# Need objective opinions on a baby name **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 18, 2008, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716 "2008-05-18T03:10:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![straykat23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@straykat23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/straykat23)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/21 "2008-05-18T04:34:52Z")
Nope. Hideous. Rather than Carl Sagan, it brings to my mind Francoise Sagan, '50s French author of “Bonjour Tristesse.” It was a sensation at the time but rather soap opera-ish and filled with an over abundance of teenage angst (she was 18 when published). [Francoise Sagan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7oise_Sagan) A few quotes from the Wiki article: Nicknamed “the charming little monster” by Francois Mauriac. The novel allegedly influenced the Simon and Garfunkel song, “The Sounds of Silence.” Sagan was married twice, to Guy Schoeller and Bob Westhof, but both marriages ended in divorce. She took a lesbian longer term lover in fashion stylist Peggy Roche; and had a male lover. Bernard Frank, a married essayist obsessed with reading and eating. She added to her self-styled “family” by beginning a long-term lesbian affair with French Playboy Magazine editor Annick Geille, after she approached Sagan for an article for her magazine. In the 1990s Sagan was charged and convicted with possession of cocaine. Sagan was, at various times of her life, dependent on a number of drugs. She was a long-term user of prescription pills, amphetamines, cocaine, morphine and alcohol. Her health was reported to be poor in the decade of the 2000s. In 2002 she was unable to appear at a trial in which she was convicted of tax fraud involving Francois Mitterand, and she received a suspended sentence. When asked if she believed in love: "Are you joking? I believe in passion. Nothing else. Two years, no more. All right, then: three.” Nice idea but lit majors won’t think of Carl. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/22 "2008-05-18T04:36:30Z")
[QUOTE=Cunctator] Sagan reminds me of sago. Yuck. [/QUOTE] The starch that the Kombai tribe lives off of? I hardly think that’s what would spring to most people’s minds. The scientist is a _little_ more well-known. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/23 "2008-05-18T04:40:02Z")
[QUOTE=Cisco] The starch that the Kombai tribe lives off of? I hardly think that’s what would spring to most people’s minds. The scientist is a _little_ more well-known. [/QUOTE] It sprang to mine. And the OP asked for my opinion, not most people’s. ---
**Author:** ![HazelNutCoffee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ac91a4/32.png) [@HazelNutCoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HazelNutCoffee)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/24 "2008-05-18T04:41:01Z")
[QUOTE=straykat23] Nice idea but lit majors won’t think of Carl. [/QUOTE] I seriously doubt Francoise Sagan will be the first thing to come to mind for most people. ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/25 "2008-05-18T04:42:55Z")
Don’t like it, and the inevitable shortening to Sag or Saggy is even worse. ---
**Author:** ![Zoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a4c791/32.png) [@Zoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zoe)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/26 "2008-05-18T04:56:36Z")
> [@](#): > > **straykat23** : Nice idea but lit majors won’t think of Carl. This lit major did and I’m very old! But thanks for refreshing my memory of Francoise Sagan and **Bonjour Tristesse**. I never learned how to pronounce the title of the book or got around to changing my name to _Franchoise_, but I did make it to Paris. I like it **DTC** for male or female. ---
**Author:** ![sugar\_and\_spice](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e8c25b/32.png) [@sugar\_and\_spice](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugar_and_spice)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/27 "2008-05-18T05:02:59Z")
I agree with RickJay on point #3. Carl Sagan didn’t even occur to me, I assumed it was something you made up or found by combing thru name-the-baby books. Knowing the origin I let it better, but also wonder why not Carl or Carla. I think its better for a girl than a boy, it makes me think of Raegan or Megan. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/28 "2008-05-18T05:12:28Z")
As the parent of a preschooler, I definitely think girl when I hear it. I’m not really fond of a name that’s so strongly linked to one person (there was no doubt when I read it that it seemed to be a tribute to Carl Sagan). IMHO, your kid should be their own person, not under a shadow of someone very famous. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/29 "2008-05-18T05:14:02Z")
I like the name. But consider this, what if the kid turns out to be not smart. The taunts could be pretty ugly, “It’s too bad that you couldn’t figure that out, Rocket Scientist!”. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/30 "2008-05-18T05:24:47Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] I like the name. But consider this, what if the kid turns out to be not smart. The taunts could be pretty ugly, “It’s too bad that you couldn’t figure that out, Rocket Scientist!”. [/QUOTE] It must have been pretty rough on Albert Brooks as a kid. His real last name is Einstein (yes, his real name is Albert Einstein). ---
**Author:** ![dangermom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e274bd/32.png) [@dangermom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dangermom)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/31 "2008-05-18T06:01:49Z")
Awful name for a girl. The horrifying “Saggy” nicknames alone disqualify it, but it also just doesn’t seem to me like a girl name. OK for a boy. I wouldn’t choose it, but it’s fine. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/32 "2008-05-18T06:09:13Z")
I think it’s a great name for a boy or a girl. I don’t get the “too trendy” complaints (though I would if the name rhymed with _maiden_), and I especially think the “but people will pick on her!” comments are ridiculous. Kids get picked on all the time for all sorts of reasons. It’s bizarre that everybody seems to have fixated on this one, rather tiny point on the spectrum of bullying (and it’s the main thing that comes up again and again when unusual names are mentioned)–of course, maybe it’s because adults think it’s one thing they can control. I was looking through facebook tonight at people who graduated from my HS. One young lady’s name was Cinnasparkle Taffy. She seems to be leading a very normal, healthy life. If she can do it with that kind of name, I don’t see why a Sagan (or a Ripley) shouldn’t do just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/33 "2008-05-18T06:42:03Z")
[QUOTE=pepperlandgirl] It’s bizarre that everybody seems to have fixated on this one, rather tiny point on the spectrum of bullying (and it’s the main thing that comes up again and again when unusual names are mentioned)–of course, maybe it’s because adults think it’s one thing they can control. [/QUOTE] I’m guessing you have a fairly normal name. I don’t. Mine (thank god) isn’t as uncommon as my brother’s or sister’s, but it’s uncommon enough that it drew a lot of attention all the way through middle school. There were times when having a common name would’ve been nice - one less thing to be fucked with about. I’m not saying I ever got tortured because of it, but I plan on naming my first son Alexander. ---
**Author:** ![Ms.Pumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a87d85/32.png) [@Ms.Pumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms.Pumpkin)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/34 "2008-05-18T06:50:59Z")
The first thing I think when I look at that name is that it’s a typo and ought to be “satan”. Then I think it looks like it starts out sounding like “sag”. I think the name itself sounds nice, just looks ugly in print. ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 7:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/35 "2008-05-18T07:07:50Z")
I don’t think it’s a pretty name, and a little girl should have a name with some light and beauty to it. It’s the “Sag” part of it that just sounds thud-ish to me. I’m more neutral on “Ripley” - it’s a little gimmicky, but it sounds nice, spells nice, and is unique. ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 8:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/36 "2008-05-18T08:29:40Z")
[QUOTE=Diogenes the Cynic] It must have been pretty rough on Albert Brooks as a kid. His real last name is Einstein (yes, his real name is Albert Einstein). [/QUOTE] What doesn’t kill you makes you strong. Albert Brooks developed a wicked sense of humor. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/37 "2008-05-18T08:36:43Z")
Not just no, but Hell No! It just sounds wrong. There’s the whole Sagan / Satan thing, plus the Sagan / Sago thing (school dinners, anyone?). ---
**Author:** ![tesseract](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bb73d2/32.png) [@tesseract](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tesseract)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 9:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/38 "2008-05-18T09:00:50Z")
I don’t even know what Sago is. I thought of Carl Sagan right away, so I knew (or figured I l knew) how to pronounce it. I kind of like it and feel like it would grow on any kid, girl or boy, and pretty soon everyone would think he/she was a perfect “Sagan”-- I think that is what actually happens with most names, except for the incredibly ridiculous, isn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 9:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/39 "2008-05-18T09:11:13Z")
I like it. ---
**Author:** ![Argent\_Towers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e8c25b/32.png) [@Argent\_Towers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Argent_Towers)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2008, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716/40 "2008-05-18T09:14:44Z")
Please, no. It sounds terrible. If you want to honor Carl Sagan, you should name the kid Carl if it’s a boy, or Carla if it’s a girl. There aren’t enough boys nowadays named Carl, I can tell you that much, and I think it’s a great name. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-objective-opinions-on-a-baby-name/449716.md?page=3)