Baby names

[UffishThought]

I also found an Electra born in 1934. Futuristic!

[Katya]

I recently rediscovered my baby names book and have been flipping through it (much to Marduk's dismay, I am reading names aloud as I do so). For girls: Arabesque, Teal, Charisma, Gary, Lake, Explorer... it goes on. My personal favorite is Messiah. Yes, that's apparently a girl's name.

And those were only the names that the writers of the book liked! There were plenty of other names that were included in the book, but with disclaimers. (For example, they say if you want to name your child America then give it as a middle name.)

I know a Teal and an America.

[Sparklebreeze]

I know someone named Liberty Bell.

[Fredjikrang]

Sometimes I wish that my last name was "Time." There are just so many possibilities! Justin, Inthugh Nikov, and so many more!

[Portia]

I hate gimmicky names. I very seriously dated a guy whose last name would have made my full name the cheesiest thing ever, so I would have naturally refused to change. No Candy Canes or Justin Cases for me!

[Marduk]

I suppose it is worth noting that barring extreme circumstances, I am the only person with my exact name in the world. For all those uniqueness haters out there, I think that's kinda cool.

[Katya]

I suppose it is worth noting that barring extreme circumstances, I am the only person with my exact name in the world.

At least until Marduk, Jr. comes along.

[Dead Cat]

I also found an Electra born in 1934. Futuristic!

Except that it's actually a really old name.

On a side note, I think there needs to be more kids with names from Greek mythology. I understand not naming your kid Polyphemus, but there should be more kids named Athena, Hermes, Andromeda, and the like.

[Imogen]

I know an America who is a Mexican immigrant. And the actress, of course.

I like place names: Paris, Brooklyn, India. I think they're a lot of fun.

Greek mythology names seem like they'd come with a LOT of pressure (Athena needing to make good grades, Atlas having to be strong, etc).

I'm one of only four people in the country with my last name: me, my dad, my step-mom, and my baby sister.

[yayfulness]

I hate gimmicky names. I very seriously dated a guy whose last name would have made my full name the cheesiest thing ever, so I would have naturally refused to change. No Candy Canes or Justin Cases for me!

My mom once met a married woman named Phyllis Steen.

[Portia]

I suppose it is worth noting that barring extreme circumstances, I am the only person with my exact name in the world.

At least until Marduk, Jr. comes along.

This got me thinking about name changes when your ethnic heritage doesn't match your spouse's. If bob married Marduk, her current last name reflects her Anglo self better than his name. (Oh, I knows things.) Although to be honest, Marduk's last name sounds vaguely Italian to me. I can't really imagine becoming Portia of Belmont-Chen or something, no matter how much I liked a putative Asian husband.

[Katya]

I suppose it is worth noting that barring extreme circumstances, I am the only person with my exact name in the world.

At least until Marduk, Jr. comes along.

This got me thinking about name changes when your ethnic heritage doesn't match your spouse's. If bob married Marduk, her current last name reflects her Anglo self better than his name.

Marduk's surname is English (but I agree that it doesn't sound like it).

[Marduk]

If it helps, Portia, part of the reason it is unique is because it used to have an 'e' on the end, but my great-great-grandfather dropped it, for no apparent reason whatsoever. So pretty much anyone with it spelled that way is going to be related to me.

[Marduk]

Marduk's surname is English (but I agree that it doesn't sound like it).

HOW DO YOU KNOW THESE THINGS!?

[Fredjikrang]

Facebook?

[Katya]

Marduk's surname is English (but I agree that it doesn't sound like it).

HOW DO YOU KNOW THESE THINGS!?

A Google search on [Marduk's surname] and the word surname, which gives me hits from websites such houseofnames.com and surnamedb.com:

Recorded in various spellings as shown below, this interesting surname is of English origin.

[Marduk]

Google you have bested me for the last time!

Hrmm, that's interesting.... It has recordings of my particular spelling in 1700.... Yet, I've never seen anyone who isn't related to me with that spelling. The 'e' on the end, which is WAY more popular, doesn't even show up.

[Katya]

Google you have bested me for the last time!

Hrmm, that's interesting.... It has recordings of my particular spelling in 1700.... Yet, I've never seen anyone who isn't related to me with that spelling. The 'e' on the end, which is WAY more popular, doesn't even show up.

Hmm. Maybe do a search on FamilySearch (with the "exact spelling" option turned on) to see what the distribution is in various times and places?

[Portia]

It's also interesting that you and Bob share names with "missing" letters.

[Yarjka]

I appreciate GA's dibsing rules in the related question #68028. If only everyone respected such things (I once had some friends argue over shotgun in the library when we decided to leave and it confused me to no end how they thought that was allowed).

Personally, I think that if your favorite name is one that your brother or sister is likely to choose, then it probably wasn't a very good name choice to begin with. Keep your ideas for names to yourself, and if someone uses it before you, that's probably a sign you should choose a different name.