How do fundies name their kids?

[Rescinded and Mended]

I like the name Rahab - it, along with the name Nurylon (tends to show up in the book of Mormon) are two of my favorite Biblical names.

My friend has a relative who gave one of her children the name that was her original surname. That generation saw mainly daughters born, so she didn't want her family's original surname to be lost.

Gwyneth Paltrow came up in another thread...the actress sometimes gets flack for how she named her kids. I always thought it was more unusual that she chose the Biblical name of Moses for her son than the more unique name of Apple for her daughter. I almost never see celebrities choose Biblical names for their kids.

And isn't there a fundie boy called Heistheway? And his parents pronounce it "Hizetheway" or something like that? Poor kid. :(

[Pretzel]

Oh well, I though Carlin was some weird Anglicisation of a name that I suppose has its origins in French, like Charléne (Shar-lenn) or with English pronunciation Charlene (shar-leen).

I don't think that fundies are doing that bad with names (at least not worse than the average population). Really weird baby names are not the norm even among their folks. Yes, some weird spellings (think the Michael-l-ea-h debacle or Jinger) and some exceptions (think Agape) do occur, but are not the majority. Some may be a little holier-than-thou and may choose more biblical names, others want to go back to Victorian times but over all the names are okay.

The fundie spectrum isn't one dimensional either. Some always have to one-up others, others name their kids with the name they both like to hear (that was Josh Duggar's explanation as to why they chose Mackynzie, it was the name both of them liked to hear and then they got their theme...).

[Yomoaw]

I like the name Rahab - it, along with the name Nurylon (tends to show up in the book of Mormon) are two of my favorite Biblical names.

My friend has a relative who gave one of her children the name that was her original surname. That generation saw mainly daughters born, so she didn't want her family's original surname to be lost.

Gwyneth Paltrow came up in another thread...the actress sometimes gets flack for how she named her kids. I always thought it was more unusual that she chose the Biblical name of Moses for her son than the more unique name of Apple for her daughter. I almost never see celebrities choose Biblical names for their kids.

And isn't there a fundie boy called Heistheway? And his parents pronounce it "Hizetheway" or something like that? Poor kid. :(

Actually, Gwyneth Paltrow has stated that she liked the name Apple because it sounded "wholesome and biblical" to her. Not saying in my opinion it's very biblical, but she found it to be.

[Paperplate]

Hiswayserves? Hadn't heard of that one ... what is that even supposed to mean?

Heistheway is a girl, daughter of Tim and Franicia White. I feel bad for her. :(

[Yomoaw]

Hiswayserves? Hadn't heard of that one ... what is that even supposed to mean?

Heistheway is a girl, daughter of Tim and Franicia White. I feel bad for her. :(

I always feel especially bad for her partly because I can't even think of a nickname to pull from that.

[nelliebelle1197]

I like the name Rahab - it, along with the name Nurylon (tends to show up in the book of Mormon) are two of my favorite Biblical names.

My friend has a relative who gave one of her children the name that was her original surname. That generation saw mainly daughters born, so she didn't want her family's original surname to be lost.

Gwyneth Paltrow came up in another thread...the actress sometimes gets flack for how she named her kids. I always thought it was more unusual that she chose the Biblical name of Moses for her son than the more unique name of Apple for her daughter. I almost never see celebrities choose Biblical names for their kids.

And isn't there a fundie boy called Heistheway? And his parents pronounce it "Hizetheway" or something like that? Poor kid. :(

Wait, I messed that up in my previous post :embarrassed: :D

[nelliebelle1197]

Hiswayserves? Hadn't heard of that one ... what is that even supposed to mean?

Heistheway is a girl, daughter of Tim and Franicia White. I feel bad for her. :(

That was me posting while trying to get two kids dressed and me out the house

[ariel9]

I always think of George Carlin when I hear Carlon. I think fundies go with family/historical names but as time goes on they wing it.

[Wenny]

I wanted Faith or Mercy but the husband veto it.

[moodygirl86]

Kreativly and embarrassingly.

[JemimaPuddle-Duck]

Among my friends, naming styles vary greatly. Our closest friends are the only family we know who uses strictly Biblical names (though not all are common, one is a girl with a male Bible name), and they are probably the least Fundie of all our friends. One family is very particular about the names having meaning or being from people in history. One family has used all family names so far. One has basically all (what I would consider) 80s names, which drives me crazy. And there is a surprising amount of juniors, which neither my husband nor I like. We like unique, but not ridiculous names. Our boys do happen to have surnames as first names because I really love them, and think they sound strong :-)

I agree with everyone who said fundies name their kids like everyone else...and names are certainly a very personal thing ;-)

[16strong]

Laura Munck's kids are all named after family members and family friends, both first and middle names. I know the Maxwells have stated a biblical requirement for their kids' names. I would be interested to hear about some of the Bateses choices, though. Warden? Carlin? Judson?

[Geechee Girl]

I wanted Faith or Mercy but the husband veto it.

One of my instructors is named Mercy. I think it's a lovely sounding name.

[Rescinded and Mended]

I had no idea Paltrow considered Apple to be a Biblical name. Certainly makes sense now in terms of a theme now, at least to her, since she named her son Moses.

I did not know Heistheway was a girl. What do they call the poor lamb for a nickname?

[ViolaSebastian]

I had no idea Paltrow considered Apple to be a Biblical name. Certainly makes sense now in terms of a theme now, at least to her, since she named her son Moses.

I did not know Heistheway was a girl. What do they call the poor lamb for a nickname?

At least VisionOYahweh has the halfway respectable 'Vision' to fall back on. Maybe 'Way-Way' for a nickname?

[16strong]

At least VisionOYahweh has the halfway respectable 'Vision' to fall back on. Maybe 'Way-Way' for a nickname?

Vizzie, maybe? That's better than Way-Way if you don't mind me saying. It's all ridiculous, though.

[ViolaSebastian]

Vizzie, maybe? That's better than Way-Way if you don't mind me saying. It's all ridiculous, though.

I meant for Heistheway. I'm usually good at nicknames, but I've got nothing besides the (admittedly questionable) Way-Way. Maybe Issy?

[Paperplate]

Since they pronounce it Heist-away, the obvious choices would be Hei, Heist, Heisty or Heista ... umm ... not such great choices.

Maybe she's acquired a nickname not related to her first name or something drawn from a mispronunciation of her name by herself when she was a baby or her siblings when they were babies?

I don't get why they would name her something so "Christian" and then deliberately mispronounce it.

[ViolaSebastian]

Since they pronounce it Heist-away, the obvious choices would be Hei, Heist, Heisty or Heista ... umm ... not such great choices.

Maybe she's acquired a nickname not related to her first name or something drawn from a mispronunciation of her name by herself when she was a baby or her siblings when they were babies?

I don't get why they would name her something so "Christian" and then deliberately mispronounce it.

Or they might have gone the old 'terrible first name, call them by their middle name' route that my family seems to enjoy.

[StellaMarie]

Is it possibly aspirational?

Once upon a time, the upper classes gave their children androgynous surnames because those were family names. The mother's maiden name was Porter, so one of the children was named Porter so that the important family name wasn't lost. People of lower socioeconomic status saw that the upper classes were giving their kids surnames, so they started picking random surnames because they sound classy. Maybe to people like the Bates, calling your daughter Carlin or your son Warden sounds classy because giving your kids surnames is what rich people do?

That's a really interesting observation! And, in my experience, the "upper class" -- and by that I really mean people who are high in a social hierarchy -- often still do this. I didn't really make the connection to middle class families following suit, maybe subconsciously.

[Ursula]

Man, I really, really try not to judge parents on choices they make for their children unless the children are being physically, sexually or emotionally harmed but Heistheway? WHY????? That poor little girl. At least a name isn't permanent and she can change it as an adult if she ends up hating it!

As for Carlin Bates, I'm going to choose to believe she was named after George Carlin and nothing will EVER CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE :D :D :D

[JemimaPuddle-Duck]

That's a really interesting observation! And, in my experience, the "upper class" -- and by that I really mean people who are high in a social hierarchy -- often still do this. I didn't really make the connection to middle class families following suit, maybe subconsciously.

I, for one, have never thought of that. I chose surnames because they sound so "solid" and timeless.

[Avalondaughter]

I, for one, have never thought of that. I chose surnames because they sound so "solid" and timeless.

I read an article a while back (and was unable to find it online to link it - sorry) about how names sort of "cycle through" the various social classes. If you break out the 10 most popular baby names by income brackets in a given year, you will see certain names at the top. Give it a few more years and you will see the same names in lower income brackets while those at the top have a new set. (I admit this story stuck with me because I have a burning hatred of giving kids - especially girls-surnames that aren't actual family names).

[GeoBQn]

On Wide World of Snark, we were discussing a couple that lost septuplets. They gave the children names where the first letters formed the acronym "MESSIAH."

[Emme]

Vizzie, maybe? That's better than Way-Way if you don't mind me saying. It's all ridiculous, though.

When you have to debate between Way-Way and Vizzie as nicknames, I feel like no one wins... The old puritan (I think it's puritan, not sure) names were my favorite. Flayfornication was probably the best one I came across.