UNUSUAL BABY NAMES – INTRODUCTION
For centuries, the Bible and family tradition have been the source of
names for new babies. In the Judeo-Christian culture, biblical names
have long been a tradition; sometimes in an attempt to bestow the
characteristics of a particular biblical character upon their namesake.
Generations of men in one family may bear the same name of an ancestor
who made a significant contribution to society in one way or another.
Other families may pass along the name of a matriarch from one
generation to the next. There are also cases where a girl is named for
her father, or vice versa. An example is a girl with a father named John
or Leon is given the name Johnnie or Leona. A boy whose mother is named
Leigh could be named Lee. Another common gender transition is Frances
for a female and Francis for a male. That tradition has changed,
however. While unusual names were always popping up here and there, the
unusual is quickly becoming the usual. This has become especially true
during the last thirty years, with parents breaking tradition and giving
their babies an array of unique and original names. The trend seems to
be most prevalent in the African-American community where parental
attempts to name their children are linked to the desire to establish
and or maintain ties to the African continent. This phenomenon seems to
have had its beginnings in the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Roots, the celebrated 1970s television mini-series based on Alex Haley’s
genealogical research reinforced the desire to give African-American
children names that held cultural and historical significance. In some
areas, African names such as Kwami, Salima and Jamal are becoming as
common as James, Mary and John. Even with this acknowledgement, few
people ever thought it possible for a man named Barack Hussein Obama to
follow George W. Bush as president of the United States of America.
 However, African-Americans do not have a monopoly on giving their
children unusual names. Celebrities, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore named
their daughter Rumor in response to constant harassment by the
Paparazzi. Other celebrities have put their creative gifts into high
gear when naming their children, like Gwen Stefani and Gavin Rossdale,
who named their son Zuma Nesta Rock or the late Frank Zappa who named
his children Dweezil, Moon Unit and Diva Muffin.
But you don’t have to be a celebrity to give your child an unusual
name. Teachers the world over have shared their frustration and even
embarrassment in trying to pronounce the names of children in their
classrooms. There is a definite trend towards people choosing non
traditional names for their children. The first reason is that our
surroundings are becoming too much alike. Shopping malls have lost their
regional and local identity.
No matter where you go, you will find the same stores, fast food
choices and even the same upscale restaurants. The decision by Federated
Stores, a conglomerate that owns many US department stores, prompted
outcries of monumental proportions when they stripped traditional names
and regional identities from all their stores and branded them with the
Macy’s name in 2005 and 2006. The most notable objections came from the
citizens of Chicago, who had for generations been loyal to Marshall
Fields. They picketed, cut up credit cards and to this day boycott
Macy’s in a show of loyalty to their beloved Marshall Fields. In truth,
Federated purchased these stores years before the name change and,
customers never knew the difference. Even after the switch, the
merchandise and quality of service remained the same, but the feeling
and shopping experience is different because the name on the outside is
no longer one that says “this store belongs to this community.” By
nature, we want to be different – to stand out form the pack. For many,
it seems that the only way to accomplish this is to set ourselves and
our children apart by our names. Any number of variations and spelling
options can be applied to traditional names to give them a totally
different appearance and sound. A child named for a flower like the
beautiful and fragrant jasmine, could spell her name Jasmin, Jazmen,
Jazmin, Yasmin, Yasmine and of course, we cannot omit the traditional –
Jasmine. A mother or father may want to name their son Richard, but
there are already five or six men in the family by that name. They want
to honor the family tradition while still maintaining some semblance of
originality and therefore name their son Reshard and spice it up with a
French twist by pronouncing his name rhee-SHARD. Twenty-first century
parents have an unlimited number of options and choices when it comes to
naming their children. The one thing they must do, however, is remember
that the cute little bundle of joy cradled in their arms today will be a
full grown adult who much live with their choice for the next eighty or
more years.
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