looking for baby names... lost :( - Page 2

[eepster]

Originally Posted by ILoveMyBabyBird

the hospital did tell him that ds couldn't leave without a name.

They either were lying or ignorant. What were they going to do, keep him in the NICU billing your insurance company thousands of dollars.

We took DS home without a name. For a week, he was just listed as "Baby Boy Lastname" on all his insurance forms and what not.

[mylilmonkeys]

Originally Posted by ~Nancy~

Just a suggestion .... you said that your wife liked the name Dylan. I think that this is also an Indian name. Maybe spelled Dhillon?

Just what I was going to mention! I had an Indian couple as doula clients. They named their son Dhilan.

We also have had some controversy with some of our chosen names. We usually don't discuss them with others during the pregnancies anymore. After our third was born, my in-laws asked if they could call him by his middle name. Um, no! His name suits him well, and they've gotten used to it.

[gabry]

Since you mentioned Rohan, an Irish as well as Indian name, I just want to throw Ki(e)ran in. it's also Irish, and with out the e Indian if I'm not mistaken. And it's our youngest son's name, so clearly we picked names because we liked them and not for cultural significance (kids are Filipino-Dutch) 

[wookie]

:wave

I'm mom to a Rohan here. We're an Indian family and everyone without exception that I've met has LOVED ds's name. i do have to spell out most times that we pronounce Rohan to rhyme with Roman and not with Johann but it's a great name that looks and reads both eastern and Western.

[Eclipsepearl]

My son's name is Ronan, and we have a palace here where we live that's called "Rohan" so of course I like it! 

What I was going to throw in was first, I think the priority is a name that works where you live. If you pick something that is hard to pronounce and spell in the community where you live, you're placing an unfair burden on him, IMHO. Of course, you might be planning on moving but that should be a consideration. 

Also, some cultures are better with "foreign" names than others. For example, South Americans and Germans often give their children entirely foreign names just because they like them. My sister was an exchange student to Guatemala and her host "sister" had my name lol! 

I know a family who gave their children standard names but changed the "C"s to "K"s simply because the hard "K" sound is always written with a K in the husband's language. Little details like that. One name is from the mom's culture, spelled the way they would spell it in the Dad's language.

Religion plays a role. I was uncomfortable naming my child a Saint's name since we're not Christian but it's a normal thing for France. I found it weird so we went with Israeli names (with a little spelling tweaking) that you can find in both cultures. They can be said and spelled and don't sound strange in either society (although Israelis find our tweaked spellings a bit annoying- but we don't live there!).  I wouldn't name my child a heavily religious name unless I planned to raise him in that religion. 

I actually suggest "road testing" the name. We were decided on one name and it turns out, in France, the name had certain connotations. No, don't depend on your partner! My dh liked the name and was "stuck" on it but all my coworkers were all "Noooooooo!" Since they know the culture better than I do... We found something more acceptable that was similar.

I know this sounds crazy but the families like our choices! Okay, my mom isn't thrilled with the youngest's name but she understood why we picked it. 

[Cascadian]

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Edited by Cascadian - 1/12/11 at 10:03pm

[Thparkly]

If all you focus on is pleasing everybody, the end result will be that nobody is really pleased.  You need to decide one two people-no more than this-who get to agree on a name.  And don't share it with anybody; it's just not up to them. 

Here is what I would suggest: your wife is only allowed to pick her favorite Indian names, and you are only allowed to pick your favorite western names. This way, you guys don't get to choose based on your own cultural bias.  In the end, you might end up with a name you like but is not of your own culture.

Just an idea.