"If our second-born hadn't been a girl, our marriage might not have lasted," Linda said in the crowded, noisy lunchroom. "I was determined to call him Douglas, but the name reminded my husband, Bob, of a guy he remembered with contempt."
"That's right," said Bob. "No child of mine will have the same name as that lazy, dirty bum."
"Well," said Joe, "What about now? You two are about to have twins. How about calling them Beethoven and Mozart? Those names have class."
"No, Linda has already decided on Robert and Michael. She says they sound nice. I was adamant about the name Eric when my first son was born, but this time there aren't any names that jump out at me."
"Robert? You want to name one of your sons after you?” Asked Joe, who had been named for his father. "'Little Joe' was bad enough, but the worst was being called Junior. Besides," he continued, "we were always getting each other's mail and phone calls. You'd better think twice about the name Robert, Bob."
For some couples, agreeing on name for their baby is almost as difficult as labor and delivery. But it's worth the effort, for a fine-sounding name is one of the best gifts we can offer our offspring. Just turn the pages of any Who's Who and you will discover how many successful people have rhythmic, phonetically balanced names. Mikhail Baryshnikov, Abraham Lincoln, Ernest Hemingway, and Doris Day are but a few.
Besides such euphonic considerations, prospective parents often take into account the meaning of names. A book on onomastics (the study of the origins of proper names) is among the first things many a new mom-to-be will buy on her way home from the obstetrician's office.
But when should a baby be named? Some parents wait to meet their child face-to-face before bestowing the eternal little. They believe the child's essence and his or her name should be on the same wavelength. One mother said, "I thin it's a good idea to have a few possible names picked out, but it's bad idea to name a child before he's born. It's not fair to the child." She said, "Until you see his face and body and the way he moves, you can't know if the name you have chosen will fit."
This mother and father favored the names Jason and Christopher before their son was born, but they didn't make the choice until they saw him. "We felt Christopher was a good name, but when the baby came out and started to a look around intensely, we knew he was a Jason."
Other parents decide beforehand to give their child a name to live up to. Parents who value justice and righteousness, for example, might consider the names Daniel (the judge), Catalina (the pure), or Elbert (nobly brilliant). Some parents combine both approaches. The child's first name, a name with a challenge, can be chosen before birth, while the middle name can be selected after birth, after the parents have a sense of who the child is.
SOURCES OF NAMES
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