The Seewalds, Part 11: Future Baby Mama

[DaniLouisiana]

I, also, have a "different" name-my dad named me after an Italian author and my middle name is also Italian/Latin. Since I grew up in somewhat French society and midwest-didn't fit well. Now, I love my name but it took a very long time. Spurgeon can use a nickname or his middle name when he hits his majority but he might also grow to love it.

[nausicaa]

1 hour ago, JillyO said:

Meh. Your own freedom ends where you're infringing on another person's rights. By giving your kid a dumbass name, you're not (just) hurting yourself, you're mainly hurting your child. While I don't think there's a perfect solution to the naming question, I don't think a parent has the right to name their child whatever they want. Is it okay to name your kid Hitler? After all, they can change it if they really mind...

Agreed, but then there's the debate about where you begin to infringe on another person's rights. One could argue that naming a baby anything is infringing on their rights since they have no say in it (see the discussion about transgender people and names above). And I do believe kids can and should be able to change their names when they become adults to whatever they'd like.  

Personally, yeah, I think it's selfish and shitty. But I also think feeding your kid junk food constantly, going from SO to SO, and not making sure your kid gets enough sleep and is ready for school each day is shitty parenting. But none of those things are within the government's purview, nor should they be.

(I'll admit this is where my Libertarian leanings show.)

[DaniLouisiana]

@nausicaa, I wish I could double up check your post! Most especially the SO part. Do not introduce your small children to people unless and until its serious.

[Chevreuil]

I try to reserve judgement unless i know the person well enough. My BIL has 6 kids with 5 baby mamas and is in and out of jail for various things (drugs, domestic violence, violating no contact orders) to me, that is bad parenting.

[Carm_88]

My thing personally is that if you give a kid a name like "hashtag" or "twitter" or "tweet" or something so idiotic. I'm not talking about names that are not so great like Spurgeon (yes it's horrible but it's technically a name). There should be something that says if you're being this dumb, someone can say "No." Would I want people to step in and have extremely tight rules, noooo. But there should be something that protects the child from stupid names. Not just ones that you have to explain, I have one of those. It's annoying but not harmful. 

[missegeno]

My thing personally is that if you give a kid a name like "hashtag" or "twitter" or "tweet" or something so idiotic. I'm not talking about names that are not so great like Spurgeon (yes it's horrible but it's technically a name). There should be something that says if you're being this dumb, someone can say "No." Would I want people to step in and have extremely tight rules, noooo. But there should be something that protects the child from stupid names. Not just ones that you have to explain, I have one of those. It's annoying but not harmful. 

So what counts as a stupid name? Where does the line get drawn? I can't see that being enforceable in any way that I'd be comfortable with.

[Carm_88]

2 minutes ago, missegeno said:

So what counts as a stupid name? Where does the line get drawn? I can't see that being enforceable in any way that I'd be comfortable with.

 

YOLO? 4Real? The @ sign? Anus? I'm sure there are more that's what I found on a stupid names list. Something that is either crude or makes no sense? There's a difference between getting an awful name that is still a name and getting an awful name that's a keyboard sign. There's a difference between thinking your name is awful if it's something like Spurgeon and actually having a name that is not truly a name. 

[missegeno]

YOLO? 4Real? The @ sign? Anus? I'm sure there are more that's what I found on a stupid names list. Something that is either crude or makes no sense? There's a difference between getting an awful name that is still a name and getting an awful name that's a keyboard sign. There's a difference between thinking your name is awful if it's something like Spurgeon and actually having a name that is not truly a name. 

I agree that some things shouldn't be names, but I'm asking about where we draw the line. Is there a list of not-names, anything else is good? A list of names, anything else is bad? No nonletter symbols in birth country's language and no body parts? I'm curious how you'd define it for policy.

[SilverBeach]

I never liked my gender neutral name, although it belonged to my aunt. I changed the spelling to feminize it a bit, then met a man with my name and the exact same spelling.

I embrace my name now, but it took a while. You never know how a child will receive their name, so name them what you want and they can change it later if need be. It's not like you can ask the child ahead of time!

 

[Carm_88]

8 minutes ago, missegeno said:

I agree that some things shouldn't be names, but I'm asking about where we draw the line. Is there a list of not-names, anything else is good? A list of names, anything else is bad? No nonletter symbols in birth country's language and no body parts? I'm curious how you'd define it for policy.

 

1. Isn't a body part or bodily function

2. Isn't crude or profane. 

3. Contains letters. 

4. Isn't text speech. 

I think that would be the basics. I wouldn't say out and out ban all things. Names are names but they should be names. 

[nastyhobbitses]

1 hour ago, Carm_88 said:

My thing personally is that if you give a kid a name like "hashtag" or "twitter" or "tweet" or something so idiotic. I'm not talking about names that are not so great like Spurgeon (yes it's horrible but it's technically a name). There should be something that says if you're being this dumb, someone can say "No." Would I want people to step in and have extremely tight rules, noooo. But there should be something that protects the child from stupid names. Not just ones that you have to explain, I have one of those. It's annoying but not harmful. 

My issue is that what could be a "stupid" name in one language or culture could be perfectly normal or distinguished or even totally boring in another, and what's a "stupid" name is so, so subjective. I say that the best we can do is make legal name change procedures easier for people who decide they'd rather not be named Spurgeon or Hashtag (or, ya know, for transgender people who want to make it all official).

[fundiefan]

On a different forum, someone posted a video of Ben. It's not a fundie forum, it's entirely unrelated. But, anyway. 

Is he really, honestly that stupid? I've only seen bits and pieces of him talking and he never struck me as bright. But holy hell, the video was pathetic. It's like he's on drugs. He doesn't open his mouth or enunciate when attempting to speak. His eyes roll back in his head like he's in pain. 

I never thought much of him; he's an unemployed leg humper that passed the Duggar religion test, no job needed. But the video I just watched was stunning in its awfulness. 

What the ever loving hell did Jessa ever see in him and what is wrong with her parents for seeing his as an acceptable donor to their grandchildren's genetics?

I'm trying hard not to be a big meany, but really, he is one stupid boy. 

[candygirl200413]

There was a story of a baby hashtag though!

But I haven't heard exact confirmation of it. I have a unique first name and a english middle name which was suppose to be my first name but my mom lost the name fight. I think I've accepted it more as a young adult but I don't think I'll ever officially like it (the meaning of it is just super literal and I remember learning it when I was younger and being like really guys?!). It just bothered me too because my parents have english names.

[grandmadugger]

38 minutes ago, fundiefan said:

On a different forum, someone posted a video of Ben. It's not a fundie forum, it's entirely unrelated. But, anyway. 

Is he really, honestly that stupid? I've only seen bits and pieces of him talking and he never struck me as bright. But holy hell, the video was pathetic. It's like he's on drugs. He doesn't open his mouth or enunciate when attempting to speak. His eyes roll back in his head like he's in pain. 

I never thought much of him; he's an unemployed leg humper that passed the Duggar religion test, no job needed. But the video I just watched was stunning in its awfulness. 

What the ever loving hell did Jessa ever see in him and what is wrong with her parents for seeing his as an acceptable donor to their grandchildren's genetics?

I'm trying hard not to be a big meany, but really, he is one stupid boy. 

She saw a good looking guy and wanted some. Since marriage is the only way for that to happen she's now stuck with him. As several have pointed out this season of counting on she didn't look head over heels for him. 

[WhyNotJulie]

Can someone send Bin an anonymous tip and ask him - no, BEG him - to never wear the flat-brimmed white hat ever again?

[alba]

My parents gave me a name that's moderately popular in the UK (their home country) but virtually unheard of where I grew up. Oh, but my hometown had a large Serbian population, and Serbian has a very similar boys' name. You guys have no idea how awesome it was to move here and not have to constantly correct people on how they say/spell my name

FTR my name isn't even difficult for Anglophones in general, but it's unfortunately spelled similarly but pronounced differently to a much more popular girls' name (there's an extra syllable and the emphasis is on the first, rather than second, syllable).

Do I think this means my parents shouldn't have been allowed to give me this name? No, but then again it's a name I share with some amazing women; it's not something they pulled out of their arses. But it does make me very, very wary of people giving their children invented names, because, unlike with a name like mine, where Google is available to provide guidance to teachers and job interviewers, there's no way for a stranger to see a name like the aforementioned Xoigh (which is really an invented spelling, not even an invented name) and figure out how it should be pronounced.

[wikinggirl]

17 hours ago, missegeno said:

May I ask what country has these naming laws?

 

I'm not exactly sure, but it sounds a bit like Iceland. 

Hello wikipedia: 

Quote

First names not previously used in Iceland must be approved by the Icelandic Naming Committee  before being used.The criterion for acceptance of names is whether or not they can be easily incorporated into the Icelandic language. With some exceptions, they must contain only letters found in the Icelandic alphabet (including þ and ð), and it must be possible to decline the name according to the language's grammatical case system, which in practice means that a genitive form can be constructed in accordance with Icelandic rules.

Gender-inappropriate names are normally not allowed; however, in January 2013, a 15-year-old girl named Blær (a masculine noun in Icelandic) was allowed to keep this name in a court decision that overruled an initial rejection by the naming committee. Her mother did not realize at the time that Blær was considered masculine; she had read a novel that had an admirable female character named Blær, meaning "light breeze", and had decided that if she had a daughter, she would name her Blær.

 

[nastyhobbitses]

14 hours ago, Carm_88 said:

YOLO? 4Real? The @ sign? Anus? I'm sure there are more that's what I found on a stupid names list. Something that is either crude or makes no sense? There's a difference between getting an awful name that is still a name and getting an awful name that's a keyboard sign. There's a difference between thinking your name is awful if it's something like Spurgeon and actually having a name that is not truly a name. 

With the @ sign, that was a Chinese couple who wanted to use the symbol for their child's name because it's pronounced "ai ta" in Mandarin, which can mean "love him" (爱他). Which, like pretty much any combination of Chinese characters, can be a name. It was rejected because names have to be in Chinese characters.

And as for Anus, in some cultures, it's common to give children "taboo" names either because anatomical references aren't taboo, or because of traditional beliefs that a taboo name would deter evil spirits/illness/misfortune from taking away or killing the child (though the latter tend to be temporary names). And what's taboo is also subjective - in China, you wouldn't name your child directly after a dead relative (though there are "generation names", but that's a different concept), but in Western cultures, that's totally fine. If a white, English-speaking kid was named Jesus, people would think his parents were eccentric or crazy, but a Hispanic kid named Jesús or an Indian kid named Lakshmi wouldn't get a second glance.

[Carm_88]

Can someone send Bin an anonymous tip and ask him - no, BEG him - to never wear the flat-brimmed white hat ever again?

Do you really think he would listen?

[Chevreuil]

6 hours ago, nastyhobbitses said:

With the @ sign, that was a Chinese couple who wanted to use the symbol for their child's name because it's pronounced "ai ta" in Mandarin, which can mean "love him" (爱他). Which, like pretty much any combination of Chinese characters, can be a name. It was rejected because names have to be in Chinese characters.

And as for Anus, in some cultures, it's common to give children "taboo" names either because anatomical references aren't taboo, or because of traditional beliefs that a taboo name would deter evil spirits/illness/misfortune from taking away or killing the child (though the latter tend to be temporary names). And what's taboo is also subjective - in China, you wouldn't name your child directly after a dead relative (though there are "generation names", but that's a different concept), but in Western cultures, that's totally fine. If a white, English-speaking kid was named Jesus, people would think his parents were eccentric or crazy, but a Hispanic kid named Jesús or an Indian kid named Lakshmi wouldn't get a second glance.

Naming practices are so interesting. I live in Quebec but did not grow up here and the way some name is usually something like Joseph (Mary if a girl) Samuel Frederic Lastname, with Frederic being the given name (and traditionally the place of Samuel would go to the godfather/mother). I didnt choose to name my kids this way (choosing firstname middlename lastname) but one of my sons' name is joseph which can cause some confusion and they keep including his middle name on things (a typically masculine name in french but one that sounds feminine in english). 

[nst]

i had a dream last night and Jessa named her daughter Janathynka 

and they would call her Jana 

insane

[Carm_88]

2 hours ago, nst said:

i had a dream last night and Jessa named her daughter Janathynka 

and they would call her Jana 

insane

Not as insane as that child's name may actually be! 

[Sir Puddington]

Spurgeon is an ugly sounding name for sure but it's not bad enough to be an argument toward having a name registry or restrictive naming laws. The state should only step in and help minors to legally change their names in extreme cases where it causes them massive problems. Some examples I agree with: Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii, Adolph Hitler and his sister Victory Pearl Harbor, BRFXXCCXXMNPCCCCLLLMMNPRXVCLMNCKSSQLBB11116 (pronounced Albin), Osama Bin Laden (born post-911), Monkey, and Sex Fruit were all deemed inappropriate and changed. As they should be

Plus, as far as famous radical fundies go, Charles Spurgeon seems to have been a decent human being. If they named their kid Falwell Robertson F*ck Catholics Seewald... well then

 

Are they still doing the Old Testament thing a la Jubilee Shalom? Because if so then Tzipporah would be a good choice to match Spurgeon. Tzippy and Spurge, both sound kinda weird and unfitting for little kids but ooze godliness. Or they could go with Ruth or Leah or Moses. Just saying.

[Melissa1977]

I bet if it's a girl they will pick a normal name.

If it's a boy, they will pick another strange religious name.

 

[ophelia]

9 minutes ago, Melissa1977 said:

I bet if it's a girl they will pick a normal name.

If it's a boy, they will pick another strange religious name.

 

I can totally see them calling a boy Martin Luther since 2017 is the 500th anniversary of the Reformation!