The name game

Mothers 'in charge of baby names'

Researchers found four out of ten fathers are forced to back down and let their partners select the name.

It also emerged the average couple consider 12 names before selecting their favourite, but a quarter do not make their final decision until after the baby is born.

The report, commissioned among 3,000 parents by Bounty Parenting Club, also disclosed that a third of couples fall out over their newborn's name.

Faye Mingo, spokeswoman for Bounty, said: ''The name game is a debate which often lasts the whole nine months of the pregnancy and causes the most upsets as couples fail to agree on the best name for their new born.

''It's understandably one of the hardest decisions mum and dad will ever have to make – largely because we do judge a person by their name before we've even got to know them.

''As well as finding a name both partners like there are still loads of other factors parents have to take into consideration when choosing a name – like nicknames, what they will be called in the playground, how the Christian name will sound against their surname, and so on.

''All things considered it's unsurprising that something as important as choosing a name leads to a lot of heated discussion.''

Source: The Daily Telegraph


Do you like your name? Why/why not?

How do parents normally choose a name for their child?

Do you think that we judge people by their names? If so, give examples.

What names are popular now? What names are old-fashioned?

If you could change your name, which would you choose and why?

Have you got a nickname? What are the typical nicknames that people have?


Also read these previous posts and make comments there:

Comments

Anonymous said…
Hi Graham! It's Inés
I think that choosing the name of your baby must be really difficult. Although I've never been through that, I've had to choose names for my pets, and it was a hard task because my sister and I never agreed.
About my name, I like it because it's not a strange name, but it isn't a common name neither.
I think that parents usually name their first child after them. I know a lot of people that are named after their parents, grandparents or aunts or uncles.
I think that everyone judges people by their names. For example, if someone's called Hermenegildo (which is a really old name), but he's a young boy, people laugh at him, and tend to think that his parents are quite old-fashioned.
Nowadays there are a lot of young girls that are called Paula, Laura, Ana, María, etc. Those names are really popular and common. As for boys the most popular names are Pablo, Javier, Daniel, Diego, etc. I personally don't like those names because they are really common and the same for a lot of people.
Names like Ambrosio, Bernardo, Dionisia, Isidora, Petra or Zoilo are really old-fashioned now. I've just heard them at my village (where there are a lot of old people).
I think I wouldn't change my name, I am happy with it.
People sometimes call me Inesilla or Mine, it sounds more affectionate. Some people have a lot of nicknames, such as Bolo (if they are fat and short), Rubi (if they are blonde), Huevón (if they have a big head), etc.

See you on Wednesday!
Graham said…
Hi Inés,

I think you have a lovely name.

I like my name too though I doubt if many parents name their sons Graham nowadays.