With a name like “Utility,” while sonorous enough, might this be an invitation to some notion of a need for maximizsation? Is it advisable to freight a child with such expectations? If so, then an alternate that might serve is Bentham(e). At least it could be shortened to Ben. On a lighthearted note, might Utility find himself or herself drawn toward becoming a public utilities worker? (In Latin culture, I’m acquainted with a few people named Jesus and Angel. Suffice to say, none in that sample set appears particularly pious or angelic in disposition or outward behavior. Your mileage may vary.
Tangential to the observation about the Stanford experiement, a story appeared a few years ago about a New York family in which one boy was legally named “Loser;” the other, “Winner.” Care to guess which of the two brothers went on to become a police officer?
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/31/1027926917671.html
Is it advisable to freight a child with such expectations?
That’s actually a major concern I have in naming generally, I’ve known people named after abstract concepts that internalized them quite a bit. I would actually advise against any such name. It messes with your head.
Darn, does that rule out “Joyce” too because that refers to the abstract concept of joy? Or is that okay if I want my child to be joyous? What can I name my kids without having them messed up?
The trick is, don’t think of it as being ‘messed up’. There are a lot of different ways of being that are just fine.
One of my children will be named after Alexander the Great and Lex Luthor. I will be teaching her Aristotelian ethics, and I have a strong suspicion she will be told she’s a god by her mother.
Well, it may depend on where the person would otherwise be psychologically. I think there are ways of being that are messed up, and the wrong name can at least make that worse. It may be that only a small percentage of “Joy”s would be psychologically harmed.
If a name is the worst mistake a parent makes, then the kid will probably be fine anyway.
With a name like “Utility,” while sonorous enough, might this be an invitation to some notion of a need for maximizsation? Is it advisable to freight a child with such expectations? If so, then an alternate that might serve is Bentham(e). At least it could be shortened to Ben. On a lighthearted note, might Utility find himself or herself drawn toward becoming a public utilities worker? (In Latin culture, I’m acquainted with a few people named Jesus and Angel. Suffice to say, none in that sample set appears particularly pious or angelic in disposition or outward behavior. Your mileage may vary.
Tangential to the observation about the Stanford experiement, a story appeared a few years ago about a New York family in which one boy was legally named “Loser;” the other, “Winner.” Care to guess which of the two brothers went on to become a police officer? http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/07/31/1027926917671.html
Is it advisable to freight a child with such expectations?
That’s actually a major concern I have in naming generally, I’ve known people named after abstract concepts that internalized them quite a bit. I would actually advise against any such name. It messes with your head.
Darn, does that rule out “Joyce” too because that refers to the abstract concept of joy? Or is that okay if I want my child to be joyous? What can I name my kids without having them messed up?
I think saying “I am Joyce” all the time wouldn’t have nearly the impact that saying “I am Joy” would.
The trick is, don’t think of it as being ‘messed up’. There are a lot of different ways of being that are just fine.
One of my children will be named after Alexander the Great and Lex Luthor. I will be teaching her Aristotelian ethics, and I have a strong suspicion she will be told she’s a god by her mother.
Well, it may depend on where the person would otherwise be psychologically. I think there are ways of being that are messed up, and the wrong name can at least make that worse. It may be that only a small percentage of “Joy”s would be psychologically harmed.
If a name is the worst mistake a parent makes, then the kid will probably be fine anyway.
“Vladimir” sounds not unlike “One who controls the World” in Russian (Vladet’ = to own, mir = World).