A Kid Named Soup? Hipsters, stop now!
How much damage do unusual names do?
A Kid Named Soup?
How much damage do unusual names do?
By Mike Adamick | July 9, 2010
According to this analysis of the 2009 Social Security report, when it comes to what new parents are calling their just-arriveds, celebrity names, Obama’s girl names, and names taken from Twilight are apparently the new “It” thing.
But is it always so good to be on the cutting edge? One online commenter I read recently, an employer who frequently hires young people, opened Pandora’s Box by arguing that kids with weird or oddly spelled names might be cutesy on the playground or in kindergarten, but may be less cute later in life, when they attempt to become professionals.
“And like it or not, names are part of first impressions. If I see two resum’s and one job applicant has a respectable, solid name (say, Anna or Jacob) while the other has an “original” or alternately spelled name (say, Brylee or Dacoda) I am going to assume, rightly or not, that the latter was brought up in a household where the parents didn’t care about education (i.e., spelling) and had low aspirations for their children. Conversely, I will assume (again, rightly or wrongly) that the person with the more traditional or “normal” name was brought up with traditional or normal values. Of course this shouldn’t reflect on the kids, but really – who would you want doing your emergency C-section – a Thomas or a Crayten? An Elizabeth or a MaKayli?”
We had a similar debate in our household when trying to come up with a name for our daughter, settling on what we thought was an old fashioned name with cute kid potential but also something she could put on a business card: Star Galaxy Unicorn Bliss.
Kidding.
What the heck are Dweezil and Moon Unit up to nowadays? I understand that it might be a generational thing, but I have yet to encounter a wave of professionals with cutesy or too-cool-for-school names, despite having heard plenty around the playground. And thinking about that comment above and some of the names I’ve heard in San Francisco – Cougar, Jaguar, Treasure and Coyote (what is up with this cat trend anyway?) – it now occurs to me that I just might have second thoughts about letting someone perform a serious operation on me or a loved one if they handed me a card with my all-time-favorite overheard kid name: Soup. Second opinion please.
That said, my wife, though also not so down with these names, argues that by the time this hipster trend hits the professional world, cutesy names will be the norm and we won’t even notice a Treasure or a Coyote – just like no one’s going to really care about gay marriage (hope, hope). I see her point, but wasn’t there a whole decade of hippies naming their kids Star and Moonbeam? Where did they end up? (Take a quick check of Stanford graduating classes 1994-2000 and let me know if you see any Moonbeams:) And what the heck are Dweezil and Moon Unit up to nowadays?
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I know, I know; I’m raining on the parade – sorry, Babs. Isn’t the world nicer when everyone is more creative? We don’t all want grey-colored houses, so we wouldn’t want all the boys named John either (or, as they seem to be today, Jack). And spelling hasn’t always been that important – in the Middle Ages, Chaucer would sometimes spell the same word two different ways in the same poem.
But there are biases, and parents should probably take these into account. From the sounds of the commenter above – someone who actually does have your kid’s job fate in her hands – cutesy, hip, borderline atrocious names actually can make it difficult for your child. Why put them through that simply because you think Thundercat is cool: this year?
As to us, we ultimately settled on Emmeline, which we thought was old-fashioned and quaint. Turns out it was the name of Brooke Shields’ character in the Blue Lagoon; we are not hip enough to think that’s cool.
If it were raining the day I was born, my mother would’ve named me Rainy Day. That would’ve made me Rainy Day McDonald. How. awful. Instead, I have a name that I share with just about every other female in the world, Emily. Jason and I have chosen three less-common names for our daughters, Peyton, Moxie, & Clarity. Some might argue that Moxie is a strange name, but it completely fits her to a T. Also, yes, Clarity was named after the Jimmy Eat World album, and NO my daughter Peyton was not named after Peyton Place or the MALE football player, thank you for not asking.
I call BS. The only 2 people from my HS graduating class who became doctors have the first names Sunshine (a Native American Yale grad) and Sparkle, a daughter of hippies. Success comes from upbringing and personal drive.
Hey, I went to college with a Fuschia (also hippy parents). But you gotta think, Fuschia was one in about 500 Mary, Jane and Johns. So it happens, but rarely.
Frankly I couldn’t care less what my OB/GYN’s name is. I am not dumb enough to think it reflects her professional skill. I have, on the other hand, had docs named Heather, Melissa, Amanda and Mary that were complete idiots. So maybe you should take a look at how your own judgemental thought processes are limiting your life and others.
I knew a Treasure that was a vet in her 30′s back in 1990. Not a “new” name at all. I went to high school in the 80′s with a Muffin. So what.
I had a co worker ( the receptionist) who has an unusual name, in that is was Hawaiian. the poor guy could not leave a phone message anywhere without explaining how to spell it, it was hawaiian, what it meant, no he wasn’t born there etc… He was a very paitient guy, but I can’t help wondering how many years of his life he spent expaining his name to people. This pretty much cured me of naming my child anyting different. I think people with unusual last names may be a little less drawn to the unusual first names. If you already have to spell out your last name, you make the first name easy.
You briefly mentioned the obvious reason why you hear more unusual names on the playground than in the doctor’s office — generational preferences — but then you basically ignored it and went on with your agenda. This boring old “unusual name” argument is usually more overtly racist than your article (typically the author complains about supposed African-American names rather than yuppie names), so I guess I should be thankful for that.
Anyone who will judge my child poorly because of their name will probably not get far enough to see past skin color, disabilities, gender, etc.
I wonder if part of the lack of “Sunshine” and “Moonbeams” in super professional occupations could have less to do with their names and more to do with the parents different lack of priorities. One could argue that the average parent who is naming their child something extremely unique would have a tendency to not be as focused on worldly success. Whether your name is Emily or Starshine you’re more likely to become a doctor or lawyer if your parents are focused on that and more likely to feel free to pursue something you love if they’re not (not to say that you couldn’t truely love striving to be a doctor or lawyer).
Something to ponder and factor in.
Dr. Billy Bob isn’t touching me.
It’s not just Brooke Shields. Emmeline was the name of the character in the original 1923 movie the Blue Lagoon, as well as in both remakes.
I have to agree! my mom is a preschool teacher, and has given me a few “legendary” made up names that have made the rounds at all the schools:
La-A (pronounced La-dash-a. yes, I’m 100% serious.)
Boya and Boyb – pronounced Boy-uh and Boy-eb (twin boys, whose mother couldn’t decide on names at the hospital and went with what was on their bracelets, Boy A and Boy B).
Orangello – named for Orange Jell-O. Pronounced Ore-an-gel-o
La-A is definitely legendary.
My father named me. A traditional man, who named his first 2 sons Earl Arnold and Harold Irwin.
Growing up, I wished for a normal name, everyone was Caryn, Karen, and more Debbie’s than you could ever imagine.
He named me Jewel. That was 1959. He was not trendy. He named me because he was 51, and thankful to have his second natural born child. (He was blamed for his fist wife’s inability to conceive.)
I grew up to love my name. I have always been the only Jewel in every crowd. I don’t even have to use my last name, i am pretty well know in a big industry by first name alone.
I am not a big fan of odd names, i.e., Mr President, Queen Mary, Del Monte Zuchini, and Derriere (yes, those are real names)…but picking a name that means something to the parents, and possibly named after a relative (ok, I am Jewish, it’s a tradition).
Don’t write people off because of their names…unless of course, they changed them themselves to Logic, Vogue or Soup.
@11eleven — those “legendary” names from your “moms preschool” have been urban jokes/legends for decades — Orange and Lemon Jello was a common Bill Cosby joke. And if another person I know tries to claim that La -DASH – joke again I will scream.
That being said – as a reviewer of resumes I do make judgements based on the name and also the email address. Please do not kid yourself into thinking that Blueberry Jones will have an equal chance in life as Karen Jones. Not happening. You can “defend” your odd names choices given to your children all you want but you are kidding yourself if you think it doesnt matter. I am not saying it SHOULD matter, but it DOES. And please dont turn in resumes with friskykitty76@hotmail.com — you will NOT get a callback, I promise you that.
I chose “normal” names for my kids. I say, leave the weird stuff for nicknames. I call my son Snuggles, but that’s not what’s on his birth certificate.
who are you to decide whats the fucking “normal life” is. Judgemental asshole’s like this employer smother creativity and personal expression.
This sort of thinking seems borderline rascist (in some cases completely rascist). I may not be naming my child Soup but I come from a culturally diverse family and the employer you used as an example only seemed to mention traditional Anglo European names.
I’d also like to say, I would be more concerned with credentials and reviews than names when picking a health (or any kind of) professional.
I firmly believe children have a tendency to ‘grow into their name’. Realistically speaking, you rarely find a person with a more ‘unique’ name in a position of high authority in any business setting. It’s unfortunate that such bias’s exsist, but, you have to admitt that stereotypes came from some truth. What parental image comes to mind when you hear the ‘name’ Cash Tyk, for a little boy? My first instincts tell me that the parent or parents were ill educated and trashy. That being the case or not, it’s the first thought that comes to mind. Now think of a more traditional but unique name, like Edic or Elsie. There’s a drastic difference. Through my experiences, this article accurately describes how most employers narrow down possible employees. It may be unfair, but it is very real.