What Parents Overlook When Naming Their Baby- October 21, 2014
Like all new(ish) mothers I’m asked why I named my children what I named them or how I decided on their names. Where do I even start?! I can admit now that I worried way too much about a list of things when it came to naming my first child. Ultimately, I think you just need to name your child the name you like the best. End of story.
Okay, that’s not really the end of the story. There would not be blogs, websites and gagillion books devoted to naming babies if that were the end. While naming your child your favorite name is important, there is one thing I think parents often don’t think about. I asked myself the same question with both children’s names.
How is her/his name going to look on a resume?
I think a huge mistake parents make, is that they name a baby. You are not naming a baby. Yes, you make their name official when you sign papers in the maternity ward, but you are not naming a baby. You are naming a person. The name you choose will be with them forever, or until they legally change it as an adult.
I recently heard about a couple who named their daughter “Daisy.” It’s her legal first name. That is lovely and adorable. I’m sure the name has great meaning for the family, but I cringed at the thought of it on the top of a resume. The name Daisy will be precious until she’s about 5-years-old. After that, she’ll spend the rest of her life defending or explaining why her parents named her Daisy. Is that judgmental of me to say? Probably. Is it true? Probably.
Imagine you are the Dean of Admissions at a law school and you get Daisy’s resume and application. Would you take her seriously? You might because you are kind and non-judgmental, but many people are not. Would you hire Daisy as your attorney? She better be one hell of a lawyer. I worry Daisy will have to work extra hard to prove herself so the professional world can get past her cutesy name. What about Katherine? Yeah, I’d take Katherine more seriously upon first impression, too. Makes you wonder why the parents didn’t name her something like Katherine and just call her Daisy among the family. For example, my Dad’s name is “Mack” but everyone in our family calls him “Buddy.” That’s not to say Buddy’s don’t make it in the corporate world, but my Dad never used Buddy professionally.
I hear you, “But, in 30 years our world will be run by all the cute little Rylee’s and their names won’t seem young or childish. They will look fine on a resume!” Yeah, maybe. I hope so. I hope I’m totally wrong and Daisy’s resume is only judged by her outstanding qualifications. (For the record, Rylee is a great name. I just use it as an example because its spike in popularity did not seem to happen until the last 10 years or so and the only people I know named Rylee or Riley are young.)
In my 6th grade diary I wrote out my favorite names in print and cursive, imagining what I’d name my children one day. As a pregnant woman I did the same thing for my real babies. I took it a step further. I typed them out. I wanted to see them in black and white and in Times New Roman, just to make sure. I just wanted to make sure that someday an employer wouldn’t rule them out or prejudge them because of the name we had given them.
I figure it’s the least we can do to increase hireabililty. Now we’re starting the hard part, raising kids that are smart enough to know that “hireability” isn’t really a word so one day they’ll be employed.
What do you think? Did you think of a resume when you named your kids? “Daisy’s” of the world, what do you think? Am I right? Do you wish your name was less cute and more professional sounding?
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You bring an interesting perspective to the baby-naming process, but it’s nothing more than that….merely a perspective. Names are relevant. How they are viewed and the image that they conjure in one’s mind is different to each person. Example….where you think a name like Daisy is “soft and unintimidating,” others might associate it with “honesty and integrity.” Same goes for all names. What about Charlotte and Henry? Nice names, but to some they sound antiquated. Almost like an elderly people’s names. One could argue that those names are our grandparent’s names, not the names of the next generation, which on a resume, an employer could easily easily think that they are older than what they are, or at.the very least, irrelevant. You were right the first time. Name your children the names that you like, because what you find interesting in a name, others may not feel the same.
Great thoughts! Totally. Names are relevant. I absolutely thought about that when I picked their “older” names. Hopefully that won’t hinder them in the job market in 30 years. Who knows? Thanks!
Let me preface this by saying my daughter’s name is not Daisy, but it is Rose. Along the same lines I guess. The Daisys and Roses of the world would like to ask the Amys of the world if your name has ever hindered you. Amy, although a nice enough name, is incredibly common. Very run-of-the-mill. Do you think employers have ever overlooked you due to your ordinary name? Were you ever at a disadvantage because of it? Food for thought.
Hey Laura! Great questions. I certainly hope an employer never overlooked me because of my name. If they did, I am not aware of it. I think the “Amy’s” “Jennifer’s” and “Heather’s” that crowded my classrooms growing up often had to differentiate themselves from others with uber-common names. But hinder? I don’t think so. “Rose” is a lovely name.
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Picking names was one of my favorite parts of pregnancy! We definitely thought about how the names would sound for an adult, what their initials would be, etc. Our original rules were: common but not too popular, can’t be easily shortened/nicknamed (like William becoming Will/Bill/etc) and doesn’t rhyme with anything silly. And with the second and third kids, they couldn’t have names that started with the same letter as anyone else. I also have an OCD-esque love of words with multiples of 3 letters. We ended up with all three kids having 6 letter names – Travis, Justin, Rachel. So far the only issues we’ve run into are with Justin’s name – a little girl in his pre-K class calls him “Justin Beiber” and he is now one of two Justin’s in class.
Me too! I love picking names! I agree with all of your criteria. Sorry Justin is being compared to the Beibs.
I completely agree. Give your child a name they can use no matter who they decide to become, don’t try to pin an identity on them at birth.
Thank you! Well said!
A name is a name— and just that! It does determine how successful or lack thereof, they will be! It is a name! I live my life, every minute of my life, introducing myself as Hilary and people say, like Hillary Clinton? Yep, but I am NOT that, I am Hilary Davis Vanderveen! I spend all my hours and days being who I am, who I want to be and who I strive to be! Nothing more, nothing less. My name is just my way to identify myself, my “tag”, not who I am or how I am defined!
With that being said, I value all names and I spent a great deal of time naming my kids (well one— one was already determined based on family history) and the very first time I “slipped” her name (Hollin) before she was born, the friend responded with “Like Hauling A**”. I don’t care or did I change it? NO WAY! She is powerful, and she is strong and she is NOT hauling a**!!! She is rocking it! Because her name is unique and powerful! And BTW will look awesome on her resume! No matter what the resume is for someday!
I am proud of you Amy in all that you say and all that you do! AND I LOVE YOUR MUNCHKINS NAMES because they are my precious niece and nephew! XOXOX
There is a great passage in Caroline B. Cooney’s book “Face on the milk carton” or “Whatever happened to Janie” in which the main character, Jane, remembers how obsessively she wanted to name her future babies Denim and Lace. It’s awesome. This post reminded me of it
I also attempted to casually change my name in second grade. Glad my mom shut that down. I think parents should be more thoughtful about naming their babies, and that goes for celebrity parents who feel it is acceptable to name their kids after car parts, weapons, or worse, just name them directions.
Directions! Ha! “North West” Totally.
I think you make a great point: You are naming a person, not a baby. ‘Nuff said.
Thanks! Totally.
Maybe some of these “unworthy resume names” (for lack of a better term) are actually nicknames or shorter names for “resume worthy names.” For example, Daisy is actually a nickname for Margaret. Many don’t know this, but it’s true! Perfect scenario there…Daisy is adorable for a little girl and she could grow into the name Margaret.
My husband and I named our daughter Lily. We are not some wild hippie flower children; we are both well-educated (accountants) and I intend to raise my daughter to be the same. We chose the name because it felt right. In retrospect, I’m happy that we didn’t overanalyze it. After all, we are raising OUR daughter, not SOMEONE else’s employee. I certainly hope that nobody would name their child based on what they *think* someone 20 years down the road will like instead of what they KNOW they like now. I hope the world won’t not take her seriously because she has a lovely name. If someone prejudges someome based on his/her name instead of the qualifications, then that doesn’t sound like an employer I’d want her to work for. Talk about unreasonable! Besides, who is to say what name hiring managers like. Interesting blog topic though! Who knew it would be so controversial LOL!
Hey Colleen! Thanks for reading. I don’t think Lily is a hippie name at all. You make a great point, “In retrospect, I’m happy that we didn’t overanalyze it. After all, we are raising OUR daughter, not SOMEONE else’s employee.” Well said! Thanks for showing me another point of view.
I can see the argument that you need to name them for the future, but I don’t think that means you have to choose a “classic” name if that’s not something you are in to. We named our little man something unique but we gave him a good, strong, timeless middle name. If at some point in his life he decides his first name is not professional enough he can go by his middle name.
Good point! I should have added that. Middle names are always a good option. Thanks for reading!
Unique names don’t bother me. Youniquely spelled names do.