Tuesday, December 09, 2014

What's in a name?

Have you heard about the 2014 popular baby names? There's a listing of the top 100 boy and girl names that Baby Center published this week and I have always loved watching the trends with baby names. Mainly because it is a good indication of names I won't use for my kids. I always felt bad for the kids I grew up with if there were multiple of their name in our class. Like I think I knew six Kaitlyn's (various spelling), Elizabeth's (or Liz), or Jennie/Jenny's apiece in my class alone. I always appreciated having a unique name but also a name that was easy to pronounce and spell easily. There was only one other Melissa in my graduating class which I appreciated a lot.

When we picked Hilton we knew it would be an incredibly unique name but one that everyone could say phonetically and spell properly because of the Hilton Hotel chain and my least favorite name sharing celebrity Paris Hilton. Now that I see the top 100 boy name list I feel very confident that he will be the only Hilton in his class (fingers crossed).

It's crazy to me how people choose their children's names, something that is lasting (as long as the child doesn't change it). Of course this is a very touchy subject. I even refused to announce our baby name choice because I didn't want to have any input from family. We had already decided on our boy name before we even knew we were having a boy. But it's crazy to me that so many people decide to name their child after the latest hot movie (really, Katniss?) or TV show they watch (Arizona or Callie from Grey's Anatomy), or worse yet from a reality TV celebrity (Kris, Kim, Khloe or Kourtney).

There were some research papers I wrote for a psychology class back in college covering this subject and an article the New Yorker published called The Power of Names highlighted some of the concepts behind name psychology (which is totally a real thing!). Basically it comes down to your name truly being the first image people see of you. If your name comes across as complicated or simplistic, masculine or feminine, people gauge you as such. This was a huge issue I found when doing research that linked very directly to job interviews and how people reacted to resumes. If your name was unique or well suited for whatever the job was they would be more likely to contact the applicant. It's an unfortunate way the world works. Likewise teacher's who see names that are difficult or overwhelming for children make assumptions about the child and parents of that child. I don't know if that is necessarily true, but I do think it's so basic that people don't truly realize they do automatically judge individuals off their names.

Think about it, how many people who you talk to in a day do you make instant assumptions about based off their name before you interact with them? If your name is James they are going to regard you as mature and professional. If your name is Iggy'Z they may not take you seriously (Yes, a real name). All of this research I did made it so even moreso that I never wanted to try and make a unique name by spelling it uniquely. If you have a name that is not phonetically spelled, it will make everyday a battle. In phone calls, people pronouncing your name, people trying to spell or write your name. Works interactions, doctors offices, banks, insurance companies. Anybody that has to say their name could and most likely will make a mistake in saying it. So think twice before you name your child Mcqenzy (Mckenzie), Rachuel (pronounced Rachel), Austyn (Austen), or Kaero (Cairo). Trust me as someone who deals with unique names on a daily basis at a doctor's office, there's a better way to give your child a unique name.

For me I personally prefer to use this fun Baby Name diagram that gives you an idea of if you're baby name choice is in the top 100 meaning you're child will be more likely to have classmates with the same name and also shows the trend of that baby name. Click here to test your own baby name.

Good luck and have fun!

p.s. am I the only one who is obsessed with names? I definitely have a couple names picked out for our next babies in the future that I will definitely check and make sure they are not in the top 100 names before we officially decide on names.

p.p.s. I love the name James but I will never name a child James because of this.


10 most popular boy names of 2014
  1. Jackson
  2. Aiden
  3. Liam
  4. Lucas
  5. Noah
  6. Mason
  7. Ethan
  8. Caden
  9. Jacob
  10. Logan

10 most popular girl names of 2014
  1. Sophia
  2. Emma
  3. Olivia
  4. Ava
  5. Isabella
  6. Mia
  7. Zoe
  8. Lily
  9. Emily
  10. Madelyn
Link to list here.

Sunday, December 07, 2014

You Eleventh Month



This has been a big month for you! You are already starting to balance without holding onto anything! We suspect you will be walking by the time you are a year old, but if you don't no pressure. I'm honestly OK to not have to baby proof more than we already have at this point. But it's not too far away that we will have to finally put hardware on all the doors and drawers in the kitchen and then baby lock them. I caught you opening the cabinet under the kitchen sink which is where I keep all my cleaning supplies. Needless to say I'm definitely not ready to be chasing a running toddler especially in public. I think I forgot to mention this but you have mastered climbing up the stairs. One day you just started going up a stair at a time and now if I leave the door to the stairs open you just cruise right up them and giggle the whole way.

Your flirting has reached a high, wherever we go you catch eye contact with somebody and start flirting. Today in the line at Costco you started cheesing at the sweet lady behind us, and started tilting your head to the side as far as you could and when she mimicked the motion of head tilting you started laughing so hard! We have also found a couple new ticklish spots, right between the thighs and hip bone on the inside and then if we stroke up your spine you squeal and squirm.

You have had four teeth pop up in the past week on the top! They are just under the surface and we think two have broken through just barely yesterday. You have been more fussy than normal and just wanting to be held all day. It's been pretty manageable with tylenol but we're definitely hoping that they're all completely through in the next week so you aren't in pain anymore. You're still in size 18 month clothing, I think they'll last for at least another couple months. You're also still in size 4 diapers which also will last quite a while longer.

We've almost got you completely switched over to whole milk which is so nice. We're just finishing up using the rest of our remaining formula and then you'll be completely switched over. Hallelujah! It's definitely been a rough transition but it's been so nice to not have to worry about packing it around if we go out and it's definitely forced you to start eating more and more solids and especially set meals. Or I should say it's forced us to have set meals and snack times, and restrict you to only having bottles when you go down for a nap or bedtime. You are loving muffins, pancakes, bacon, green beans, and pizza bites this month.

We love you so much little monkey! We can't imagine life without you and are excited to see how you change in the future.

Daddy: is loving how much you laugh being called 'Shark Bait oo-oo-ah' from Finding Nemo

Mommy: is loving your sweet smile and how you nuzzle my neck when you are tired and want to be cuddled

Puppies: are loving how you will literally throw food at them from your high chiar/are not loving how you've learned to take away their toys