My mother didn’t know it at the time, but she gave me one of the five most popular girl’s name of the decade. Having gone through school as Susan R. (to avoid confusion with Susan G., Susan N., Susan O., Susan S., etc.) I would recommend that you think twice about giving a child an extremely popular name. Before your baby is born, call the preschool where you think you might want to send him or her and ask the head teacher to complete this sentence: “I swear I’m going to strangle the next parent who names her baby _____!” If it turns out to be the name you wanted to give your child, reconsider it. If you are determined to give your child that name, then try to find another preschool.
Of course the opposite extreme has problems of its own. Dealing with funny looks when people ask one’s name can be hard on a child, and after years of putting up with schoolteachers and potential employers asking for explanations, or even smirking, many people come to hate their names. If you insist on an unfamiliar names or variations on the usual spelling, you’ll need to prepare your children to be patient, or they will have difficulties with some people. You don’t want to give your children names so odd that they will curse you for the next eighty years for not giving them more normal sounding names. I’ve heard and seen some names that have made me want to strangle people, and I think the less said about them, the better. Let’s just say that if you want to give your child an interesting sounding exotic name, find out as much as you can about it first, including how it’s spelled. You may think “Dayzhunay” sounds like a lovely, classy name, but people who remember their seventh grade French will all wonder what would possess any parent to name her child “Lunch.”
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