Sentimental fool

Yesterday, I talked about my baby's name and how we decided on Milo. Today, I read on Parents.com about what his name says about me.

According to Parents.com, "If you choose a family name, you're sentimental."

"This name has a more personal story behind it, so it's not as flashy as naming your child after your favorite car or rock star," says Wattenberg. "If it's a traditional name, people aren't going to ask you about it, so they won't know it's a family name unless you tell them. That could be why these types of names have lost some steam in recent years."

I'm from a family of sentimental fools, because most of my nieces and nephews are named for someone else.

Call me Milo

When deciding on a name for our little boy, we thought about a lot of things. We wanted a name that wasn't common but wasn't weird. We wanted a name that was simple but had meaning for us -- Milo is a variation of the S.O.'s father and grandfather's name. I wanted a name that he didn't have to constantly spell out for people or correct their pronunciation (as I did with my maiden name).

I thought we did a pretty good job meeting those criteria, so imagine my surprise when twice in the past week, someone asked about the pronunciation of Milo. The first time it happened, I thought it was just a fluke. The girl at VillaKids asked, "Is it Meelo [she pronounced it with a long e] or Milo [with a long i]?"

The second time it happened, it was an older lady I've known for a while but have only corresponded with by email for several months. She's only seen Milo's name in print. "Are you pronouncing Meelo or Milo?" she asked when I saw her over the weekend.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that Milo's name wasn't as cut and dried as I'd thought.

For the record, it is Milo with a long i.

My maternal grandmother was Nina, pronounced with a long i rather than a long e. So I should have known that some people might look at his name and think "Meelo."

Tell me, have I doomed my little boy to a life of correcting the pronunciation of his name?

Sometimes I just call him "Cutie Pie."

Sunday Funny

In a case of art imitating life or something like that, the baby name game continues in one of my favorite -- albeit sometimes baffling -- comic strips.

Today's F-Minus:

Just don't call me late for dinner

Did you hear about the woman who is letting Facebook name her baby? 

If Alpinelli allows FabFind to help name her child via Facebook, the mom will receive a year of free deals, an estimated $40,000 value. FabFind even made a custom app where people can submit names and vote for their faves.

OK. I'll admit $40,000 worth of loot is pretty tempting, and the leading names are not awful (Aria, Melania and Sophia). Still, I'm just not sure it's worth it. What if the winning name was Rover or Miss Poopy Pants? (According to this story, the parents have to prove they actually used the winning name. The same story mentions that other names in the top 10 included Parsia, Eudaimonia and Fabricia.) That's pretty scary stuff to saddle your child with, in my very humble opinion.

Of course, I say this as someone who has NOT been offered 40 grand to let others name my baby. So, easy for me to say I wouldn't do it.

The S.O. has some Native American blood, and it gets me thinking about how some cultures don't name babies until they've earned a name. In which case, Mr. Poopy Pants may not be so far off the mark.

What do you think? Would you sell the right to name your baby?

More name games

The S.O. and I have a pretty good idea of what we're going to name our son. It's definitely not set in stone, and no, I'm not going to tell you here. Because I know one of the multitudes of readers would see it and steal it. Then my baby's name wouldn't be unique.

As I visit various pregnancy Web sites and browse book stores, I find there are lots (and lots) of lists and books of baby names. Do people really have that hard a time picking a name for their children? Maybe, maybe not. Personally, I like looking at the lists to find the meaning of names.

For instance, did you know that Pamela has Greek origins and means "honey?" And that Pamela was among the most popular names in the '60s and '70s?

It's kind of nice to be able to look up the meaning so you don't give your little blond son a name like Daegan. Which apparently means "black-haired." (But is kind of a cool name someone looking for a certain sound, no?)

So I appreciate the name lists for giving me origins and meanings. But do people really just look up random names and choose them? Or do people use these lists to find names that suit their families, to find names that begin with a certain letter, or to find names that fit a certain pattern? If that's the case, I completely understand.

Then again, it's a lot of fun to just look at some of the names out there and daydream about naming my son something really exotic, Kanoa.

UPDATE: Shortly after publishing this post, I received an e-mail from Parenting.com that included a link to this story. See how timely I am? I don't even want to comment on some of the names that are apparently growing in popularity.

What's in a name?

I spend a lot of time thinking about what we should name our future baby. I want something unique but not insane. I don't want my son to be the 15th Jacob in his class or my daughter to be the 12th Bella. But I don't want my kid to have a name that's unpronounceable or just plain silly.

I once heard someone say you should try out Baby's name with the word "Senator" at the beginning. So, where "Senator Mary Smith" sounds just fine, "Senator Mystique Smith" seems a bit off. (Never mind that it calls up images of the X-Men character or -- worse -- a stripper.)

That doesn't stop Web sites from listing "Mystique" as an actual name. And it doesn't stop celebrities from giving their children names like Audio Science and Pilot Inspektor.

I have a desire -- really a need -- to give my baby a name that will honor my mom and/or the S.O.'s father. And I want our child to grow up knowing we put a lot of thought into a name, not just picking what's popular.

When I was growing up, I hated the name Pam (Pamela was worse). I don't really know why I disliked it, maybe because it wasn't exotic. My parents' other choices for me were Patricia (for Mom's best friend) and Rosemary (for my aunt). Both of which I thought of as "old lady names" back then because of my aunts with those names, I guess. I wanted to be Samantha or Laura, not that either of those names are especially "exotic" but they weren't Pam.

I became "Pammeey" (again) a few years back when a co-worker started using that pet name from my childhood. I guess it has sort of stuck. My brothers and I all have names that can be made diminutive -- James to Jim to Jimmy, Joseph to Joe to Joey, Michael to Mike to Mikey -- but I know other people who think adding the "y" to the end of a name is somehow disrespectful. I don't mind. I think it's fun to have a "formal" name (the name Mom yells when you know you're in trouble) and a "casual" name. I'm not sure my child will have that or not. We're still deciding. And until we know the sex of Baby-to-be, it will remain up in the air.

But definitely not Mystique. Or Pilot Inspektor. Or any kind of fruit.