What's in a name? Or Nonsensical Rambing ...
I always find something to blog about over at Meryl's site and BlogHer. Today's article ... Cost of a Given Name.
As a girl / woman, I spend lots of day dream time wondering what I will name my as of yet unborn, wisps of air (shout-out to Matt! My kids are not retarded!). When I was younger, it was more a question of what their last names would be, how I would plan a name if I married someone with a last name, Doofus. Clearly the name Roufus was out of the question. :)
As a young day dreamer I wanted fancy names, like Katherine or Eloise or Elizabeth. I am very large into Jane Austen and Elizabethan stories ... so these women inspired me and I thought there would be nothing better than to have a daughter named Jane Elizabeth.
And as I've aged, my own name has become it's own issue. Stacy. Stay - Cee. No nicknames derive from that. No Bethie, no Janie, no Meggie, no Meggers, no Megs (you can see where this neurosis came from, right?). My entire name is a nickname. Curse that infernal Y! To my mind, it's a childs name, not a grown woman's name. Am I going to be 80 and people will call me Stacy? Yes, more than likely, as that's my name. Or Stace. Which really isn't a nickname at all, it's more like phonetic laziness.
So back to the above article ... it says that children's names can have an impact on how much money they earn. A link in the article states that parents who name their daughters Tiffany or Amber are doing a disservice because they want their daughters to grow up and be trophy wives. I don't really think so. Anecdotal evidence aside, my friend Amber is an accountant making more money than me. But maybe my name is a trophy wife name (woohoo!) and I'm just meant to be super hot.
HAHAHAHAHA. If you can't make yourself laugh what good are you?
Anyway, as I smile through the rest of this ... I think parents name their kids for selfish reasons. I don't think they give much thought at all to what their child will do as a profession. Everything doesn't have to mean everything. That having been said I do think there are names that create problems. Names that are impossible to spell, or names that are commonly spelled one way but parents remove letters or use Y in place of I, or names that invoke certain emotions ... not a lot of kids running around called Judas. Or Hitler. Or Adolf.
For the most part I think parents selfishly pick names they like and they deal with the consequences later. And I think a child's success rate has more to do with parenting than it does with names. Peekaboo Street was an orphan named after a street sign. Look at the Olympiad now. If parents name their kids Doug and they teach Doug that he can be anything he wants to be an instill good ethics and values into him ... and teach him the value of an education, there's no limit to what he can do if he puts his mind to it. Same for my wisp of air Caitlyn ... if I do my due diligence as a parent and teach her strong morals and instill in her a sense of self worth and I show her the value of an education ... she could do anything.
People with names that we are now stereotyping can do anything they want with the right attitude and drive. If they don't have those goals ... well it's not their names fault. They just don't want to be millionaires.
There is a hidden tone in some of these articles over at BlogHer (especially the ones about money) that hints at that everyone wants to be rich and powerful. Maybe they do. But I don't ... and I don't think I'm alone in that. I want to be happy and have enough. I don't need more ... I just need enough. And I have absolutely no desire to be a top paid CEO somewhere. I'd never be home, I'd never be comfortable taking vacations ... what good is having money if you don't have time or anyone to enjoy it with? Now I know that I'm very lucky because I can say that ... and husband and me work hard and we've made good decisions and he is ambitious and wants to take over the world. And hey ... I support that. As a trophy wife that's my job ... DUH.
As a girl / woman, I spend lots of day dream time wondering what I will name my as of yet unborn, wisps of air (shout-out to Matt! My kids are not retarded!). When I was younger, it was more a question of what their last names would be, how I would plan a name if I married someone with a last name, Doofus. Clearly the name Roufus was out of the question. :)
As a young day dreamer I wanted fancy names, like Katherine or Eloise or Elizabeth. I am very large into Jane Austen and Elizabethan stories ... so these women inspired me and I thought there would be nothing better than to have a daughter named Jane Elizabeth.
And as I've aged, my own name has become it's own issue. Stacy. Stay - Cee. No nicknames derive from that. No Bethie, no Janie, no Meggie, no Meggers, no Megs (you can see where this neurosis came from, right?). My entire name is a nickname. Curse that infernal Y! To my mind, it's a childs name, not a grown woman's name. Am I going to be 80 and people will call me Stacy? Yes, more than likely, as that's my name. Or Stace. Which really isn't a nickname at all, it's more like phonetic laziness.
So back to the above article ... it says that children's names can have an impact on how much money they earn. A link in the article states that parents who name their daughters Tiffany or Amber are doing a disservice because they want their daughters to grow up and be trophy wives. I don't really think so. Anecdotal evidence aside, my friend Amber is an accountant making more money than me. But maybe my name is a trophy wife name (woohoo!) and I'm just meant to be super hot.
HAHAHAHAHA. If you can't make yourself laugh what good are you?
Anyway, as I smile through the rest of this ... I think parents name their kids for selfish reasons. I don't think they give much thought at all to what their child will do as a profession. Everything doesn't have to mean everything. That having been said I do think there are names that create problems. Names that are impossible to spell, or names that are commonly spelled one way but parents remove letters or use Y in place of I, or names that invoke certain emotions ... not a lot of kids running around called Judas. Or Hitler. Or Adolf.
For the most part I think parents selfishly pick names they like and they deal with the consequences later. And I think a child's success rate has more to do with parenting than it does with names. Peekaboo Street was an orphan named after a street sign. Look at the Olympiad now. If parents name their kids Doug and they teach Doug that he can be anything he wants to be an instill good ethics and values into him ... and teach him the value of an education, there's no limit to what he can do if he puts his mind to it. Same for my wisp of air Caitlyn ... if I do my due diligence as a parent and teach her strong morals and instill in her a sense of self worth and I show her the value of an education ... she could do anything.
People with names that we are now stereotyping can do anything they want with the right attitude and drive. If they don't have those goals ... well it's not their names fault. They just don't want to be millionaires.
There is a hidden tone in some of these articles over at BlogHer (especially the ones about money) that hints at that everyone wants to be rich and powerful. Maybe they do. But I don't ... and I don't think I'm alone in that. I want to be happy and have enough. I don't need more ... I just need enough. And I have absolutely no desire to be a top paid CEO somewhere. I'd never be home, I'd never be comfortable taking vacations ... what good is having money if you don't have time or anyone to enjoy it with? Now I know that I'm very lucky because I can say that ... and husband and me work hard and we've made good decisions and he is ambitious and wants to take over the world. And hey ... I support that. As a trophy wife that's my job ... DUH.
Comments
I didn't know anyone with my name (aside from the actress, of course) until about two years ago. As an awkward tween, I envied all the Jennifer's and Megan's--people whose mothers had had sense enough to give them normal names, names that didn't get mangled by substitute teachers or rhyme with things like "barrel".
But I think my name--or maybe my mother's continued insistance that it was a distinction to be different not a curse--helped me be less afraid to be different in other ways as well.
I also have always loved the fact that it was a family name--made me feel connected even though geographically I wasn't.
That all being said, I'm a big fan of all the classic British-y names(Elizabeth, Anne, Lucy, Min), so any future kiddo of mine will probably have to learn those lessons some other way.
:)
Or maybe I'll live forever with my childish enthusiasm ... always talking gibberish and about ducks and furry babies and wanting to skip down the street.
Hehehe ... I really have no time for this. I'm completely SWAMPED at work. :) More childish procrastination!