<p>i thought it was for Millicent. </p>
<p>I once worked with a guy named Mikul. He said his mom intended to name him Michael, but when they brought her the form to fill out, she was still groggy from the drugs and spelled it phoenetically.</p>
<p>Well, I had a friend who was born on July 4 and told us she got a name based on that, while her parents argued out what to settle on. (Story goes, the hospital insisted they pick something, to release mom and child.) They subsequently changed her name. Supposedly, her nickname, which she uses professionally and socially, came from the July 4 thing. IF the story is true. Maybe it was family jibberish.</p>
<p>I gave my kids names that wouldn’t tie them to a specific time. Can’t believe the number of Danielles, Brittanys, Madisons and Taylors came out of the nineties. today it seems like UMC families are looking for less common names that aren’t “out there.” I’m seeing Tatum, Harper and such. What I don’t understand is when parents give their kids gender-neutral names that aren’t family names. When a friend had her daughter, she gave a name that is usually associated with boys but sounds “classy.” When I sent flowers, I didn’t even think to specify gender. The flowers that got sent were blue. </p>
<p>Names are fun. I wish I had written down the name of a girl born to an inner city teen at the county hospital when I was on an OB rotation- it was the whole first line of a hymn! Wonder if the mom changed her mind, or what the D was called.</p>
<p>Had a medical school classmate whose Finnish ancestor was asked his name at Ellis Island. The customs official couldn’t figure out how to spell it and asked what the man’s father’s name was. The family name became —son, Scandinavian, not Finnish!</p>
<p>Pronouncing “Michaela”- weird/uncommon form, no matter what its ancient history- as it looks would NOT be “Michael-a”, it might start Mich as in the state. </p>
<p>I doubt any name will “forever” remain unpopular because of any TV show- never heard of “Martha Speaks”, btw.</p>
<p>I never knew “Claudia” was German- thought it was Polish, like my aunt (actually sounds Roman that perhaps Polish people thought was classy?). But then, I’m the dumb Polack (head of my class et al, my father used to bring home numerous jokes he wouldn’t let us kids hear- too foul).</p>
<p>I have told people when I have to spell my 11 letter last name to be thankful I didn’t hyphenate- that would be 20 letters plus the hyphen. I have also said a forger almost deserves to get away with it if s/he can rapidly forge my signature correctly.</p>
<p>I wish my first name, in any of its forms, would make a comeback. There were 6 or 7 of us on my college dorm floor. My sister and I were thankful the weird maternal middle name got passed to our mother’s younger sister and our cousin instead of us- the cousin only had a son.</p>
<p>We gave our son a classic first name that, with his middle name, can easily be Indianized as a name (his Indian grandparents used that when he was little)- it also was my Scandinavian grandfather’s name. We convinced my inlaws to give their son a middle name. In Indian culture traditionally the children- both genders- would have the father’s first name as their middle name, plus his last name. The wife would also use her husband’s first name as her middle name, plus his last name. I would have been fine with an American first name and H’s first name for a middle name but H didn’t want that.</p>
<p>For anonymity I won’t use the phrase from my childhood that’s now not allowed but fits our son. PM me for it if you wish.</p>
<p>I can’t pronounce the beginning of my H’s first name- a sound not found in English, although similar. Neither of us gives our full last names at restaurants- use one syllable versions of first or last or the waiters would never call us something we would recognize.</p>
<p>We avoided unisex names and gender confusing ones. The HS classmate “Lesley”, " Kim"s of both sexes, and others. H has a last name that is easy if pronounced as written in our alphabet but so many people panic at the number of letters. My family lost the Polish pronunciation a long time ago, it has some common letter combinations but people again panic.</p>
<p>Anyone else learn to read with Dick, Jane and Spot? In son’s day they used more ethnic groups.</p>
<p>I don’t feel I need to learn Irish pronunciations in advance just because parents choose them with spellings that don’t match sounds at all. Siobahn- huh? btw- some short Indian last names are pronounced differently than spelled in American first names, or become swear words when said. </p>
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<p>Remember the “Pat” skit on Saturday Night Live? </p>
<p>The UMC parents are going to be disappointed to discover that [Harper</a> was the 16th most popular girl’s name in 2013.](<a href=“http://nameberry.com/popular_names/US]Harper”>Most Popular Baby Names 2022 | Nameberry)</p>
<p>ETA – nameberry has a banner across the top where you can see what names are being searched realtime. Right now, someone somewhere is considering naming their little girl “Daenerys.” Come on, people.</p>
<p>I told my son awhile ago that Daenerys was going to become a baby name for girls. Everyone loves Daenerys, even if they cant bear to watch the show (me).</p>
<p>LasMa, thanks for the link. So many head-shakers. Jaxon? Ryker? Maci? Brynlee? Do people not know (or care) how uneducated these names sound?</p>
<p>“Tiffany” is either the name of a pole-dancer or Donald Trump’s daughter.</p>
<p>Tiffany Trump is a college student/aspiring pop star. Somehow, I suspect she will be fine. Lots, of name-judging on this thread, btw. I wonder what names are acceptable to some of you.</p>
<p>Jax is a very trendy boys name. I also know someone named Joseph who insists on being called Seph. It’s a lot like the plethora of Christophers who want to be called Topher or Christo. Everybody wants to be special, somehow.</p>
<p>
Daenerys is a beautiful name. Hard to spell, though.</p>
<p>
Jonathon = Than</p>
<p>“The name’s Than” - Most Popular Girls in School</p>
<p>I don’t mind nicknames like that. Jax makes me think of the bartender on Vanderpump Rules. Christo sounds like a Spanish name to me. My first thought wouldn’t be that it is a nickname from Christopher. </p>
<p>@Niquii Yup, and the VP model/bartender’s real name isn’t Jax, either. It’s Jason.</p>
<p>I took care of a news anchor who had twins 20 something years ago. The twins names were Jackson(an old family name) and Dillon. The husband was a plastic surgeon. I always liked the name Jackson. </p>
<p>Jax always reminds me of the character in All My Children, which dates me, I guess. Friend turned Nathaniel into Thane, another found some nickname for Demetrius. Knowing the parents, I’d guess both kids did fine. I did have another friend who made the last minute decision between Dylan, for the singer, and Dillon for, yeppers, Matt Dillon. They went with the latter.</p>
<p>Daenerys is beautiful, but imagine going through life with it. Would anyone EVER spell it correctly without having to be told how? And the pronunciation isn’t obvious either unless you study it a little. </p>
<p>Offbeat nicknames aren’t such a problem IMO. When Than graduates and gets his first job, he can start going by Jonathan if he decides it’s more suitable. </p>
<p>I also hate odd spelling. I know a boy named Pheonix. My guess is that the parents didn’t know how to spell Phoenix.</p>
<p>Wis75- I dislike the new books with the ethnic names. Nothing like having a beginner reader reading, " Naftali can run and kick the ball." If the publishers want ethnic names, then pick easy ones. </p>
<p>" Easy ones."?
I like books that recognize that classrooms look different than they did in the day of " Dick, Jane & Sally".
( Actually, they werent completely homogenous, then either, but I dont remember any acknowledgment of classroom diversity. </p>
<p>We did have a story in maybe 3rd grade. A kid who went by Sim, until his new teacher made him disclose his real name: Kissimmee. Seems his parents liked the town.</p>
<p>I have a friend whose last name is Thomas and he named his daughter Dylan.
I used to know a girl named * Duggan*, but no Dylans.
I think its beautiful though.</p>