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Name-inspired news and notes for your Sunday reading.
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Saturday morning I was in our church’s multi-purpose room for our annual women’s retreat, when my favorite 70-something called out “I saw you on the internet!”
She was talking about this article, which is all about the trend to name our children after weapons. It’s … a thing.
And it’s a thing I kinda-sorta almost get.
We want strong names for our children. Our daughters, yes. Naming a son can feel even more challenging. If you’re determined to avoid a unisex name, then it might seem like your options are limited.
Or maybe you’re not opposed to a gender-neutral name, but you might want one that stays in the middle, rather than tipping over to all-girl. And that requires predicting the future, which is not actually possible.
There’s a reason so many babies were named after Yellowstone characters.
But it also explains names that suggest aggression, even violence. Ryatt and Gunner and Rage and yes, Winchester, too. Look at them just the right way and they’re names that suggest a sort of fearless independence.
Something tells me that’s not always how others will perceive those names.
In general, my take is this: your child’s name should be flexible enough that they might turn out very different than you might imagine. (I am the extroverted, two-left-footed, can’t-carry-a-tune parent of introverted children. One varsity athlete, one musician. God has an incredible sense of humor.)
And so yes to Remington. It’s a strong name, but one that shortens to the far more flexible Remy/Remi. And it sounds like all those surname names we love, too. Arrow is distinctive, but has meanings well beyond warfare, and fits nicely with modern word names.
But Beretta? Even if your great-great-grandma Beretta was a capmaker’s daughter from Turin, this name feels eyebrow-raising.
(Yes, Beretta/Berretta is a legit Italian surname, from a Latin word meaning bonnet or cap.)
That’s my line, though, and it’s hard to draw it. It will shift with every decade or so, as will cultural associations.
We have to name out of the information we have available in the present moment, though, and so I say: yes to Archer, maybe to Gatlin, but there is a line, and it’s best to try to stay on the right side.
Wherever that may be.
Finds from last week
The most recent installment of Name Connections can be found here.
That list of wild names got me thinking about all the bottom-of-the-2023-list names I highlighted a few months ago. Sometimes lists of strange names are little more than urban legends, but there really are babies toddling around with names like Viserys and Casanova, Morticia and Three.
Reviewing Laura’s name predictions. I said it was hard, but Laura is one of the best! I often grade myself year-over-year, but I like her approach of taking a 15-year snapshot.
As if traveling across the country in a covered wagon wasn’t impossible enough, some women gave birth en route. And sometimes they gave their babies names inspired by their child’s arrival. Fascinating snapshot of history.
Wait, what? You cannot ask your sister to rename her dog because you want the name for your baby. Just … no. But that is (apparently) the very real debate this family is having ATM. At the risk of sounding crazy, I’m going to offer the following rule: the family member who is named first gets to keep the name, even if they’ve four-legged. (Or winged or scaled or what-have-you.)
Updating & thinking about
Under-the-radar nature name Yarrow. Because I finally saw the Bob Dylan biopic. (Speaking of predictions, I think Dylan gets a bump in 2024/2025 from all the buzz about the movie.)
Harriet, because how is it still not back in the US Top 1000? Nickname Hattie and Hallie are ranked, and make this traditional choice even more appealing.
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
