Sunday, December 30, 2007

The Name Game

There are few things that people get more passionate about than the naming of a child. It seems that everyone has a (conflicting) opinion. That is why Monica and I decided not to tell anyone our preferred names. We figure once the baby is born, no one can tell us how much they hate the name (at least, not to our face).

Of course, we always get questions about our preferred names...so we decided to keep a running list of "fake" names. Obviously, we made these names as awkward as possible so we can see the reaction of our friends. Examples include Sanjaya (of American Idol fame), Anal (seriously, this is a real name), and Cal (go bears). The reaction on some people's faces were hilarious, with only one person really being honest (Ed: "Do NOT name your kid Sanjaya").

To be quite honest, coming up with a name is not an easy task, especially for a boy. We either find that the name is a little TOO Indian (test: can a substitute teacher pronounce it?) or the name has a negative association with people we don't like (thanks Berkeley).

Fortunately, there are plenty of resources out there to help you. The most fun was the Name Voyager where you can see the popularity of names over time. There are also books that have names categorized for your benefit: including Movie Stars (Keanu, Angelina, Humphrey), Hippies (Sky, Echo, Rain), or even States (Nevada, Minnesota, Montana).

We are always willing to take suggestions, so send them our way. Just make sure not to mention them to Ed...

7 comments:

Anita said...

Adesh Chandra has a nice ring to it!

I just got back to the office today and my co-worker Antoine had a baby boy - here in Moz it's tough for ppl to pronounce French names so they went Italian and named the boy Enzo. Just this morning I got an e-mail from Sheryl that they named their puppy Enzo - I guess no matter how hard you try to get your kid's name right there's a dog somewhere with their name....

Unknown said...

you should do a waspy name, like Tiffany Chandra. or even better, do what the east coast people do and use a waspy last name as a first name, like Palmer Chandra. OR EVEN better, don't use other people's last names, just use Deshpande Chandra. definitely passes the substitute teacher test.

Ed said...

I hate Sanjaya...

Unknown said...

I was just looking online at indian/hindi names and for boys it listed Elvis (meaning "all wise"). You guys should TOTALLY go for it! Elvis Chandra.....it's got a ring to it! ha ha!

shobham said...

this should help in the exercise !
also decide if u want historical, devotional, digital, or original. I will send u another list. meanwhile go thru this ! it was a forward to me and now u NEED this ! ..

Naming A Child In UP-India..!
A guy from Uttar Pradesh (UP-India) was away from his family for about 4 years while his wife was in Jaunpur (JP).
At the end of 4 years he distributed sweets to his colleagues in office stating that his wife had delivered a son...
His colleagues were quite shocked and they asked how this happy event happened when he had not seen his wife for four years...
The man said it is common in UP that neighbours take care of the wife (good Samaritans) when men are away.
The colleagues asked him, what name will you give to the son?
The man explained,
If its the second neighbour who has taken care, then the name would be DWIVEDI;
If it is the third neighbour then it would be TRIVEDI,
If it is the fourth neighbour then it would be CHATURVEDI;
If its the fifth neighbour then it would be PANDEY...
After listening to this, another questions followed.
What if it is a mixture of neighbours?
Then the boy would be named MISHRA...
And what if the wife is too shy to tell the name of the neighbour?
Then it would be SHARMA...
But what if she refuses to divulge the name of the neighbour?
Then the name of the child would be GUPTA...
If she does not remember the name then?
It is YAAD-AV...
But who knows whether the child resulted from a rape?
Then it will be named DOSHI...
Finally, if the child happened because of wife's burning desire for sex,?
Then he will be named JOSHI...
And if the whole country had made efforts for the happy
arrival?....DESHPANDEY!!
shobha Mosi

Unknown said...

I really like Sanjaya. or Nikhil and he can go by Nick!

Unknown said...

I love it! Dan and I keep telling people that we're naming our future children Shithead, Chachagua, and Mustafapasha...