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The Odd Names Syndrome
Is it fair to call this an Odd Baby Names Syndrome? Well maybe it is not but what we have seen other the last few years is that more and more people are looking for strange names to give to their children.
When looking at the search patterns for the phrase “odd baby names” I could see that this is a trend that is growing rapidly. The latest figures that I was able to find show that almost 5000 people search for that phrase A DAY. That means that almost 150000 searches are made every single month.
Now I don’t have the stats for how many children that are born in countries that have English as their native tongue but I find that to be A LOT. The funny part is that is doesn’t end there. Then you have phrases like “unique baby names” and “strange baby names” and some people even search for “ugly baby names”. That last one I can’t explain but I can see from the numbers that it is true.
The syndrome
The reason that I like to call the search for odd baby names a syndrome is that I like the word better than the word trend. From the every day magazines, newspapers and TV broadcasts we hear about celebrities that gives their baby strange long names that they will never be able to either pronounce or spell. This often results in them using nicknames instead of their real names.
I you ask me then why not to give them that name from the start. It would be easier for everyone and especially for the child.
The answer to why this syndrome has become so popular can (IMHO) be found in the trend that people want to be unique. Well that is not entirely true because there is also a large group that would do anything to belong to a group but that is another story.
Having a unique name will make you different than most other people and this is what some people find very attractive (it is mostly the parents as the baby doesn’t have a clue). Parents feel that their babies are special (and they are) and some will go the route of giving the special names as well.
The odd baby names cure
Using odd baby names is not something that will disappear any day soon because people are becoming more and more individualized and self focused. I’m not saying that it is a bad thing but would I do say is that I feel sorry for the children that are given names that will hunt the through their early years in kindergarten and pre-school and maybe even in school.
I’m sure that if you went to ask these kids whether they like their strange name or whether they would prefer a more common name I strongly believe that they would choose the latter.
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