The name game among newborns is getting out of control. I've heard of consulting a baby name dictionary when new parents are stumped on names, but modern media marketing has not only made those dictionaries obsolete, they make for some embarassing conversation starters.
Today's business section in the paper showed where parents are using the equivilent of naming rights for stadiums and public buildings to name their offspring. According to the article, found on freep.com there are 17 boys named "Dodge", 13 boys named "Polo" and 56 girls named "Camry". Through ads and what we see around us, we know what those names imply.
Two years ago I heard on ESPN where some newborns were actually named "Espn", but I thought that was a passing phase. But here we are, preparing a new generation with names that will be teased about throughout the school years. Check this out:
Five named "Gator" and "Guinness". Five girls named "Forum". Ten boys are named after a famous spring water, but so are 15 girls. Sixty girls named "Passion" (oh, think how happy the gentleman's clubs will be). Fifteen girls named "Champagne", and nine named "Spirit".
The list goes on and on, but you get the picture.
About a year ago, I wrote in my not-yet-online website about how crazy the business world is to be selling naming rights to stadiums. This practice has become widespread and is the worst offender during all those college bowl games, which I won't get into besides this: Is an original name that hard to find?
I had a boy and girl in my kindergarten class named "Tracy" and that brought a lot of teasing to the room. And to think "Tracy" is actually a name handed down through generations. But is it used now? I would think not, with the likes of "Disney" becoming the names of five newborn girls.
Are the baby name books being buried on the shelf in place of Cosmopolitan, The Star, or Sports Illustrated? I thought naming a newborn required a lot of thought, because throughout life, that's who you would be. It took my parents two days to come up with my name, and at one point "Kevin" was the most popular boys' name for several years running.
This is proof positive that advertising has run amok, and speaks volumes about the short attention span society has today. See a bunch of flash on TV or in the newspaper, and gee: How about calling our little munchkin that?
They say childhood teasing fades as you grow into adulthood. Well, every theory can be disproven, I guess. Safe to say I wouldn't be caught with a baby girl named "Harley"... unless it had two wheels and shiny chrome.
