The World Beyond BetterMost > Anything Goes
Top 100 baby names 2005 (in U.S.)
MaineWriter:
I know that there are a number of countries that have laws about what you can name your children and have approved lists of names.
I read an essay (which I could not find, sorry!) about men's names that have become women's names (Ashley, is a good example, and my name, Leslie, to a lesser degree). Once a name has "crossed over" from being a man's name to a woman's name, very few, if any, have "crossed back." A few have become unisex (Robin, Kim). "Losing" men's names is a problem since there are many more options for women's names than men.
The baby name voyager (link posted earlier) is a good way to see the history of names and how they have changed.
Leslie
moremojo:
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on October 19, 2006, 11:59:59 am ---In some of my history reading, I seem to remember coming across some aristocratic 17th-century Frenchman who had "Anne" as part of their names.
--- End quote ---
Jeff, I found the following examples, one of whom (the second Duc de Noailles) might be your man (so to speak ;D):
Anne, duc de Montmorency (1493-1567)
Anne, duc de Joyeuse (1561-1587)
Anne, 1ere duc de Noailles (d. 1678)
Anne-Jules, 2 duc de Noailles (1650-1708), son of the preceding, and marechal de France
Jeff Wrangler:
--- Quote from: moremojo on October 19, 2006, 12:15:30 pm ---Jeff, I found the following examples, one of whom (the second Duc de Noailles) might be your man (so to speak ;D):
Anne, duc de Montmorency (1493-1567)
Anne, duc de Joyeuse (1561-1587)
Anne, 1ere duc de Noailles (d. 1678)
Anne-Jules, 2 duc de Noailles (1650-1708), son of the preceding, and marechal de France
--- End quote ---
Thanks, Scott. Montmorency sounds familiar (might have been a Huguenot leader, or maybe he had something to do with the Catholic-Protestant conflict in the the 16th century). The two ducs de Noailles sound familiar, too.
Penthesilea:
--- Quote from: moremojo on October 19, 2006, 11:45:38 am ---You mean there's actually a law addressing this matter?
--- End quote ---
--- Quote from: Jeff Wrangler on October 19, 2006, 11:59:59 am ---
Penthe, I'm curious. Is that "not allowed" by law or just by custom?
--- End quote ---
Yes and No. Legislation is not only adressed in laws, but also in guidelines, directives, administrative fiats, and so on. Sorry, I lack the correct juridical vocabulary here. Lets just call it guidelines, but in fact it has the same effects like a law.
Those guidelines say first names must:
- be recognizable as a first name
- be clearly female or male
- be given within a month after birth
First names must not:
- damage the well-being of the child
- be a name of a location (eg city, town, whatever)
- be a last name (with exception of established names)
- be a brand name (eg Ford, Chrysler)
First names can not be given a copyright.
Problem is the lack of clear definitions: what name damages the well-being of a child? A couple of years ago there was a prominent case when parents wanted to name their child "Pumuckl". Pumuckl is the name of a popular cartoon figure. Here's a picture of him:
The parents were not allowed to name their child Pumuckl and sued against this decision. But they failed, because the court said, this name would damage the well-being of the child.
On the other side, parents sued succesful and were allowed by court to name their daughter "Wolke", what means cloud.
I didn't want to judge which system is better. For me, American names are sometimes odd. Doesn't mean odd in a bad, disliking way - just in the sense of very unusual.
MaineWriter:
True story:
I had a patient once who wanted to name her baby "Placenta." She heard the word in the delivery room and thought it was "pretty." I talked her out of it.
I had another patient who told me that her baby's name was "Female" (with the emphasis on the middle syllable fee-MA-lay). I asked why and she said, "The nurses in the nursery named her. It's on the card on her crib." We came up with another option for that baby, too.
Leslie
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