For Better or For Worse by Lynn Johnston for January 10, 2020

by the time I was born, my father already had a grandnephew who also has the same name as me (my cousin’s son is a few years older than me)

APRIL

How about Sandy, Terry, Pat, Tracy, or Jo? Then all they would have to worry about is how to spell the name.

we know its going to be april

Of course, Liz. We decide at the last minute. With my first, I already went through the whole baby name book and we both didn’t like any and was at an impasse. We already agreed to give our son my father’s name for his middle name. The nurse handed me the birth certificate. My husband and I got serious and read through the baby name book again and chose the name that went well with the middle name. Our second was easier – since the first’s name was my husband’s pick, I got to choose and I chose the name for a character on a tv show. My DIL chose her daughters name at her baby shower following the name suggestion game. But with her older it was the same as me – when the nurse handed her the birth certificate in the maternity ward. Ha.

For a second I thought she was considering the name “orerika” then realized that’s TWO words!!

There are some common English names that make me wonder why you’d ever choose that name for your kid. It’s not that these names are horrible; I just can’t understand why you’d pick that one. Like… I like the name Charles. It’s a good name. But to pick that name when, say, Lance or Daniel are available… It’s like being offered a used Lamborghini for free when you can get a free brand-new one. Obviously a free used Lamborghini is awesome in and of itself, but still.

LOL! That is so true (in most cases).

There used to be a time people who name them for their relatives in hopes for a piece of the inheritance.

My Mom thought I was going to be a boy, but some woman in the supermarket told her I was going to be a girl

We had a name picked out for our baby girl, but the CVS test was mishandled and the baby was always very shy whenever an ultrasound was done. We were surprised when our ‘son’ was born and had to decide in the hospital.

In the Hopi culture a name is given after the baby lives for 20 days.

Not certain if I’m named from the bible or President Eisenhower, just glad it wasn’t Dwight.

I have 2 great baby-naming stories:

My husband & I had our daughter’s name picked back when we were dating. When we were finally expecting, my mother said, “I know you already have a name picked out, but can I make a suggestion? I know a name. A lot of my friends have this name, but it’s not popular anymore, so it would be unique.” I said that I would love to hear it. “Emma.” “Um, Mom…THAT’S THE #1 GIRLS’ NAME IN THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW!!!”

My sister & her husband were expecting their first (and, inevitably, only) child, a girl. They went through all of the name books and finally whittled it down to 2 that they couldn’t decide between: Jacqueline and Rachel. So, they started to poll people. It was pretty much even down the line (I didn’t help, as I love both names). One night they went out to dinner with my parents, and asked them. My mother immediately said, “That’s easy. Rachel.” My sister asked her why. “Because ‘Jacqueline’ is too long a name to saddle a baby with.” Now, my sister’s name is Cathy Jean…it was supposed to be Catherine Jeannette, but my mother didn’t want to “saddle her with a long name”. So, that decided it…my niece’s name is Jacqueline.

My name (not pony21; the other one) was selected by my Dad, who unfortunately misspelled it on the birth certificate. So it’s unique, and that’s fine with me.

Run out of time? My brother didn’t have an official name for the birth certificate for his son until his first birthday. The poor kid got stuck with Giz as a nickname.

Bet it’s none of those. (spoiler)

Lynn’s Comments:

I engineered this “birth” to happen on April Fool’s Day because it was a fantasy situation—I wasn’t really pregnant. But at this stage of the story, I hadn’t decided on a name or a gender. (You have a lot of control over people when you make them up!)

Names are very important. (or movie stars would never have changed the ones they were born with) Name them so it looks good up in lights! The first name should sound well when combined with the last name…out loud. Your initials count, too. My mother said they wanted my middle name to be Sharon. That would have made my monogram…ASS. I’m very glad it’s not Sharon for me!

I named my son (Michael Eugene) when I was 12, and stuck with it until he was born, when I was 26. He was born with potentially serious health issues and whisked off to NICU. When I called the next morning to see if he made it through the night, the nurse assured me, “Mikey is doing great!”Stunned by her mention of his nickname, I said, “How did you know? I’ve not told anyone his name is Michael.”Her reply? “He just looks like a Michael!”

I remember the I Love Lucy episode in which Lucy and Ricky are going round and round about possible baby names. Lucy finally laments, “I want the names to be unique and euphonious,” to which Ricky replies, “Okay. Unique if it’s a boy, and Euphonious if it’s a girl.”

My then husband had a signet ring with his three initials on it and was adamant that the baby had to have a name with the same initials. He said it was so he could pass the ring on when my son was older. When the son is now 62 and the ex is 84 and he still hasn’t passed on the ring!

Really? Not Aeron or Myzuky. Must be an old comic. I suppose Blanket and Moonunit were taken.

Heh, my parents had my name decided months in advance. They had a boy name chosen too.

I suppose Elly is an Elizabeth also…What ever happened to “Eloise”….Always loved the Glenn Miller tune “Sweet Eloise”…Eloise is a name with music in it.

True story: when our 1st was born, (cesarean) I went with the baby while the Doctor took care of my wife. During this time of paperwork & footprints, I named her. The nurses brought her back to my wife, & said " Here’s Hannah!" and my wife said “Who?”

I thought my name was “dumb shit” for the first 8 years.

We knew we were having a girl. My husband picked out 200 names for girls, I had 10 names on my list. Fortunately one of my names was also on his list.

John needs to actually suggest a specific name. Then Elly can see if she likes that name or not.

“Say, ‘Here I am, Sheldon…’”“Here am I, Sheldn….”“Shel-DON.”“They forgot the O on his birth certificate. So legally, it’s ‘Sheldn.’”

When my mom was pregnant with me, they had decided to name me Nancy, after my grandmother or Brandon if I was a boy. My oldest brother was five and said, “Her name is Julie.” My mom told him what names they had picked out, but he said, “That’s fine, but I’m going to call her Julie.” Mom asked what if it was a boy? He said, “Um, Julius!” My mother never understood why he was so insistent on the name Julie. Sadly, he passed away in 1988. Every time I think about my name, I smile. He gave it to me. ❤

When my son was born, I had picked out Jeffrey Michael as his name. At the last minute, my ex decided to reverse the names on the birth certificate because he didn’t like Jeffrey.

As an aside, Jeffrey is an unusual way to spell it, so to help Mike we always told him he was a Jeff-Ree, not a Jeff-Eree.

This strip is set in the past, 2 B.C. to be exact.

I loved reading today’s memory posts, some made me laugh others put a tear in my eye. It just shows how much effort goes into this once in a lifetime decision to name one’s baby. Each name has to be unique for that special baby, no matter how many children a family might end up having.

Hey Brendan is a good name I’ve had it for over 60 years ! LOL

A way to NEVER tell your age. My mother used to tell people if asked, “I’m as old as my tongue and a little bit older than my teeth.”

After a few drinks Dad intoned,“Give your children names the Business World’ll take seriously..”

My first and last names both begin with P, so having the initials PP (middle name ignored) was not something I relished growing up. And saying my name — having to introduce myself, say — was also somewhat uncomfortable. The P sound can be difficult for a youngster. Took me a long time to get comfortable with it.

I never really blamed my parents for doing it, mostly because I was too busy blaming them for saddling me with middle-child syndrome.

I was named by my dad, who was in Korea at the time. My mom changed the middle name and first name a bit. But that first name is a gift from him, because he never returned. They gave him a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. Yes, I believe he was a war hero. But I still just wish so much he could have held me once, just even once. He died at the Chosin Reservoir, four months before I was born.