Never judge a book….
05/21/2009
A conversation today prompted me to think about the power of names. Now I know what you’re thinking, hardly an indepth critique of the Ulrich model….but I have some sort of flu….so this is about as much as I can get my head around.
When we have children and we think about names, do we really think about how this will impact on them in the future? Clearly there are the extremes, like this. My favourite has to be Jenny Taylor! But there are also the more mundane down to earth prejudices that we have against certain names.
Clearly there will be cultural differences on this one, for example the pretty girls name in French, Manon is the shout you make in soccer when your teammate has someone about to tackle them. Never mind the teasing during the teenage years!
But for example would you really see Wayne as your Finance Director, or Chelsea as your MD? The names we have automatically prejudice our view one way or another in relation to a person. It could be they have the name as the girl at school that pulled our hair or the boy that tried to kiss us behind the bike shed. It could be that we perceive the name to be of a certain class or education.
And that is before we get into all the incorrect spelling of names. So lets knock that one right out of the ring first time…….it doesn’t make you unusual, it makes your parents look illiterate…..
So what names do you dislike, what makes your teeth grate, who goes straight into the big cylindrical filing cabinet under the desk? Would you give a shot to a Sharon a job to a Jeremey, a career to a Colin?
Or is it just me and the Night Nurse……
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My Hell is Other People 
More than the actual name is my issue with the spelling of names.
If your name is “Jacob” – I am going to spell it J-A-C-O-B..not Jaykob. If it’s Cristina…I won’t think of asking whether that’s with a “Y” (as in Crystyna). Very diificult to take these seriously.
But if I had to choose names that make me wince…Molly, Daisy, and anything associated with the cast of the original 90210.
@Corporate – is that as in Brenda and Brandon….or Shannen and Jason…or both?
@HRD. A bit of both. The number of kids bearing the monikers Brandon, Dylan, not to mention Luke, Tiffani, Tori, and Jennie in the post-90210 era is ridiculous.
I generally have an involuntary negative reaction when I see these names cross my desk.
Names cannot have an incorrect spelling. To hold otherwise is to be snobbish. People can call their children and themselves anything. I know some amazingly successful Colins and Trevors, and this is from a supposedly stuffy and ancient profession. I would look to the talent first- names mean very little, and I regularly forget those of my clients: I prefer descriptions (ie defendant, appellant, etc).
On the internet I call myself Fernandomando.
@Fernando Mando the First – I am comfortable with being a name-snob.
I am also grateful to my parents for having the foresight to give me a name that I do have to spell every time I provide it. Or explain that it is not an nickname.
…should have been do NOT have to spell every time
“Bambi” will never be the VP of Finance. It’s a career in exotic dance for her and her friend Tiffani.
@fernando – Sorry…..you’re wrong
@Corporate Daycare – I am so with you on this one its unreal. We are one. Just like thanks is thanks not thanxs….
@class-factorum – That had me laughing out loud. Really thank you so much for commenting…I’m falling in love with Bambi and Tiffani and wondered whether you had their numbers?