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What Baby Names Say About the Parents
Filed under: Baby Names
A baby's name says a lot about the parents' values and tastes. Credit: Getty Images
The name parents give to their newborn baby says more about them than it does about their child. A name communicates a wealth of social information, including the parents' tastes and background."We're in the middle of a naming revolution," Laura Wattenberg, author of the popular book "The Baby Name Wizard" told LiveScience.com. "Parents are putting a much higher premium on distinctiveness."
Half the babies born in the 1950s were given one of the top 25 most common boys' names or one of the top 50 most common girls' names. Fast forward to today, and you would have to list the 134 most popular boys' names and top 320 girls' names to cover half the babies born in a year.
"If you have 10 guesses to get somebody's name today, there's almost no chance you'll get it," Wattenberg told LiveScience. "But 100 years ago, if you guessed the top 10 names, you'd have a really good chance" of guessing correctly.
These stark changes in naming conventions have come with social implications. "The more diverse naming styles become, the more we are going to read into somebody's name," Wattenberg told LiveScience.com, adding that a baby girl who is born today and is named Mary says a lot more about that child's parents than such a name would have said 50 years ago. And that is true for all other names, too.
A baby's name tells others the parents' values and tastes and often their dreams and ambitions for their child. "Sociologists love names," Wattenberg told LiveScience.com. "They're practically the only case of a choice with broad fashion patterns that there's no commercial influence on. There's no company out there spending millions to convince you Brayden is a perfect name for your son."
What is most different today than 50 years ago? Parents today tend to believe their baby's name should be a unique signifier that separates them from everyone else. "Names never had to be unique. But today, your name is often the first way and sometimes the only way people know you," Wattenberg said, referring to social networking and easy online communication worldwide. It used to be enough to have a unique name in your neighborhood, such as, being the only one named Mary. Now the neighborhood is much bigger, spanning the globe.
But humans still want to fit in with others. "We all want to be different from each other, but our tastes are still as much alike as they ever were," Wattenberg told LiveScience.com. "So the result is we have a thousand tiny variations on a theme. You get Kayden, Brayden, Hayden, Jayden."
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ReaderComments (Page 5 of 5)
1-15-2011 @ 11:00AM
Patty said...By daughters were born in 1980,1984,1989 and I wanted them to have names that not many other girls would have because I was usually one of many Patty's in my class and I didn't like it. I named them Sharon Ann, Julia Marie and Patricia Ann and even though they weren't unique names thye just weren't the popular names of the time, it worked! No one else had their name. Sharon married Bret and thier first child is Elliette Claire a girl....not my idea!
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1-15-2011 @ 11:02AM
Greg said...I am so tired of hearing all of the names ending in -en, or names of cities/regions such as Memphis and Brooklyn. Young parents try so hard today to be unique with their baby names but they just turn out being cliche.
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1-15-2011 @ 11:05AM
Chiquita said...Where am I from and what would an employer think. That is what parents should think of when naming a child.
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1-17-2011 @ 10:46AM
klyn said...my name is Kerry and I named my daughter Keryn because it was
the first time I had heard that name & thought it was different & cute
that was almost 27 years ago, I also have A son name CHANCE .
Reply
1-15-2011 @ 11:44AM
heather1275 said...My niece is name is Aplonia...my entire family was not thrilled with the choice of my sister and her partner, and we have mispronouncing it before she was even born...so I call her Nia....I do sometimes wonder if she will be teased for her name.
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1-15-2011 @ 12:06PM
marty newsome said...kaylee grace 2 yrs old, and serenity faith 4 months
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1-15-2011 @ 12:07PM
dl said...MY NAME HAS BEEN MISSPELLED AND MISPROUNCED ALL OF MY LIFE~IT'S AWFUL! I NAMED MY KIDS COMMON AND EASY TO SPELL AND PRONOUNCE NAMES ,SO THEY DIDN'T HAVE TO GO THROUGH THIS. PLEASE KEEP THAT IN MIND SO YOUR CHILD DOESN'T HATE THEIR NAME! IT'S EMBARRASSING AND YOU HAVE TO CONSTANTLY CORRECT PEOPLE~ I'M OVER 50 AND STILL HAVE TO DO THIS! I WOULDN'T WISH IT ON ANYBODY.
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1-15-2011 @ 12:22PM
Kay said...I'm a retired teacher. Many students come with unpronounceable names...it's a nightmare! The child WILL be remembered, but not by name, but by "That kid whose name I couldn't pronounce and can't remember."
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1-15-2011 @ 10:42PM
J Beals said...Oh dear me..A teacher who can't pronounce names? Learn, teacher, learn! These people have every right to name their children different and unique names that make them happy. CELEBRATE the child's gift of having parents who care to create a name that is special for them and STOP implying to children by your attitude and inability to deal with it that there is something wrong with THEM. Be happy that your stubborn mind is being challenged by something different. It is not about you remembering a child's name. It is about them feeling whole and wonderful and special. And isnt that part of a teacher's job?? So..how about helping out? I'm white, middle class,old school, and made the realization. So can you!
1-15-2011 @ 12:27PM
tina said...I named my daughter Kalafornia and she loves it! She's almost 16 and loves being unique and original,her personality reflects her name,she is very artistic and doesn't follow the trends,but it is still well liked and admired by her peers.
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1-15-2011 @ 12:47PM
ButtafliKyss said...My one and only son is named Preston Alexander. His dad and I wanted names that wouldn't take 13 years to learn how to spell and say it as well as one that as an adult would not be as difficult to live with. At one point in time his name was common but not so much now. My best friend is having a son as well and is naming him Brody Austin. Which I think is fine and becoming more popular. Whatever floats the boat!
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1-16-2011 @ 8:19PM
CarolinesMommy19 said...My daughters name is very traditional but not common anymore, Caroline. Her middle name is Grace which is very popular. Her name beautiful and we love it! My husband picked it out and at first I was like eww it sounds like an old lady but now I couldnt imagine her being named anything else. My sons name is Collin Matthew. Also a pretty traditional and not very common first name with a very common middle name. I loved the name Collin because of the meaning " victory by the people" My husband was deployed in support of OIF when our son was born so it seemed very fitting. I think its nice to give your kids "normal" but uncommon names. I wouldnt want them to be one of 10 jaydens or abbys in their class!
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1-19-2011 @ 5:13PM
Monty said...First time post ever to a website but had to comment on the names. I teach preschool and three years ago had the following kids in one class: Aiden, Jayden, Braeden, Branden, Brendan, Teaghan and Keegan. Only Keegan was a girl - all the rest were boys. First indication I had that the "en" and "an" ending names were going to be through the roof!
2-04-2011 @ 9:05PM
Cindy said...Well, we named our daughter Emily after her grandmother...I guess that makes us traditional :)
Http://www.baby-samples.org
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2-11-2011 @ 12:59PM
WTF said..."What Baby Names Say About the Parents"
.... Well? what does it say about the parents?
All I read is that people want to be different. How does the title of the article fit the story?
/yawn
Tell us something we didn't know.
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