Unlike Any Other Name

A lot of people would agree that the sweetest word one would love to hear is their name. How it was spelled, pronounced, mentioned. And a lot would concede that just doing the opposite would be the easiest way to annoy them. Perhaps because it takes a lot of thinking and creativity to name a person even before he is born. Good thing there is now technology to guide us on what names to choose and gone were the days that the expected newborn's name had to be changed the minute one finds out it did not fit. Though spontaneity and creativity strikes when you need it most at times one will get into thinking if the chosen name sounded right or even appropriate.

For us Filipinos, we have a way of choosing what names should be given to our kids, siblings even to our grandchildren. As a parent I took into careful consideration of the names I have given my kids including their nicknames. There were certain criteria which their dad and I have agreed. This may be true for other parents whereas for others it may not. Whatever the reasons behind why a certain name was chosen , perhaps it would not hurt to take a closer look why a name is unlike any other.

1. Popular Names - Back when google had not been discovered, some people chose to name their kids with well known names wether in literature, movies and the arts. My dad was one of them as I was named after an African American singer Sarah Vaughan thinking perhaps I might become one day which was not really wishful thinking at that time. Then there were some who chose religious or famous movie characters wether real or fictional. My mom who was a teacher mentioned that one parent insisted the he named his son Alyas James Bond which she corrected that perhaps it should be James Bond but the parent digress. There was also one time that a kid's ID circulated in facebook by the name of Lord Voldemort. I wonder how one smart aleck will nickname this kid .You know who ?

2. Foreign names. Aside from American names, some people have names in Spanish, French, Italian, Japanese, name it. I have a friend who comes from a family of two word names in Spanish as well as the rest of her siblings. Her name was Dulce Fides which means sweet faith. Thanks to her my Spanish vocabulary improved a little. But the challenge lies when you really cannot pronounce it like a four word name mostly consonants almost sounding like a tongue twister. Thank goodness for nicknames .

3. Common names. There maybe a lot  but for those who thought of these name they will always be unique. Month names, planet names, flower names, color names, zodiac signs, gems, constellations, even acronyms. There was this one contestant from a local game show who shared that his daughter's name's acronym is ATM. Though I forgot what that stood for, the contestant shared the reason for the name. He thought that it would never run out of money (except of course if it cannot dispense cash) which was not really far form the truth. I would not be surprised if names like Lotto, Dollar, Million, Casino, Euro may come out in the future. What about Peso or Yen ? With that I am not sure but that remains to be seen.

4. Suffixes- The Juniors, the IIs, the IIIs, the IVs either for sons and daughters thinking perhaps it is a lucky name. Problem is what if you have an extended family or a second family, even a third or fourth one and you just wanted to spread your good name? Not only does it make more confusing, it may even start a rift as far as inheritance is concerned. So much for spreading your good name.

5. Joint names. This one is my favorite as some people's sense of creativity never cease to amaze me. These are the parents' names joined to form a new one. Sometimes the formed name is acceptable, cool even. But at times you really cannot help but raise your eyes and try to think where did it come from. Names such as Marisol  (Maria and Soltero ) , Marivic (Marites and Victor),  Loreto (Lorena and Tomas ). The lists could go on and the funny thing about it is one can spontaneously create a name which my siblings and I did based from our neighbors names one lazy evening. These are as follows. Patis (Paquito and Tisha ), Tiis (Tina and Isko ), Luga (Lucy and Gary ) Regla (Regina and Lauro). Good thing we already have moved and have stopped thinking of names  to kill our boredom.

6. Run out of names- These cannot be considered as spur of the moment names. In fact these are the ones that have a story to tell. There was one kid in our neighborhood named Jeepy, from the word jeep because her mom was riding a jeep and was not able to reach the hospital when she delivered her. Another one was named Christmas and when the nosy nurse in the district hospital asked why the baby was named as such, the grandfather proudly reasoned simply because she was born on Christmas Day and that if she was born on New Year's eve, the baby's name should have  been named New Year .

Which had me thinking, what if the baby was born on November 1st? Will he name it All Saint's?

Sometimes.