Flowers growing on the hill
Dragonflies and daffodils
Learn from us very much
Look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name

/first thing that came to mind

Meh. To each his own. I dig the old school names like Martha, Olivia, Ian, Michael. Other parents like Haden, Braden, Kaden, Phaden and Maden.

I would think that the rise in popularity of Mingus would be more related to Norman Reedus than Helene Christiansen.

As a canadian growing up in the 70s and 80s, this is what I think when I hear the name "Finnegan"

I hate when they give percentages without giving hard numbers.  Interest being up 150% could mean that it's gone from 2 views to 5.

Phaedra Grant - appeared in 48 adult films between 1976 and 1985

Too bad we'll have to wait a few decades for a Freakonomics-style study on the lifelong deleterious affect on a kid from having a stupid or ostentatiously "ethnic" name.

Farking up your kid's life with a dumb name - it's not just for minorities anymore!

This is also a list of names for people I will never vote for in any election. I don't care how much free stuff they offer me.

My 4-year-old daughter has not one, but two kids named Thor in her tumbling class. I actually thought they were just nicknames until I was (very testily) corrected by both mothers.

If you really care that much what someone elses name is you need to get over yourself.

Pants full of macaroni!!: Flowers growing on the hill
Dragonflies and daffodils
Learn from us very much
Look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name

/first thing that came to mind

you listen to too much coast to coast.

/first thing in my head too

Just as long as little Thor's last name isn't Thumb.

/if both parents are from Norway, I can see that one being acceptable
//Mingus is going to go through life being called Dingus...or Minge

Yesterday I ran across a couple that had named their son Alaric.

I know a 44 year old man named "Dragan", and that was the name given to him by his parents.  I have a great aunt who was named Phaedra.
I also knew someone who went by Jim but whose full name was "Gymnasium"

It's weird, but that's far more cerebral than the crap that women pull today where they swap out "c"s for "k"s and use "y" to replace any given vowel.

Women: your child will have to put this name on a job application some day. Name them accordingly.

Gratch: My 4-year-old daughter has not one, but two kids named Thor in her tumbling class. I actually thought they were just nicknames until I was (very testily) corrected by both mothers.

People need to start naming their kids more villain oriented names.  I suggested to a former colleague that her twins should be named tyrant and overlord but she thought this was a bad idea for some reason.

Bondith: Just as long as little Thor's last name isn't Thumb.

/if both parents are from Norway, I can see that one being acceptable
//Mingus is going to go through life being called Dingus...or Minge

I don't care. If they're in America, they got-damn better assimilate their asses.

/THOR? C'mon. farking name your kid Batman bin Suparman while you're at it!

Best friend growing up was named Thor. The name alone got him more top-shelf tail than he deserved...

likefunbutnot: I know a 44 year old man named "Dragan", and that was the name given to him by his parents.

I don't know what his ethnic background is, but Dragan has been a popular Slavic/Eastern European name for decades. And despite how badass it sounds in English, it's real meaning apparently translates as "precious".

We had a kid named "Anal" at my school. He pronounced it "Uh nel."

/He was a very angry child.

/oblig

Marine1: It's weird, but that's far more cerebral than the crap that women pull today where they swap out "c"s for "k"s and use "y" to replace any given vowel.

My cousin's kid is named Ryleigh.
Pronounced "Riley".

I weep for the world when I see things like this.

It's more normal of a name, but it's kind of sad that there's an upspike in the name Christian due to an erotic novel. Are people gonna purposely start giving their children porn star names too? I don't even want to comment on Thor. I almost named my cat Loki, but he's a cat and at least Loki is more thought out than Thor. Kids are not pets.

Not relevant here, but girl came over from Africa with the name shiathead (that's pronounced shiathay-ed), she promptly changed her name.

My kids will get unique names, but not so unique that they're made up, but not so common that there's four others in their class with the same name.

Cubicle Jockey: Marine1: It's weird, but that's far more cerebral than the crap that women pull today where they swap out "c"s for "k"s and use "y" to replace any given vowel.

My cousin's kid is named Ryleigh.
Pronounced "Riley".

oh R'lyeh?

Cubicle Jockey: Marine1: It's weird, but that's far more cerebral than the crap that women pull today where they swap out "c"s for "k"s and use "y" to replace any given vowel.

My cousin's kid is named Raymond Luxury-Yacht.
Pronounced "Throatwobbler Mangrove".
/ftfy

A Phaedra Din

EP out in July

At least Aiden and Jayden have fallen off the list.

I'm okay with the old-school names. Pre-Christianity names in particular are awesome. Just as long as they're actually names and not either a nickname or some mashed-up crap.

anfrind: Yesterday I ran across a couple that had named their son Alaric.

A friend in London once heard a woman call to her son Tiberius.

Teknowaffle: Pants full of macaroni!!: Flowers growing on the hill
Dragonflies and daffodils
Learn from us very much
Look at us but do not touch
Phaedra is my name

/first thing that came to mind

you listen to too much coast to coast.

/first thing in my head too

Mine too but it's because I listen to too much Slowdive

Farnn: I hate when they give percentages without giving hard numbers.  Interest being up 150% could mean that it's gone from 2 views to 5.

Or worse... from 2 to 3 if they don't understand what the difference between a 150% increase and a 150% of the original value.

My kids are named

Finley (Girl, 4)
Piper (Girl, 2)
Everett (Boy, 10 months)

/no one told us where babies come from
//took 3 trials to confirm
///everyone's been fixed and slashies

And how could i forget.

Nelly was my Grandma's name.  Didn't figure that one would ever come back around.

The All-Powerful Atheismo: [i.cdn.turner.com image 400x300]

And I say to myself, I need exact change

SAN66: My kids will get unique names, but not so unique that they're made up, but not so common that there's four others in their class with the same name.

As someone with a name where, literally, my smallest class in high school (13 kids) had three people with the same name... I'd rather have stupidly unique. I would frequently be confused with all the other kids with my name. Letters, assignments, being counted absent or not, being credited for my role in extracurricular activities... didn't matter. Apparently we were all interchangeable.

It's less of a problem now. I think it was an area thing, once I left my name went up the scale a few notches in uniqueness.

/grass is greener, first world problems, etc
//At least people would know how to spell 'Thor'
///No one, not even the school system, ever spelled my name right, either.

stealingisbad: The All-Powerful Atheismo: [i.cdn.turner.com image 400x300]

And I say to myself, I need exact change

A brief but related CSB:

Much like some of the names in TFA, my wife has a name that screams for attention thanks to some hippy parents (lucky for me she fled the commune and became a moderately well-adjusted adult). The name is unique enough that I won't even mention it since I'm fairly certain she's the only one.

Here's my advice; If you ever meet a hot girl and she introduces herself with a double-take name, calmly say hello, shake her hand or whatever, and move on with the conversation. I'm convinced that the only reason I got a first date with the future Mrs. Avonmore is that I didn't make any of the stupid name jokes that everyone else seems to make when they meet her.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gODZzSOelss

This is the future.

I have a run of the mill first name. And middle name. But my last name sucks. If I'd known how much name affects your life I'd have changed it years ago.  Never going to publish or appear under it.

Do you think The Daily Show hosted by Jonathan Leibowitz would be on the air? You might hire that man as your accountant or attorney but not to host your show.

Oh, and my last name is entirely misrepresentative. It screams eastern european while I'm mostly western european and a dash of native american.

Marine1: It's weird, but that's far more cerebral than the crap that women pull today where they swap out "c"s for "k"s and use "y" to replace any given vowel.

Women: your child will have to put this name on a job application some day. Name them accordingly.

The girl in front of me in line at the bank on Thursday: Quartney

Sasquach: Marine1: It's weird, but that's far more cerebral than the crap that women pull today where they swap out "c"s for "k"s and use "y" to replace any given vowel.

Women: your child will have to put this name on a job application some day. Name them accordingly.

The girl in front of me in line at the bank on Thursday: Quartney

I'd choke my mother in her sleep if she named me that.

Seriously, though. When did all of this start? I'm 21 and back in the 90s when I was in elementary school, kids were named Jacob, Christopher, Kyle, John, Amy, Sara, Stephanie, and Elizabeth. Now I'm talking to those same people, now of child bearing age, and they want to name their kids weird crap just because "I want it to be unique."

And by "those same people", I mean the women who are pregnant.

You know, I don't mind most of these so much. There's an actual tie back to history: no syllable-salads, no xtr33m-k00l spellings, and no gratuitous vocabulary. The thought of naming someone after Christian Grey turns my stomach, but there's plausible deniability.