Popular baby names......to choose or not to choose? Perhaps you're tempted to choose from the calm pool of popular baby names on offer. But beware! Do the cons outweigh the pros? Only you can decide! Here I take a light hearted yet from-the-heart look at this baby name conundrum :) A face in the crowdWhen my son started school, the popular baby name dilemma was immediately evident.As there were three children with the same name, they were each called by their first name plus the initial letter of their surname. Ouch! Not quite what the parents had anticipated when they had chosen that particular baby name. From a school point of view - and in my experience as a teacher - a very popular baby name may not always turn out to be the perfect baby name! For a popular name used by more than one or even two children in a class, clarification is constantly needed in order to know whom you are talking about. This is, however, a temporary situation. Your child will grow up to live and work with many different people of
I shall reluctantly conclude that on this point you can comfortably forget what the teacher thinks! "Why didn't you call me something more interesting?"Those of us with popular names...(are you one of them?.. I am!) ...may secretly harbor a small yet possibly significant resentment that our parents gave us an obvious, boring name. That name is an important part of our lives. Couldn't it have been just a little more... romantic - or exotic - or interesting? On the other hand, there are probably many more important reasons for disliking a name, and maybe we should just be grateful for the perfectly acceptable name we bear. Perhaps in this respect the risk of using popular baby names is less than choosing something more... romantic - or exotic - or even outlandish! "Why didn't I call my child something more interesting?"Ah, crunch time. Yes, indeed - you do have to face up to the fact that if you choose a popular baby name that will help your daughter or son blend seamlessly into the names of their generation, you risk deeply regretting it further on down the line.People once frowned on unusual baby names. Some cultures still forbid baby naming that does not follow tradition. But nowadays, an individual name is appreciated. What if your baby grows up to be a specialist in their field? A writer or artist or an excellent organizer? In this case, a unique name might help distinguish them and accentuate their individuality. But we are jumping ahead of ourselves. There are the pros. The cons. And the cons of the cons... Don't get tangled up. Popular names do tend to serve their owners well, whatever you might say against them. And a hint of the exotic? Yes indeed - there is room for us all! So if you haven't taken a look at the advantages of popular names, then now is the time to do so!
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