Hi everyone,
My bff called me tonight crying and I thought I'd ask you, on her behalf, for your honest opinion. My girlfriend has two precious boys named Jacob and Aiden. Today she went on people.com and was checking out the baby section. Someone under the comments for Kerri Walsh was talking about naming kids and said "well at least it's not another jacob or aiden, there are enough of them around". She feels (as of today!) that she might have messed up in naming her kids. She was saying that if she calls their names at the park will people think she is so unoriginal or feel bad for her kids. I said no, but I wanted to see what anyone else thought before she starts calling her kids by different names!
Thanks,
R.
Thank you so much to everyone. I did print this out and took it over to show my BF. It put her in a much better space and made her see it through objectives eyes. Thank you so much :)
Speaking from someone who grew up with the name "V.", I can honestly say I would have given anything to have a more common name as a child. I had never even heard of another V. until that crazy chic on that bachelor show :) Name trends come and go and she should love whatever names she gave them; having a common name doesn't make them any less unique.
In 1995 Sarah was number 2 on the girls list and in 1997 Jessica was number 5. I have both a 95 Sarah and a 97 Jessica. I love the names Jacob, my nephew, and Aidan. She has chosen manly names for her boys that will stand the test of time.
Tell her not to worry about it. Kids would rather have common names. If those are the names she loved then those are the right names. My brother had an unusual name and you know what, we don't ever use it. I nick named him when I was 2 and that is the name he goes by till this day. I named my son Daniel, you don't get more common then that. The reason Jacob and Aiden are so popular is because they are great names! Better then Apple or Moon Unit :)
Sure there are people that have named their kids something "unique". Now these poor little babies are walking around with names like Tonka and Tremendous. Google bad baby names and see some of the stuff you come up with. Some documented bad baby names (just so we have a frame of reference when we revisit Jacob and Aiden:
QueenlordaJesus
Defacacion Flores (It means exactly what it sounds like)
Heavenly Hamm
DaRonald McDonald
Coocachoo (like in the Beatles song)
Candilicious ('cause I guess mama wants her to be a stripper)
Taco Bell
Boomshaka
DaDoRunRun (really)
Now lets compare, shall we. Jacob.....DaDoRunRun....hmmmm. Aiden....QueenlordaJesus. Please give me normal. I will take a million normals over 1 Candilicious any day of the week.
Have her do what my mama said to do when I was picking out baby names. Go to the back door and yell it 10 times in a row really loudly. If she isn't sick of it, it's the perfect name.
And have her google bad baby names. Not only will she laugh she'll feel a whole lot better.
L.
as someone who's name is Sara, I have to say your friend is overreacting. Even if a lot of kids are named that (although I personally dont know anyone named Jacob, I do know a couple of Aidens) that doesnt make them any less of good, valid names. Her kids will probably never have a problem with it, even if there are other kids in their class with the same name.
At least she didnt name them Moxy Crimefighter or Pilot Inspector or whatever the hell celebrities are doing to be "original".
Tell your friend not to worry about it. I named my little girl Isabella. I usually don't go for popular names and I didn't realize it was popular when I named her. I am not much into movies and I really am not into the vampire thing. I named my little girl Isabella because it means "devoted to God." I had prayed awful hard for her to come. I had just had two stillbirths and we were terrified this baby wouldn't make it. I know a million littler girls are named Isabella or Bella. It's the top girls name and I don't care. It is so popular that my neighbor lady named her dog Isabella. Still I don't care.
Holy cow! Your friend needs to get a grip. If this is the biggest issue in her life, she's lucky! She's taking the comments of a celebrity seriously and to heart? People are out of work and kids are going to bed hungry at night. She was crying over this? Seriously? Is she 18? Sorry--this just strikes me as out of touch.
Seriously? If the names are that popular, the people at the park are going to be calling their children by the same name. Having a popular name is not that bad...better than an original name that no one can pronounce or spell.
Ok here's my take on it. Are the names Jacob and Aiden popular...YES. But for someone to feel that a mom was "unoriginal," or to "feel bad for her kids," is silly. Tell your friend no, no one will think that. My name is Jennifer, very popular in the 70's and 80's, in every class at school there were at least 2 others with my name....no one thought bad of my mom, or felt sorry for me. In fact both of my brothers have popular names too. LOL.
She picked what she liked, and shouldn't care what anyone else thinks!
No one, at least not me, is going to think how unoriginal or that she named her kids a bad name! I love those names. Children are all unique and have their own special gifts and talents. I would have her focus on what she loves about her kids instead of focusing on their name. Its whats behind the name, that makes the person. Tell her to enjoy! Be thankful so many people love the name-they agree with her and named their own kids those names... :)
Molly
Honestly, as long as she likes the names and as long as her family is happy with them, then who cares what other people think? The true mark of unoriginality is when people are in tears over what they think others MIGHT think of them. Just food for thought.
Really?
Good grief. Why doe she care about one comment? Is she always worried about what other people think?
I have a friend that named her boys what she considered very original names Logan and Keegan. She said in kindergarten there were a ton of Logan's and Keegan's.
She was laughing because she had been given so much grief by her MIL about "those weird names"..
Just tell her not worry about stuff like that. Jacob is a biblical name and Aiden has become popular since Aiden Quinn became a popular actor, but so what? She can call out their whole names or do like the rest of us and come up with a family whistle..
She is going to get upset about something that people that name their children Miller Lite, Apple, jermajesty and pilot inspector say?!
While Jacob and Aiden are super popular, they are also good, solid classic names. I agree with a PP. Sophia and Isabella are the top 2 girl names, but also beautiful, classic old fashioned names as well.
Who cares!! as long as she likes them, when I named my first, no one liked his 2nd name, but I did it anyway, no one uses that name but me, although I do make sure is written complete instead of only initial in all oficial documents.
For my 2nd daughter, I wanted her to be named an Aztec name (we are Mexicans) and everyone was like whoa!! no!, but I'm going to name her that anyway, because I think it is a beautiful name, and it means something really really beautiful (something like the princess who gives life to flowers) so, I dont think she made any mistakes if she likes the names, then she should be happy, I personally think those are beautiful names.
When we were choosing my son's name, and finally decided on it, I was told by the nurses he was the second baby born with that name. That night. Who knew it would be so trendy? But now we are happy to meet other kids with the same name, and it is special to us. My baby's daddy's name is very very common (both his full and nickname), and it is such a nice name. I like it, even though my baby's daddy and I are not together anymore. Jacob and Aiden sound like perfectly good names to me. People are always going to say things about names, but the most important thing is that the name means something to you, and fits your child.
This is about her not her kids. The kids are fine with their names and renaming them is not a good idea psychologically. She's stuck in what other people think of HER, not if her kids are ok.
Honestly being a person with a unique name, I was always embarrassed that people couldn't pronounce it. I named my kids classic American names in hopes that they would not have this problem. One of them was the most popular for many years (unbeknown to me), but honestly I am not going to change it now?!
By the way, Jacob and Aiden are beautiful names.
I think we worry too much about what others think about us and our choices. Honestly, everyone is too busy and has too many of their own problems to worry about, without thinking about what other people name their kids. I remember reading once that we would be surprised how LITTLE time other people actually spend thinking about us or talking about us -- so we shouldn't worry about what others think. Because they probably don't care.
Good grief, she's got some hormonal issues going on :) Absolutely no one with any rational thought in their head would think that about someone calling thier kids in the park (not your bff - other people). And if they did, I wouldn't want to be friends with idiots that were like that anyway. Every kid usually has at least 1 other kid with their name in class somewhere along the line. No biggy. And honestly, I don't know a lot of kids with those names, so it might be regional or something. She needs to take a deep breath and relax. Her kids are fine - now if she had named them something Dweezil or Moon Unit (zappa) or something, THEN she would have screwed them up. LOL :)
Oh, goodness. If we did everything to please everyone, we wouldn't end up doing a thing! Who cares what some unknown person thinks about the names of her kids? Seriously. I think they are really nice names. They aren't some unusual, weird names that they have to wince over. Nobody faults a person for their name. I have a dear friend whose mother let her name herself when she was 3. Bless her heart, she now has the name of a famous Disney deer. It is a sweet name, but why on earth would a mother do that?? They legally changed her name.So, tell your friend not to fret. She did a great job naming her sons.
Give your friend a big hug and tell her how wonderful it is that she has two precious little boys and that they have wonderful names. No need to start calling them by other names now!
Is she preggo with #3? That is alot of hormones! Its a name---that is really silly. There are how many people on this planet? I think names are going to be duplicated---well, she could have just named them Apple and Pilot Inspekter I guess that would have been more original. The whole name thing is so high school IMHO
Jacob and Aiden are tasteful, classic names that she should be proud of. Remember, they will grow up and become men one day and those names will sit well on grown men.
S.
Tell your friend to stop stressing over this...its just silly and a waste of her time! Everyone ALWAYS hears something about what they have named their kids...after they have named them! It's just the way it goes...
My hubby and his whole side of the family have VERY popular names...every single 1 of them is on the Top 20 list..for sure...both first and middle names and last names as well. When my Hubby was in the ARMY he went thru basic training with 1 other guy that had the exact same name...first,middle and last...Ha-Ha! He didn't even care...
Your friend's children are one of a kind (each!), no matter what their names are! Nobody is going to think less of her - they'll be too busy noticing how great the boys are!
Names go in and out of fashion. When I was young (LONG ago) there were lots and lots of Marys (although I was named M. Catharine after my grandmothers, not after what was popular). Then the name went completely out of style. Nobody thought it a name worth giving a child. Now I'm finding a few Marys again. What goes around comes around.
The only people who make cracks about baby names such as your friend read are people who don't have enough real life to keep their minds occupied. S'there!
I like having an unusual name but I also like hearing the new names that are really classics.
I see that your friend's son, Jacob is a newborn. Give your friend a hug and tell her we like her boys' names.
