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Do you watch television with subtitles on?
My kids introduced me to the practice. They turn the subtitles on all the time. Yes, we’re all native English speakers. Somehow it became their default.
And I think it points to something intriguing. There’s background noise television. How many loads of laundry have I folded to The Great British Baking Show?
But then there’s full-focus television. Shōgun requires our full attention. And yes, sometimes, it requires reading subtitles.
It’s television as an event, the way it was not so long ago, before we could record and replay and stream anything and everything.
And those subtitles? They transform names from spoken and heard to written and visualized. Captions sometimes misspell or even mis-capture language, especially in real-time. But all that mangling and misunderstanding is part of the process, too.
If Gen Z and Gen Alpha experience everything with captions? It will inevitably influence the way they name – I’m just not sure exactly how yet.
Table of Contents
ELSEWHERE ONLINE
Dean, Kip, and Joni. Are 1950s and 60s favorites back? Laura makes a compelling case for maybe yes. I’m definitely hearing more parents consider Melody and Rocky.
Holly, Mason, Stefan, Connor, and Layla were born in Buffalo in December. They join sisters Hannah and Brooke at home. Thanks to everyone who sent me their story. I think we all agree – their names are sort of delightfully normal. Welcome to the world!
Brazil’s Top Ten ranges from familiar Noah and Alice to rare and surprising Ravi and Heloisa. Heitor is the Portuguese form of Hector, and sounds too close to “hater” to work in American English. But Maitê, a contraction of Maria and Teresa that sounds almost like “mighty,” is intriguing.
UPDATING & THINKING ABOUT
Saylor is one of those names. I’m not wild about them at first, but then I spend an hour thinking about it, and I’m won over.
Solana feels like a logical successor to Sienna and Eliana, powered by sunshine.
Clive reads a little bit fusty and British … except so did Oliver and Julian not that long ago.
That’s all for this week. As always, thank you for reading – and have a great week!
