abu dhabi sunshine

life, times...and opinions from Abu Dhabi

Monday, April 10, 2006

what's in a name

So Gwyneth Paltrow and Chris Martin now have a baby boy, and the jokes about their second child's name have been rampant, considering they called their first-born Apple. Now, they've gone and named the little innocent boy Moses.

Why God why? I know they're celebrities and they think they're allowed to commit such crimes, but do parents not think of the consequences a child's name can have on their lives?

Apple?! And Moses?! Judging from what Apple looks like now, both of them are going to look absolutely adorable. But I will pray for those kids once they hit the school yard.


I hated my name for a long time; especially considering that when I was born, my parents took a whole month before they could settle on a name. So you'd think that my name would be outta this world, but it's not. My name also begins with an R, and I have a very slight problem properly pronouncing Rs.

Strange, considering I speak French and that I can perfectly roll my Rs then, but in English or Arabic, my Rs come out a little W-ed. I like my name now; I'm not in love with it, but it's ok.

Anyway, all this to say is that I'm going to run my future children's names through every language I know, and every language my friends know that I don't know, just to make sure that it doesn't mean anything offensive or ridiculous in another language. I will also try to refrain from giving my child a name that begins with an S, because the kid could turn out to have a lisp. Seriously, I know a girl who has a very strong lisp, and unfortunately, her name starts with an S. I want to crack up everytime she introduces herself to someone, and I think I do.

I just wouldn't want my kids to be teased about their names. I know it seems like I've thought long and hard about my kids' names, but really, I haven't. I barely want children, but if I were to have any, it would just make sense to ensure that they have a tease-free future if I can help it, at least with regards to their names.

8 Comments:

At 9:43 AM, Blogger Jayne said...

Colour is much better hon!
My name is Jayne, with a bloody Y & throughout my life I've corrected just about EVERYONE who's written it down in front of me. It's highly irritating for a name that is incredibly plain.......which even tho' I say so myself, I am not! Chikkin's name is Lilly Mai, which we all think is beautiful, just like her naturally, but I'm sure she's gonna be correcting everyone on the 'Mai' bit when she grows up.
*sigh*

 
At 4:29 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Good job with the blog "ménage du printemps" I like it!

I had trouble with my name too... I could go on about what bad things it rhymes with! I started liking it much later in life when I realised it wasn't such a bad one and that it was quite unique in my generation and area/province.

I certainly do think though, that kids will be bugged about their names no matter what, especially if it is not a commonly heard name of that time and area. In my little school days, the only girls who didn't get bugged about their names were all the Isabelles and Catherines. We couldn't! they could've gang up on us, there were so many of them!

Note: I personnally don't like Moses either.

 
At 9:11 PM, Blogger BuJ said...

it's crap to call even your enemy an apple! moses is kinda ok, but to call someone a fruit must be quite a fruitcake themselves..

 
At 10:01 PM, Blogger Dubai Sunshine said...

Apple is great compared to Moses...I really didn't think they could surpass themselves after Apple, but they sure did with this one....

Now, which do you like best? Moses or Lourdes?

 
At 10:48 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ah names... They end up growing on you, especially if the bearer is a nice person. And names are very subjective: I could find a name horrible that the next person would love.

My best example - VALERIE - my appologies to all Valéries I might offend... My grandma had a dog named Valérie (a really nice Weimariner). She therefore ruined a perfectly good name - It's become a dog's name to me. I can't name a child Valérie, all my siblings, aunts and uncles would recall Valérie the dog!

Moses, Lourdes - pfft! - They're both ok in the end. Funily, they're quite common names no? It just depends where and when!

 
At 10:58 PM, Blogger sky said...

Hahah chazoo, you're right, Valerie is a perfectly nice name. But yeah, after a family dog's had that name, it would be tough to like it.

I dunno about Lourdes. Imagine what reactions she would get from the French (lourde meaning 'heavy'), especially if she turned out to have some good meat on her body..:)

So it turns out Moses was named after a song Chris Martin wrote, called Moses, about how much he loves Gwyneth. The lyric goes "like Moses has power over sea, so you've got power over me."

Very cute and romantic, but come on, Moses is such a hard name to carry.

Welcome BuJ, and Apple is definitely a 'fruitcake' name, but I think the parents are a little fruity. I love Chris Martin and his band, but he and Gwyneth seem a little spaced out to me.

 
At 11:01 PM, Blogger sky said...

Shruti, I can sympathise with people mispronouncing your name, it's so annoying!

Jin, I like that Jayne is spelled with a Y, it's different! And I've certainly never seen it spelled that way. I'll make sure to spell it properly if I have to one day :)

And Lilly Mai is a gorgeous name! Love it!

 
At 2:46 PM, Blogger BuJ said...

thanks sky... interesting blog!

 

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