ANST - Name the baby

[Dennis Grace]

Salut Cozyns,

Lyonel aisai.

> I'm looking for something interesting, but not too out there.
>Something he wouldn't get teased in school about, but also that there wouldn't
>be 12 other people in his class with his name.

Tough question.  I can understand your not wanting to give your child a
popular name, but I wouldn't worry too much about the name being odd.  When
I was in school, I think three of the nerdiest names a kid could be stuck
with were Arnold, Melvin, and Sylvester.  Now, with Schwarzneggar, Gibson,
and Stallone getting so much play on the action ticket, those names don't
seem to sound quite as Poindexter as they once did.

You *could* look at this like an SCA naming game--trying to pick the name
that sounds best from your favorite period and culture--but if you do so,
beware of odd spellings or names that look like Something Else.  F'r
instance:  avoid Gawain unless you want people calling your son Guh-WAYN;
Edward, William, Robert, and Henry all get shortened to less heroic
domesticities;  heroic names like Lemminkinen and Vainamoinen are long and
sound like complex desserts; Bors bores; Havelok will have-a-rock thrown at
him; Lionel will be trained; Roland gets rolled; Oliver eats a liver;
Lancelot lands a lot (usually on his butt); and Aeneas gets a knee up
his..well, you get the picture.  Kids are weird and cruel and distressingly
reactionary en masse.  You can give a boy an heroic or interesting name,
but--no matter the source--it has to *sound* like a name they know.

Still, weird or not, I *like* unusual names--historical, biblical,
mythical, et cetera:  Finn, Paris, Zachary, Shadrach, Yvain, Raimbaut.

Ultimately, I think you should choose something you like.  If I ever had
another son, I think I'd name him Chaucer (hey, no pressure, though).

lo vostre por vos servir
Sir Lyonel Oliver Grace

Dennis G. Grace
PostModern Medievalist
Assistant Instructor
Division of Rhetoric and Composition
University of Texas

Micel yfel deth se unwritere
                                        --Aelfric of York (a really fun guy)


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