Saturday, April 4, 2009

What's in a name?

Naming a child is sometimes a very tough decision for parents. You may find that a name that you previously thought was a good name has countless possibilities of mean nicknames that your child may run into in school. And who wants to be responsible for that? But then I thought, you could name a kid anything and it really just depends on the attitude of the child on whether or not they dislike their name and their parents for naming them that. The greatest example of this is my own brother. I don't know why my parents named my brother Richard when our last name is Head. Believe me, he received teasing from kids from kindergarten to his senior year. But you know what? He has such a good attitude about his name that it doesn't even bother him. It never has. In fact, he just laughs with them and eventually people respected him for it. Lately we've been receiving a bit of crap for wanting to name our son Sunny, and it's starting to get really frustrating. First of all, people who have already had children have already named them. They had their opportunity to give their kids names that they liked. They may have been influenced by popular names of that era or family names, etc. But once you've had your chance of naming children, then you're done. You're welcome to give suggestions of names that you like and approve of, but when it comes down to it, it's not your place to judge other people for naming their children certain names. Now, I'll be the first to admit that I am sometimes bugged by the way people spell their kids' names, but I recognize that it's their decision and that's that. We're naming our son Sunny. Unless Noah is inspired miraculously while blessing Sunny to name him something else, then that's what we're sticking to. We feel strongly about it and our minds will not be changed. I really do appreciate that people care enough about my unborn child to be worried about him, but he's going to be a strong boy who is not ashamed of his name. This post kinda sounds harsh, but I'm starting to feel frustrated and sad that people doubt our decision when it comes to our own child. Have a little more faith is what I say.

4 comments:

Krystle Ricks said...

Sarah... I COMPLETELY KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That is the worst thing in the world! People just have completely lost the art of social grace! Oh well, I love the concepts behind your names and that's all that matters. That the names are important to you. I'm sorry it's been so frustrating! THe best advice we got before we had Grayson was DO NOT TELL PEOPLE YOUR NAMES BEFORE THEY ARE BORN! No matter what, someone won't like it! That was from my brother- they named their daughter Roxy, and EVERYONE said they hated it... but they still named her that and now she IS Roxy. THe name fits her so well! So Way to stick to your guns!

Jewls said...

Ha ha! Sarah, this post is so like you! You crack me up. Way to go telling everyone to stick it! Who cares what they think anyway?! As long as you don't name your kid something purposefully mean (like you hear on the news) it's no ones business! And just for the record I think that Sunny is a great name :)

The Stone's said...

Amen Sista! I have a little GIRL named Sawyer. It suits her perfectly and Trevor and I both loved that name before we were even pregnant! We got so much crap about it. Anyway, I completely agree. If you don't like it, don't tell me, because I don't care! I think names are especially important when they have meaning behind them, like yours does, so who cares about all those other folk! And for the record, I think it's cute and I think it will suit him just right!

Gardners said...

Sarah, You and Noah are Great Parents for putting so much thought into your children's names. and once they are named you can't think of a better name for them! Congrats on having a baby!!! love ya!