Names.

     I've been thinking a lot about names lately.  I think this is for a few reasons; one is my recent Twitter sign-up.  It's really interesting to see how, when people get the chance to give themselves their own names rather than the ones they're born with, they choose to identify themselves.  And the second is because I know a few newly-pregnant women, and I'm always fascinated to see how people go about thinking of names for their new offspring.  I guess what has inspired me to go with this topic today are the births of two little girls (who I've never met, and will never know) and the public response to their names.


     I've had a lot of nicknames myself.  Many have been variations on my actual name.  When I was younger my little sister was unable to say either of our names correctly, and renamed us Mimi (me) and Sissy (her).  The names stuck, and are often still used internally by our family.  In university I was friends with our Resident Don and she and her partner had a young son who also couldn't pronounce my name and re-named me Minnie.  My university friends still call me by this name.  My Earl has called me by a few nicknames in our time together, but it was he who named me Whimzy, and that is what I've decided to use as my online name for both Twitter and this blog, obviously.
     When I was trying to set up my Twitter account I was frustrated to learn that every decent combination of my actual name had already been used (how many of us ARE there?), so I had to go with the long form of my name instead.  
     The name I was born with is Kimberley.  I have made an interesting observation about this name.  Whenever I meet a woman who shares it, I always ask her the year of her birth.  In my very unofficial research, I have learned that most Kims walking the earth today (with the exception of a certain Kardashian) were born between 1969 and 1973.  I have no idea why this is.  When I was in grade 9, there were at least 10 Kims in my grade, six of whom were in my phys-ed class.  It made for chaos when trying to get the attention of one of us!  (I always knew the teacher was talking to me when the name was proceeded by a hefty sigh of impatience and displeasure - phys-ed was not my strong suit.)
     As a teacher, I have come to see first hand that names go through cycles.  When I was younger I worked in a daycare in a small, blue-collar town. We had so many Ashleys and Crystals, Britneys and Kaitlins, Chrisses and Michaels and Marks that we had to come up with creative nicknames to differentiate between them.  Then I got older and began teaching at private school.  This brought in a whole new batch of names - Fionas and Hannahs and Katies and Emmas, Tylers and Liams and Maxes and Harrys.  "Classy", old-fashioned, Anglo family names.  I have realized that I have expectations based on names.  This puts a lot of pressure on parents!  
     And speaking of parents, back to my expectant Mamacitas.  As previously stated, I know a few young couples who are expecting their first children this summer.  My favourite question to ask of expectant parents is "what are you thinking for names?".  Some won't tell you, wanting to save the name as a surprise or fearing someone else will nab their perfect baby name before babe comes into the world to claim it for him/herself.  Others have a name chosen and proclaim it to the world before the first blood tests have come back.  Having no children of my own, I'm not sure which class I would fall into.  
     I know whenever I've had the privilege of naming a pet, I like to meet them and see some characteristics before bestowing their permanent label.  My last cat was named Penny.  He was named after one of my favourite literary characters, the little girl from Disney's The Rescuers.  I got Penny when he was so young that we didn't know if he was a boy or girl, so he was stuck with a 'girl' name for the rest of his life.  (Fortunately he was a ginger kitty, so I could cover by saying he was almost the colour of a Penny.)  When Pennerman passed away last year, Earl and I got our current boys - Monkey and Turkey.  I don't know where those names came from, but they were the result of a long conversation during which we tried and discarded LOTS of other choices.  And most of the time I don't even use their real names, preferring Mookah and Boobah when talking to them.


     There is power in a name, and a greater power in bestowing a name on someone, knowing it will be the way he/she will be known for the rest of its life.  There are all kinds of studies backing this up - individuals with certain names are likely to be more successful in life.  Alexander happens to be one of these names, but I can't remember any others off the top of my head.
     And the inspiration for this post are two little girls, both born in the past week.  One is Solace Huxley Layton Campbell, and the other is Ivy Blue Carter. Have you heard of them? The first was born to the daughter of newly-deceased leader of Canada's NDP party, Jack Layton.  The second was born to Beyonce Knowles and Jay-Z.  I love both of these names.  Solace - such a lovely word on its own, because the meaning is so peaceful, but when combined with knowing that this baby has come as a solace to her grieving family, it almost gives me goosebumps.  And the celeb gossip pages are all chock-a-block with folks weighing in on the name given to the offspring of Hip-Hop royalty - opinions are mixed, with several people saying the name is so weird and why do celebrities saddle their children with such names.  I disagree.    Maybe because I happen to know an Ivy Rose, I think it's quite a nice name.  'Blue' is unusual, but pretty, and it's no "Marijuana Pepsi" (the name of an American lawyer) or "No.6 bus-stop" (a name given to a child in the UK which then provoked a legal battle over whether or not the name was child abuse).
     So those are a few of my thoughts on names.  I'd be interested to know, if anyone happens to actually be reading, how you feel about YOUR name, and if you've had the honour of naming another human being, how you went about doing it.  Please share your thoughts in the comments below (using whatever name you want!). 


UPDATE:  Check out this link regarding crazy baby names from around the world!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/daemon-baby-named_n_1205469.html?ncid=edlinkusaolp00000003#s611693&title=New_Zealand_Talula