site map

 

 

Thingnamer Banner

The Baby Naming Post.

December 7, 2006 | Tate Linden
Okay. I get it. I name things for a living, so when it comes to my own kiddo I'd better come up with a kick-ass name.

A few facts to keep in mind:
  • I am not the CEO of this new venture. At best I'm VP of Customer Service. Other times I'm a janitor. A not very good janitor at that.
  • Saying "Honey, I do this for a living" to a pregnant woman is not something I want to do. Ever.
  • Scoring systems, morphemes, etymologies and anything related to what I do for a living seem to whither away when confronted with the following four words: "Oooh! That one's cute!"
Fellow naming professionals with kids... I'd love to hear how you handled the comments and questions. I'd also be interested in hearing about what you ended up naming your kids.

Truth be told, I'm not worried about our child's name. I got the only concession I wanted: that we not give 'em a name that they have to work to overcome. There shall be no Barths, Berthas, or Bundtfords here. (And little tyke... if this post is still around when you can read... you can thank me any time.)

If any of you readers - professional or otherwise - wish to contribute ideas or suggestions to the baby-naming pool this is the post to do it on.

And to my father, Sarah didn't go for the "David David" idea. Keep thinkin' creatively though.

Only six months to go! (And a whole house full of drywalling, baby-proofing, and painting.)

Tate Linden (Better not to have the professional contact info on this post...)

In

Comments (5)
5 Comments
Doc Mike December 7, 2006 5:02 PM

I think all of your concerns have been addressed on

Saturday Night Live.

While you're there, scroll back to page 2 for a transcript of

"The Adventures of Tiny Elvis".

Juli Monroe December 7, 2006 7:45 PM

Well... The story for us wasn't in the first name. That was easy. David Gilmour is my favorite guitarist, so "David" was just so obvious. That plus the fact that we couldn't come up with any baggage associated with it. Unlike the runner-up choice, Richard. It's one of my favorite names, but...I don't need to go there, do I? But we almost forgot a middle name. So the night we remembered we hadn't come up with a middle name, we were watching Look Who's Talking. Mikey was too cute, so Michael is my son's middle name. And Michelle would have been his middle name had he been a girl. (For anyone who cares, Laura was the choice for girl's name.)

Tate Linden December 8, 2006 9:07 AM

"Oss-wee-pay" is officially on the list Doc.
And thanks for the story Juli. I know of a few folks that have named their kids after musicians. Back in my hometown there are a whole lot of kids named "Prince." Sad but true. David is in the running (as it is my father's name) but I'd hate to have my dad think that I was trying to replace him... though it is a good threat to hold in reserve.
I like the story about Look Who's Talking. I was a little weirded out by the movie, but I can understand the connection.

Nancy Friedman December 11, 2006 6:50 PM

Suggest you read "Don't Name Your Baby" and "The Worst Naming Book Ever," both by David Narter. Giving your child a number or glyph instead of a name will begin to sound very sensible.

Tate Linden December 11, 2006 6:53 PM

Nancy -
If I can find one before the holiday my lovely wife will be finding one in her stocking. Thanks for the tip!