Names are important - for a lot of reasons. I had a professor in graduate school who said that something doesn't exist if it doesn't have a name. That makes sense to me. I know that I really like it when someone remembers my name and uses it. I make every effort possible to remember a person's name at least by the second time I meet them (and I make an even greater effort to actually remember meeting them the first time...how can you be introduced to a person 5 or 6 times and have no memory of even one of them?....but that's another pet peeve...). I happen to be a person with a common name. My parents swear that they did not personally know any Stephanies when they named me, but somehow I guess the popularity of it grew very quickly around the time that I was born. In my pledge class at Baylor, there were 5 of us. 5 out of about 40 girls. That's a lot. That's why most people who knew me at Baylor call me StephCox. I was never fond of that nickname, but it stuck because there was no other way to know who they were talking to or about without it.
Being someone who shares her name with a few of her friends, I understand the temptation to come up with something "unique." Some parents go to extreme lengths to ensure that their child does not end up like me with many same-named peers. I am not sure that this is more evident than when you work with young children (many babies) every day. I guess as time goes on, more and more names become common and parents feel the need to get really creative. I have seen quite a few unusual names here. There are some I would not even attempt to pronounce on my own, so I have had to devise a clever way of asking the parents how to say the name without actually saying, "Your kid's name is so weird, or you have chosen the most outrageous spelling for [insert incredibly common name here] that I have ever seen, and I am afraid to try to pronounce it for fear of hurting your feelings or having you rudely correct me as if I am the one that needs to learn to spell." So now as they walk in the door I simply ask who this patient is, as if I have no idea that I have just paged them to come to the clinic. This seems like a simple question, but sometimes it backfires and they only tell me the child's last name. Then I have to think on my feet and often end up having to ask how to say their first name anyway.
Anywho, I am rambling. The reason I wanted to write this post was to share with you my 2 favorite names I have heard so far. The first one I heard was a child with the name Lovemiracle. All one word and when the mother was asked how to say it, she acted like that might be the dumbest question she had ever heard. Here's the worst part - this was a boy. Poor thing, I hope he's really athletic and scary when he grows up.
My alltime favorite is a girl whose middle name is Dynamite. I wish I could tell you the rest of her name, but I can't because it would be breaking the law. Truly, the whole name together is something to enjoy and I am sad for you that you don't get to hear it.
And that's it for my random name post. I really just wanted to share a little part of my job that makes me giggle. Names are fun. Just don't give your kid a weird one :)
