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Rise Of The Unique Baby Name
How our names influence our career decisions and reflect our shared history.
The two adorable six-year-old's names dazzled brightly across their signs, which also declared their entry into second grade. They read, “Enjelickiagh & Rebekiagh”. It took me a moment to sound out the pronunciation before recognizing the familiar words: Angelica and Rebecca. And then I saw the comments in my Facebook group, dubbed, “That name is a tragedeigh”, a place where people cite the most unusual names they’ve seen.
Most comments were in various shades of confusion and disgust. The names in this group are extensions of a new parenting era. And part of me feels bad for the kids, as they had no choice in these names, and it was clear that a mob of people were mortified by them. Which is why I eventually had to leave the group. It felt like everyone was punching down.
The concept of a unique baby name isn’t inherently new — but it has taken on a new velocity, branching off into various paths that are leaving us adults tongue-tied.
Some are easy, though fairly new trends, such as the naming of siblings with the same suffix, which is particularly common here in Florida (Kayden, Brayden, Shayden, Mayden, etc).
