Guest Blogger

You're gonna call me what?!?

Since Nadine has left the sweetspot.ca clan (in body but not in spirit!) us non-mom editors are tackling notions of family and parenting from our own unique view. Today, Emma wonders if a baby called by any other name would still sound as sweet.

This past week a lot of babies were born to famous moms which, if the trend continues, means there will be a lot of babies with names that might get them teased once their playmates learn how to talk. We've all heard them: Gwyneth's daughter Apple; Toni Braxton's boys Denim and Diezel; David Duchovny's kid Kyd; and now Harper Seven Beckham has joined the ranks.

Yes, they're unusual. Sure, we all chuckle when we hear them but we have to hope that their parents really thought those names through before signing that birth certificate and have worked out their argument for when their kids become old enough to ask, "Why did you call me Spec, Dad?" (Dad in this case is John Cougar Mellencamp).

Names have been on my mind lately with the advent of a fun new game that I play with my boyfriend called "Name Our Fictional Future Children". It goes a little like this:

"Apollo?"
"No."
"Cabot?"
"No."
"Agathon?"
"No."
"Helo?"
"You're just naming characters on Battlestar Gallactica."
"...Maybe."

This all started with me coming to terms with the fact that if we decide to have kids sometime (far) in the future their names are going to be matched up with his rather cumbersome Italian surname (it has many Zs and one Q) and mine would become secondary or even disappear altogether.

I wanted to find a name that would complement his last name and still have something of my family's in there, too. A name connects you to your family and reflects who they are — to me, it should mean something. But as a parent, I'm also going to have to say (shout?) that name a lot, so I better like it.

Apparently, Posh and Becks just liked the sound of Harper, and made Seven their daughter's second name because it was David's Man. U. jersey number (she was also born on the 7th day of the 7th month) making it one very lucky number. Her name is suddenly seeming a lot less silly.

So, how did you decide what to name your child?

Thought that was sweet? You'll enjoy:

Is It Wrong To Compliment Little Girls?

What Did Your Parents Secretly Teach You?

Would You Raise A Genderless Baby?