In a troubled time where people (frequently notable celebrities) find it acceptable to name their children Apple, Blanket, or Pilot Inspektor, let’s take a moment to review what goes into creating-or simply borrowing-a name. It interests me to consider that the English language, providing via sheer vernacular volume more vocabularistic opportunities than any other terrestrial language, is accompanied by a name popularity contest, with every year seeing a new “unique” name rise dramatically to the top of the baby-naming charts. Think McKenzie, Brayden, Sophia, Grayson, and all the wonderful alternate spellings associated with said names.
As the bearer of a triune of seemingly disparate names-Chani (demonstrably a Punjabi name for males and females, but technically acquired because my parents are into sci-fi), Jo (presumably a Southern moniker affixed to my first name, but actually named for my father, Joseph), and Hodonsky (you have to scroll down a bit, but if you do, you’ll discover that I’m not Polish!)-I am often fascinated by the names people choose. Car (or hard drive, iPod, etc.) names, pet names, superhero names: anything onomastically meaningful usually catches my eye (or ear, as it were).
So if you could name someone or something (appliances, pets, and people [sobriquets only, please... if you want to name a baby, there are a bazillion other websites out there to talk about it] are all appropriate in this forum) whatever you wanted, what would you choose? Would you try to find an aesthetically pleasing combination of your favorite phonemes? Are you so sick of people getting your own name wrong that you’d prefer to go the George Foreman route and name everything in your life the same thing? Would you be willing to eternally associate one of your favorite words with a pet or musical instrument, given the possibility that it wouldn’t work out? Are you one of those people that adds a bizarre pronunciation to a previously quotidian term to “make it your own”?
My favorite thing to do is create portmanteau words and use them wherever I can, especially with people super familiar with the term, say, an office term or something. I’m also really good at creating and setting nicknames.
I named my iPod “Buckminsterfullerene”, a decision that has served me quite well thus far.
I named my Zune “Blue Sock Frank”, but that’s because I had one blue sock on and was eating a hot dog when I was installing the software.
It’s even crazier in China. Last year there were several children named “Olympic Games.”
@gedaly: I can’t tell if this is a hilarious joke or a serious fact. I’m hoping for the former.
As a matter of fact, it’s the latter. The Chinese are fans of giving children nationalistic names, as this short BBC piece will tell you: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7448363.stm?ap=11y72