WHAT’S IN A NAME?

October 15, 2018

Meeting so many babies in my line of work, it’s common to see a selection of the same names pop up again and again and I certainly don’t need to see a Top Ten list to know which names are the most popular for any given year 😉 So when my client, Emma, contacted me to say she’d had her baby girl, I was pleasantly surprised and instantly enamoured by her choice of name – Fern. Such a pretty name with the distinction of being a little bit different but not awkwardly so.

The popularity of your child’s name can determine whether they’re referred to by their given name or whether they’re relegated to having the first initial of your surname permanently tacked on to help differentiate them from others baring the same name. I once taught a Year 2 class with three Ashley/Ashlee/Ashleighs… and an Alysha. That very same class also had two Bens, two Jakes, a Ryan and a Rohan. Confusing much?

Then there was the class where it felt like every second parent had decided to randomly stick an ‘h’ in their child’s name. Dakodah, Mahly, Tarah, Amilyah…that last one is pronounced ‘Amelia’, FYI.

Ask any teacher who has gone on to become a parent and I’m sure they’ll willingly admit that choosing a name for their own baby was an arduous task. A name can unintentionally suggest a lot about a person but never more so than during those formative primary school years. When you’re a teacher, many names are struck off potential lists based on students you’ve previously taught or those who’ve seen the inside of the Principal’s office one too many times, and often whole segments of the baby name book will be completely overlooked purely because those particular names begin with a wholly undesirable letter.

Back when I used to teach, it was the letters ‘J’ and ‘D’ for boys’ names that caused many of my colleagues to shudder as they cast an eye over their class list for the year ahead. Joshua, Jayden, Jacob, Jake, Dylan, Daniel…just some of the names that used to bring grief to the classroom. I’m sure they grew up to be lovely boys…haha.

But back to Fern and for any teachers out there following along, I can reveal that she and her beautiful family were absolute delights and you’ve nothing to fear here!