Minds Rare

I think it can really depend on where you are from. I was raised in San Francisco and my parents and everyone else's parents were all hippies. I new a ton of people named Starr or Asia, and my childhood home was 3 blocks away from Frank Zappa, whose kids were named Dweezel and Moon Unit. Very little is shocking to me. My husband is originally from New Jersey, so he hasn't liked the really unusual name I have suggested for our baby (we're due next July). At the same time, he knows that I flatly refuse to use anything remotely common. We live in the SF Bay Area, and common names are still considered boring and dull around here. It is the unusual names that yield respect. But by "unusual" I do not mean invented names like Lacquanda or Shaniqua, those names have negative connotations as "ghetto" or "uneducated," and they make it difficult for the bearers of the names to find decent jobs as their resumes are unfairly judged and tossed out without a call.

Despite his resistance to unusual names, my husband has agreed on either Asher Theophilus or Giovanna Aisling. Aisling is pronounced ASH-ling (yes, that is the correct Irish pronunciation, no silent G!), and even though it is VERY popular in Ireland (#31), it is still considered a bit bizarre in the US. I have seen many people ask questions about that name here in Yahoo Answers, and most people either hate it or insist it should be spelled Ashlynn. Still, it is a name that will be respected here in the San Francisco area. Theophilus is a Biblical name, and it was the original christened name of Mozart (not Amadeus). It is an old family name on my father's side. Giovanna (700's) and Asher (200's) are not nearly as uncommon, but this the compromise we are making to agree with one another.

I told these names to an old friend who lives in Massachusetts, and her response was, "What are you trying to do? Get the kid beat up?" Her kids are named Mike and Jill. Obviously there is a large difference in the perception of acceptable names in her region compared to mine. I don't think I know anyone around here who would ever name their children Mike or Jill.

I think no matter how common or unique a name is, people should not allow the public to dictate what they name their children. There are a billion Johns in the world, and they get along fine, and there have also been many people with very unusual names who have led very successful lives. Just look at Peekaboo Street.