especially when you consider some of the names bestowed on the offspring of the rich and famous. Bob Geldoff has a lot to answer for if you ask me.
Let's just say that the Zürichdeutsch pronounciation is a bit offensive to the ears. A Swiss German acquaintance of mine named her son Seymen because she wanted to be sure that he would be called Simon with the English pronounciation.
And names do matter, various studies have been done about this. Of course you can go and call people who pay attention to this petty, but the problem is that most people do without knowing they are doing it. Isn't it better to acknowledge that prejudice will occur if you choose to call your baby Shanique and not do it rather than have her spend the rest of her life fighting that prejudice? There are problems enough in this world.
I grew up with an usual / unique name and absolutely love my name. I have only met one other person with the same name of a similar age. It is more common now and often used as a pet name but I stll like it. Two of my three sisters have unique names aswell but all of our names have a story behind them and a special meaning to our parents! My children have not so common names but not as unusual and both their names often get pronounced differently, my sons in the UK and my daughters here in CH. They just correct them politely and do not take it personally!
When thinking of a name for my eldest, I was bent on giving her a name that was easily pronounceable in German and English.
We ended up giving her a name that is very difficult to pronounce (when read) in German. I find it very entertaining to hear and read how the locals pronounce it. I hope she doesn't get a hard time for her name at school here. If she does, I'll just remind her that she can be grateful I didn't name her Rory Lorelei!
Offensive to an English ear perhaps, but why should Zürcher take that into consideration for anything? (rhethorical questions).
Oh yes it matters, I do see and hear things... I am a teacher, remember?
But if one only chose names according to what other people think, one is trapped: people change their minds about all kind of things, names and phonetics included.
We agree on the core of the matter: there are enough names to chose from, no need to make up new ones just for the illusion of having something unique. Junik, Yoonic... that could be a name
Dorcas is a very traditional, biblical name (means Tabitha), just like Thomas or Simon. Not Germanic in origin. I have a very common biblical name which many continental Europeans struggle to pronounce in the same way that native English speakers do. Some names do sound bonkers to me but I do prefer variety to every other child being an Alexander or a Lena. Anyway, who am I to judge...
