Susie O'Brien on baby names - Adelaide Advertiser

[Astrolady]

But then you have people who name their kids mykaelah and don't realize it's a female vesion of Michael until their OB comments. (sorry to any parents of mykaelahs I chose it cos she's a relative)

Michael ??? really ?? I was saying Mikayla in my head LOL

I am one that always has to spell my name and it's a common name. I did do "creative" spelling of Cameron though but that is cause I didn't want my Kameron's initials making a proper word and I loved the name to much to change it

[~TT40~]

that whole dash thing reminds me of what my brother and i did in highschool, was our nicknames: me= am&a and my brother = n@ was never offical, but i use to use that on my books etc.

[Trillian]

I haven't read the article yet, but before I do I wanted to say thats a bit unfair about Erin though, I have an Erin and it's an old name, not something new or modernised.

ETA - I had to LOL at the bit about the cat sitting on the keyboard. I read a birth announcement in the paper a while back for a boy called 'Maisyn', which is apparently 'Mason'. And the Erin thing is definitely a bad association thing. That was always a problem when we were deciding on names - names I loved were given the thumbs down by DH because he 'knew a Justin at school and he was a ****head' LOL. And some of it certainly has gone too far. Creating spelling is one thing and can be tolerated, but calling your child something that is totally random is just dumb, it really is. I know that it is their child and they have the right to call them whatever they want, but it really is just dumb. I remember reading in the Daily Telegraph ages ago about a child in Western Sydney that was called 'Fully Sic'.

[Junglemum]

She wasn't having a crack at the spelling of Erin Trill, or saying it was made up. It was used as an example of a name she doesn't like. Her sister was going to use it, told her and basically said 'Ewww'. We all have names that conjure up images of specific people that we don't like, Erin was one for her. My list is huge! lol I think it's a pretty name.

[Trillian]

Check out this site too Stupid Kid Names the language is a bit full on and not all of the names are that bad really, but some of them are shockers and rightly deserve to be on a site called stupid kid names LOL.

[butterfly_warrior]

As a teacher, naming your child is close to impossible.

I could sit here and say that every single Mitchell I've ever taught has been a nightmare, and it's true and the name has very negative associations for me. That's not to say that there aren't lovely Mitchells out there - just that none of them ever ended up in my classroom.

Would I use the name myself? No.
Would I automatically assume a new Mitchell I come across is also a ratbag? No. I actually look forward to the day when someone may actually be able to redeem the name for me! As my nephew is doing a great job of doing with his (not Mitchell! But another name that has strong negative associations for me).

Also, as a teacher... creative spellings are a pain in the bum. Yes, it's also a pain to have three Jessicas in the one class (has happened!), but it's no less painful if there's a Jessica, a Jessika and a Jessikah or something like that. It's actually more painful because you end up having kids getting irate because you spelled their name wrong!

I also have a personal hatred of unisex names... when you just get the list of names and you're looking at Jordan, Morgan, Kim, Jesse... It can be really embarrassing!

BW

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

My google search brought up this page, Div!

Well, I see both points. I don't like names with stupid spellings. I don't mind optional letter "e" at the end or not, I don't mind names that have a variant (two of my names are case in point: one is a Welsh spelling and the other a family one). I do dislike names spelt to make people unsure of the pronounciation and just to add in the letter X, Y, or anything else "cool". (I also dislike Jaymz for James and have done since I first heard it over 15 years ago.) I've taught a Claire and a Clare in the same class - not a problem (thankfully they sat at opposite sides, so I could remember "I's left!").

Other points - Cierra isn't "Sierra" (which ain't even a name in my book) but an Irish varient of Keira/Kira/Kiera. Interesting about "Princess" - in the UK, you can't give your child a title as a name, nor can you deed poll it into your name. Also, endings of "ie" and "y" are often traditionally interchanged so I don't see a problem with that.

Archie is a normal name - short for Archibald. I dislike nicknames given as formal names, but that's just me. And I like the name Erin, but DH agreed with O'Brien. Or should we insist she spells it O'Brian?

[mrsmac]

AS the mother of a beautiful Erin I have to protest LOL but I agree with all the rest.
As a teacher I find the same as BW- some names have bad associations for me- every Haidyn or Jaiden I have ever known has had to got to remedial reading classes LOL Actually until this year all the Aidens have too but we have some new ones LOL
Someone on my FB liked a site called "Everyone knows a **** named Jess" highly upsetting for the mother of a Jess LOL (even if she does dress like one!!!)

[Roryrory]

Very funny article Div. You know my thoughts on made up names

[Pandora]

Michael ??? really ?? I was saying Mikayla in my head LOL.....

PMSL. Yes it's Michaela, but because she'd only seen that spelling she didn't twig that it was a feminine version of Michael.

Which would be ok, except that she has a brother Michael and a sister Michelle ( the mum not Mykaelah)

[Pandora]

The only Erin I have personally known was male, and definitely never slept with the football team.
I read it as a random example of how a name can have negative associations for people.

[toomanyshoes]

As a teacher, naming your child is close to impossible.

I could sit here and say that every single Mitchell I've ever taught has been a nightmare, and it's true and the name has very negative associations for me. That's not to say that there aren't lovely Mitchells out there - just that none of them ever ended up in my classroom.

Would I use the name myself? No.
Would I automatically assume a new Mitchell I come across is also a ratbag? No. I actually look forward to the day when someone may actually be able to redeem the name for me! As my nephew is doing a great job of doing with his (not Mitchell! But another name that has strong negative associations for me).

Also, as a teacher... creative spellings are a pain in the bum. Yes, it's also a pain to have three Jessicas in the one class (has happened!), but it's no less painful if there's a Jessica, a Jessika and a Jessikah or something like that. It's actually more painful because you end up having kids getting irate because you spelled their name wrong!

I also have a personal hatred of unisex names... when you just get the list of names and you're looking at Jordan, Morgan, Kim, Jesse... It can be really embarrassing!

BW

I've known 3 Nicholas Johns, all of which were little rat bags. I still know 1 of them and he's actually grown into quite a nice person.

[Marlene]

As a teacher, naming your child is close to impossible.

I could sit here and say that every single Mitchell I've ever taught has been a nightmare, and it's true and the name has very negative associations for me. That's not to say that there aren't lovely Mitchells out there - just that none of them ever ended up in my classroom.

Would I use the name myself? No.
Would I automatically assume a new Mitchell I come across is also a ratbag? No. I actually look forward to the day when someone may actually be able to redeem the name for me! As my nephew is doing a great job of doing with his (not Mitchell! But another name that has strong negative associations for me).

Yep, I got told this over and over when I named my son Mitchell (apparently no one had ever known a "nice" Mitchell, lol). But i did it anyway because I really liked the name You would love to have my boy in your class...he's an A grade student, a sporting champ, a role model for his classmates and has awesome manners. Not that I'm bragging or anything, LOL. At home, hmmm, slightly different story...he definitely has that "cheeky" Mitchell side, hehehe.

[*LittleMissSummer*]

Growing up i was told that my name was very unique and nowadays my name doesn't even compare to half those going around.

The article was great, though i didn't agree with what she said about the name Erin, i've never come across a skanky girl called Erin so maybe that was having a crack at one she went to school with..

[Glamourcide]

I agree with the PP's who feel that the article isn't having a chop at 'unusual' names, per se, more so the 'kree-atyv' spelling that is becoming popular these days...
I'm sure most of you are already well aware of my stance on names. I like 'em traditional, spelled 'correctly' and I'm not keen on 'cultural' names being used if you're not of that culture. But that's just me.
I'm sure most of us can agree that this 'La-ah' and 'Jaaylen' nonsense is just that - nonsense. And most of us can tell the difference between a 'cultural' name like Sabal (Indian), and a 'creative' name like (to rip off a PP, because I lol'd) Vahnytee, kwim, so I don't think the assumption should be made that those of us who agree with Ms O'Brien's article are automatically 'narrow-minded' or rejecting non-Western values and cultural traditions, at all.

Just my 2c I laughed a few times at the article - funny how the 'Erin' story has caused such a stir! Funny story - everyone was a bit flabbergasted when we named DD1 Emily, because I had had a long-running dispute with a girl named Emily and all our friends knew how much I hated her guts. They were surprised that I could ignore the negative association and still use the name for my own daughter. Once my DD1 was born, that was it - the name was hers and even now when someone mentions the 'other' Emily, I get confused for a second because I assume they're talking about 'my' Emily
The 'other' Emily and I are actually friends again now lol... I can definitely see why a negative association would stop people choosing a particular name for their child (LOL I agree, Mitchells are ratbags, my cousin is one hehehe), but so far I haven't taken it personally when someone's bagged out the names DH and I chose for our babies They're not bagging out on my kids, they're bagging out on whoever that person in their past (or present!) is who they feel isn't a nice person or has wronged them. That's not a name thing, that's a personality thing, and nothing to do with me or my babies!

[Beatrix]

Look my main problem is stupi names, not creative spelling one...

My daughter is Teleah, spelt as it pronounced.. but for some reason people always want to spell it Taleah.. which to me says is TA not Te... so yeah...

but serious some guy names his baby girl Facebook... that poor child

[toomanyshoes]

but serious some guy names his baby girl Facebook... that poor child

You have to be joking?

[Glamourcide]

^ Apparently it's an Egyptian custom to give your child a 'meaningful' name even if it's not a traditional or typical 'name' word. The parents chose the name 'Facebook' to honour social media's role in the recent protests and political saga that we've all seen unfold on the news.