How many syllables is too many for a first name?

[Kimstu]

@StarvingButStrong

A friend just told me her newest granddaughter is named Oceania, which she thinks is stupid. It’s supposed to be pronounced Oh-sea-an-e-uh. Friend is trying to establish her ‘use’ name as Shawna, but DIL objects.

I suggested she call the kid “Ocean-yuh” for a bit and maybe they’ll change their minds.

I mean, okay, but “Oh-sea-an-e-uh” isn’t actually that difficult to remember or pronounce, and “Oceania” isn’t that difficult to spell, so couldn’t your friend just suck it up and use the name they’ve given her, instead of trying to pressure or annoy them out of it? Really, new parents have enough on their plates without a grandparent whining that they don’t like the baby’s name.

Mind you, I think it would be adorable if, when she’s old enough, the little girl and her grandmother agree on her having a special “Grandma nickname” like “Shawna”. Then your friend can use the name she likes, and the granddaughter gets a little nomenclatural variety that she can use as she sees fit in later life, rather than making the baby’s name a bone of family contention before the baby can even pronounce any version of it.

[kenobi_65]

@Treppenwitz

There’s noted footballer Equanimeous St. Brown, of course.

Full name: Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown.

His brothers:
Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown
Osiris Adrian Amon-Ra J. St. Brown

The story goes that their dad, John Brown, a former Mr. Universe, felt his own name was rather ordinary, and wanted his sons to have distinctive names. He succeeded.

[Treppenwitz]

Ignorance fought. (Though that’s not always a good thing.)

j

[Novelty_Bobble]

@kenobi_65

Full name: Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown.

His brothers:
Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown
Osiris Adrian Amon-Ra J. St. Brown

I mean, great, all that is wonderfully weird, go hard or go home I say but…

Adrian? Julian? Tristan? Did he have a thing for Eton School’s first XI circa 1954?

[markn_1]

I’m not sure how many is too many, but I’m sure that Rhoshandiatellyneshiaunneveshenkescianneshaimondrischlyndasaccarnaerenquellenendrasamecashaunettethalemeicoleshiwhalhinive’onchellecaundenesheaalausondrilynnejeanetrimyranaekuesaundrilynnezekeriakenvaunetradevonneyavondalatarneskcaevontaepreonkeinesceellaviavelzadawnefriendsettajessicannelesciajoyvaelloydietteyvettesparklenesceaundrieaquenttaekatilyaevea’shauwneoraliaevaekizzieshiyjuanewandalecciannereneitheliapreciousnesceverroneccaloveliatyronevekacarrionnehenriettaescecleonpatrarutheliacharsalynnmeokcamonaeloiesalynnecsiannemerciadellesciaustillaparissalondonveshadenequamonecaalexetiozetiaquaniaenglaundneshiafrancethosharomeshaunnehawaineakowethauandavernellchishankcarlinaaddoneillesciachristondrafawndrealaotrelleoctavionnemiariasarahtashabnequckagailenaxeteshiataharadaponsadeloriakoentescacraigneckadellanierstellavonnemyiatangoneshiadianacorvettinagodtawndrashirlenescekilokoneyasharrontannamyantoniaaquinettesequioadaurilessiaquatandamerceddiamaebellecescajamesauwnneltomecapolotyoajohnyaetheodoradilcyana is over the limit.

[Chronos]

Let’s hope she never falls down a well and her brother has to go ask for help from the neighbors.

[Moriarty]

@Novelty_Bobble

@kenobi_65

Full name: Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown.

His brothers:
Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown
Osiris Adrian Amon-Ra J. St. Brown

I mean, great, all that is wonderfully weird, go hard or go home I say but…

Adrian? Julian? Tristan? Did he have a thing for Eton School’s first XI circa 1954?

So, you sent me down the rabbit hole.

The middle names were picked by the boys’ mother, who is from Germany. That’s the best I got.

IT ALL begins with the names.

“No offense, but Jim Brown, John Brown—what is that? There’s too many of them,” John says. “I’ve got the option to use any name I want, I’m going to pick a slave name?”

There is, of course, an endless spectrum of possibilities between “John Brown” and “Equanimeous Tristan Imhotep J. St. Brown,” “Osiris Adrian Amon-Ra J. St. Brown,” and “Amon-Ra Julian Heru J. St. Brown.” With the exception of Equanimeous, a name he plucked from a character in a friend’s novel, the boys’ first and middle names follow a formula: an Egyptian name, a traditional name chosen by Miriam, a second Egyptian name and a “J” for John. (After Miriam delivered Equanimeous, John told her he was also adding a flourish to their surname. “Brown doesn’t look good on the back of a jersey,” he explained. Thus, St. Brown—which John says narrowly edged Von Brown.)

https://vault.si.com/.amp/vault/2017/09/18/stop-us-if-youve-heard

[Yllaria]

If you have a one or two syllable surname, you can get away with a few more syllables in the first name. When both of those names are multipolysyllabic, it can get tiring.

Not to mention that some school forms have fields with a limited number of spaces.