I loved this series! I am looking forward to what I assume will come eventually which is a discussion of how significantly more feminine names are in use than masculine names. My husband commented shortly after we moved here "So every American male my age was required to be named Matt or Chris?". I responded "That's unfair, people were also allowed to be named Steve or Mike!".
If I had any lingering doubts about your identity, this comment would've cleared 'em right up (as I can hear you both saying those words! <wink>)
I definitely have one in the queue about the different way men's and women's names have been used over time (and with someone asking it'll bump up the ranks a bit!).
This coming Friday, though, it'll be the Pope post. :)
Reminds me of a weird quirk in my own personal name story — in two different chapters, high school and college, the first close friend I made was a queer man named Matt. When I made my first close friend in grad school (another queer man), I asked him, “so, your middle name isn’t Matt, is it?” He just grinned. “No, but if you need to call me Matt, you can.”
“Unusual names are often harder to spell and pronounce; they invite questions and often require explanations. For someone who doesn’t want their first conversation with every new person they meet to be about their name, that might be a major downside.”
Exactly. One not often considered by the parents whose children’s names end up in Reddit under r/tragedeigh (as in it becomes a tragedy of how they chose to spell the name or the general grief they are bestowing on their offspring. I urge all expectant parents to go there for perspective. 🤪
After a long time doing this work, I'm genuinely convinced that there are no "horrible names"; every name's got up sides and down sides, and the only question is which tradeoffs a family wants to make. Most names are also pretty flexible; my daughter has one version of her name that's VERY LONG but is only used in a few official legal docs, another form that's used for things like school registration, and a third that's how she learned to write her name.
I worked with a client last year who was worried about the very unusual first name they'd chosen for their child; the advice I gave was that they could change the name if they felt that was the best option, but that their child could also choose to go by her middle name or change the name herself when she's older.
i feel like this was written for me! & honestly, it's changed my mind on some things, & softened me on others. thank you for the series!
I'm glad you enjoyed it :) and it's true that I never confuse you with my other Jessicas!
I loved this series! I am looking forward to what I assume will come eventually which is a discussion of how significantly more feminine names are in use than masculine names. My husband commented shortly after we moved here "So every American male my age was required to be named Matt or Chris?". I responded "That's unfair, people were also allowed to be named Steve or Mike!".
If I had any lingering doubts about your identity, this comment would've cleared 'em right up (as I can hear you both saying those words! <wink>)
I definitely have one in the queue about the different way men's and women's names have been used over time (and with someone asking it'll bump up the ranks a bit!).
This coming Friday, though, it'll be the Pope post. :)
The “allowed” part is spot on. :)
Reminds me of a weird quirk in my own personal name story — in two different chapters, high school and college, the first close friend I made was a queer man named Matt. When I made my first close friend in grad school (another queer man), I asked him, “so, your middle name isn’t Matt, is it?” He just grinned. “No, but if you need to call me Matt, you can.”
“Unusual names are often harder to spell and pronounce; they invite questions and often require explanations. For someone who doesn’t want their first conversation with every new person they meet to be about their name, that might be a major downside.”
Exactly. One not often considered by the parents whose children’s names end up in Reddit under r/tragedeigh (as in it becomes a tragedy of how they chose to spell the name or the general grief they are bestowing on their offspring. I urge all expectant parents to go there for perspective. 🤪
After a long time doing this work, I'm genuinely convinced that there are no "horrible names"; every name's got up sides and down sides, and the only question is which tradeoffs a family wants to make. Most names are also pretty flexible; my daughter has one version of her name that's VERY LONG but is only used in a few official legal docs, another form that's used for things like school registration, and a third that's how she learned to write her name.
I worked with a client last year who was worried about the very unusual first name they'd chosen for their child; the advice I gave was that they could change the name if they felt that was the best option, but that their child could also choose to go by her middle name or change the name herself when she's older.
There's always options.