# Should you give your baby a unique name? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 7, 2022, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017 "2022-02-07T00:36:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/81 "2022-02-07T23:46:35Z")
(at least he wasn’t named Richard) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [February 7, 2022, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/82 "2022-02-07T23:57:50Z")
Oh, yes, Chasity, Chassity, Chasidy, etc. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/83 "2022-02-08T00:10:01Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > Thankfully, “Chasity” has fallen greatly in popularity, but is still far from unique. One of the finalists in the recently completed _Project Runway_ season was named Chasity. Her name was mispronounced a lot, as would be expected. Oops. Ninja’d. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/84 "2022-02-08T00:17:14Z")
Around here, certainly. I mean, I live in a very diverse area. Large populations of Indians, Filipinos, Chinese, etc. Half the kids in my son’s 6th grade class have what would once be considered strange names. The kids themselves take no special notice of them. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/85 "2022-02-08T00:19:12Z")
Half the kids in my son’s class have names like Jam’ai. In that sense they are like their peers. It’s not such a big deal anymore. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/86 "2022-02-08T01:03:26Z")
> [@Driver8](#): > > Sure, but that’s because he’s English and those are the names that come to mind as examples. I don’t think there is anything inherently different in picking a typical Arabic or Hebrew or Xhosa, etc. name based on your cultural identification. And I’ll take the point that you could deal with racist prejudice depending on where you are and the like. But I don’t think that’s what he’s talking about. I agree that’s not what he’s talking about. I just don’t agree that any of the names he’s suggesting are “blank slates” with no connotations. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/87 "2022-02-08T02:14:54Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Oh, yes, Chasity, Chassity, Chasidy, etc. I once had a student whose name was _Chadsity._ Pronounced as spelled. As someone who has to learn fifty to eighty new names every semester, I am firmly in the “for God’s sake, name your kids something normal and boring and spell it conventionally” camp. I used to think you should also pick something that sounds OK when you put “Supreme Court Justice…” in front of it, but then I found out there was an actual Supreme Court Justice named [Bushrod](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushrod_Washington), which seems, um, inadvisable. ---
**Author:** ![kitap](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@kitap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kitap)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/88 "2022-02-08T04:43:51Z")
> [@Ulfreida](#): > > Yeah, that’s the other pronunciation challenge. It’s one thing to have an unfamiliar-to-anglophones ethnic name, conventional in some other country than this one, it’s another to think it cute to make your child explain their name carefully _ **every single time** _ a stranger needs to use it, for the rest of their lives. > > I can think of some unique (by which I mean you’ll probably never encounter another person with that name) names that turned out just fine. None of Frank Zappa’s kids changed their names. My daughter has a friend named Iolanthe, from the eponymous 19th century Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera, which I thought was creative. Her friends call her Io. This can easily be construed, in the US, as “use white Western European names”. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/89 "2022-02-08T05:24:41Z")
> [@Richard\_Pearse](#): > > My first name is Jonathan. Two standard spellings but people often completely butcher it. The surname is Norwegian. My name is Norwegian. Jonathan Norwegian. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/90 "2022-02-08T05:39:27Z")
Ha! I reworded the post to try and head off that particular joke. Didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/91 "2022-02-08T05:59:55Z")
People forget that your first name is only half your name, at most: you’re not just “Firstname”, you’re “Firstname Lastname”. The first name doesn’t have to be unique if the last name is unique, or if the combination of the two is unique. That’s why, to me, the best names are made by mixing a unique name and an ordinary name. “Luke Skywalker” - normal first name, unique last name - terrific. “Indiana Jones” - unique first name, normal last name - also terrific. “Luke Jones” - dull as dishwater. “Indiana Skywalker” - overkill. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/92 "2022-02-08T06:05:58Z")
My parents literally misspelled my first name. They claimed the nurse or whoever offered to correct it before finalizing the certificate at which point they opted to keep it, so I’m stuck with it. Apart from the misspelling it’s a very common first name and its diminutive form (which I often go by) is spelled normally. It’s been misspelled from time to time on important documents and it’s always a hassle to fix. It’s misspelled on one of the certificates I got for graduating high school (not my diploma) but I was so done with high school I couldn’t even be bothered. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/93 "2022-02-08T08:12:43Z")
They don’t forget - it’s just that the reality is that only first names are used in a lot of situations. In my High School, fully 10% of the boys had my first name. In my place of work, there were at one time five people with my first name, out of about probably 25 men. It’s just plain unnecessarily irritating when every time someone says “Princhester” you have to say “which Princhester?” “Oh, sorry I mean Princhester G”. It just isn’t necessary. It’s parental laziness. ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/94 "2022-02-08T10:06:59Z")
Indeed, it does definitely make sense to pick a less-common first name if your surname is common. There was a girl I was at school with who had a locally common surname, plus a very common first name with no real short version. In her previous school had been one of _three_ girls with the same first name/last name combo in the class. They wound up being called ‘big’, ‘little’ and ‘other [name]’ by everyone, including teachers. I doubt it’s any better for a kid’s self-esteem to be constantly mixed up with other kids- and risk epithets even less flattering to distinguish them- than it is to have to spell their name out all the time. ---
**Author:** ![Ulfreida](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ulfreida/32/8014_2.png) [@Ulfreida](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulfreida)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 10:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/95 "2022-02-08T10:26:09Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > This can easily be construed, in the US, as “use white Western European names”. You mean, like Dweezil? ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/96 "2022-02-08T10:32:54Z")
> [@kitap](#): > > This can easily be construed, in the US, as “use white Western European names”. I mean, you’re speaking a Western European language, aren’t you? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 1:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/97 "2022-02-08T13:03:03Z")
Yes, i just realized that the first name on my birth certificate is very common. I’ve always used the name i use now (it’s what my parents called me, and what i told people to call me in school) but it wasn’t my legal first until i changed my name upon getting married. I had trouble with the bank confusing me with other customers of the same name. I was once in a tent at camp with 6 girls, 4 of whom used a version of my legal first name. I like having a name that’s mine. I strongly endorse giving your kid a name that won’t be shared with too many classmates, ESPECIALLY if their last name is common. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Librarian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_librarian/32/402_2.png) [@The\_Librarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Librarian)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/98 "2022-02-08T13:09:28Z")
Good luck with that. (I believe they are fucking with all of us) My name in Starbucks is “double espresso” Let them misspel that;) ---
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/99 "2022-02-08T13:15:28Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > n my place of work, there were at one time five people with my first name, out of about probably 25 men. My freshman year in college, I lived in a wing of St. Thomas Hall with 16(?) double rooms (one of which was a single because the RA was there). We had 8 people named Tom. It did make the first week easy, since if you saw some and were unsure as to their name you could take a shot at Tom and have pretty good odds. We also had three Joe’s and at least two Mike’s (whose last names were similar enough that when the RA was doing the first floor meeting and calling roll one assumed he was mis-pronouncing his name and tromped over my room-mate’s introduction. ---
**Author:** ![Honolulu\_Lulu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/87869e/32.png) [@Honolulu\_Lulu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honolulu_Lulu)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2022, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017/100 "2022-02-08T14:13:17Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > A comedian used to tell the baristas that his name was Thor, God of Thunder. Said he made them write that on the cup. Refused to answer if they only called out Thor. I’m sure. Another comedian preferred the name Yahtzee. Do most baristas have any clue what that is? I just say “Sam” because it’s not too common, short, and easy to spell. I loved the name Yahtzee, but I might be asked for the spelling. In the future, I’m calling myself Bingo. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-you-give-your-baby-a-unique-name/959017.md?page=6)