The dangers of naming your baby
According to the author of The Name Game and The Babyname Report Card, Albert Mehrabian, the more unusual your name is, the harder you will find it to adjust in the future.
“Irrespective of whether we are aware of it, wish it or not, our names make statements about us to others,” he states.
What Mehrabian suggests for parents going through the process of naming their baby, is to see the name as something that your child has to carry with her for the rest of her life. He adds: “This appendage (the name) can make a distinct pattern of positive-negative impressions on others if you mistakenly select a name that has an undesirable impression.”
What he is referring to, are parents who name their babies on a whim or a passing craze. This can mean lengthening or shortening an existing name to make it more ‘unique’, making up a name entirely, or following celebrity crazes such as calling your daughter Apple (Gwyneth Paltrow). Mehrabian adds: “There is evidence to suggest that children with made up names don’t do well at school, they don’t do so well psychologically, don’t settle in.”
In short (and brutally), you should consider your child as a brand that you have to name. What do you expect from your child? All parents want their children to be successful but this doesn’t mean we should call them the most outlandish name we can think of purely to help them stand out. Equally, calling your child a name like John can work in the same way – because it can be seen as dull or conventional.
Think about the future. Do you want Allyianna to correct her teacher every time her name is mispronounced or misspelled? Also, Happy might be sweet for a toddler, but will the jury take her seriously should she become a lawyer one day? "People are not thinking about 25 years from now," Mr. Mehrabian says.
So, the rules are clear. Think to the future. Imagine the CV arriving on an employer’s desk and what they will think about your child. How seriously will they take Harley compared to William. Are they more likely to see Scarlet over Anne? Of course go with the name you love; just think very carefully about it first.
See our article, the do’s and don’ts of babynaming and Naming your baby for more help.
See our babynamer for inspiration when making your babyname shortlist and don't forget you can search for cool, classic, celebrity and geeky names for more ideas...
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