What's in a name 7th Jan

What’s in a Name?

By Ciara Fitzgerald

I don’t know why, but I have a feeling September and October are high in numbers for birth rates. After us Irish get full up with Christmas cheer and throw ourselves into ‘celebrating’ then we have the anti-climatic (if you pardon the pun) month of January where all our money is gone, it’s freezing cold, so that leaves pretty much nothing else to do, except cuddle up under the duvet and find entertainment indoors! And nine months later……

So begins the silly naming season! Now before I start I am fully open-minded and completely understand the need to up the ante by naming your baby with something original. Naming your baby is a deeply personal decision, with the choice affected by family, cultural and social influences. Parents might choose a name because it describes qualities they want their child to have, is traditional or fashionable. But seriously guy’s, you have to remember, this baby, who grows into a child, teenager and eventually an adult has to live with whatever name you give him or her, for the rest of their lives.

It seems to be a competition now, as to who can come up with the most ‘out-there’ name. The one nobody else has. After 2000 years on this planet, it’s hard to be original at this stage. But yet I’ve heard some humdingers! Which obviously I’m not going to print here!!

Thankfully, most Irish girls born in the last 5 years have been christened with normal names, that won’t get them torn apart in the school yard, like Siobhan, Niamh, Ashling and Deirdre. The boys have escaped ridicule too; Aidan, Liam, Connor and Declan have been the top 4 popular names as of March this year. However, some poor children have not been so lucky, and face a lifetime of insecurities, traumatic stress related phobia’s and Lord knows what else, all because their parents wanted to be ‘different’!

However when you’re staring at a newborn, all you want is the best for them. I can only imagine the urge to create an identity for your baby, which will elevate them in society as someone extra special, with a name to match. So I don’t want to sound harsh or critical, it’s just you’re name is your stamp! I blame Victoria Beckham.First for taking David away from me, and then naming Romeo! She re-invented the whole naming ritual. Although not the first famous person to inflict an identity crisis on her kids, she certainly sparked the re-birth of crazy names.

 ‘Memphis’ (seriously) a boys name by the way. ‘Savannah’ (I ain't kiddin) that’s a girls name and ‘Trinity’ (you can thank the Matrix for that one! Confirmation time will be fun for this kid!) ‘Bailey’ probably after something to do with the conception just like Posh’s first boy Brooklyn! ‘Serenity’ is another girls name and whoever is named that, my prayers go straight to you, you’re going to need them!

All of the above are Irish children, who will be playing next to little Billy or Jack or Niamh, and who do you think will end up with the bloody nose? I’m betting poor little Serenity; aw I’m lovin’ that name now!! And if we lived in an understanding world, they’d all be great. But we don’t. Perhaps, these new names will start a whole new culture, and the oppressiveness of normal names or what we perceive to be normal will gradually ebb away. I hope so, because when I look at a newborn, it would break my heart to think of a bloody nose just because I named him Zeus and no, I did not make that up! Sadly!