Obviously Sohum bucks the data in the study, but there is a red state/blue state divide in naming babies. One milieu more often opts for traditional names while the other is more likely to name their kids “Rimshot” or “Feedback” (that’s an obscure blue state cultural reference). But it’s not what you might think. The culturally conservative areas tend to opt for the alternative names.
The reasoning provided by this NPR article sounds plausible.
The reason for more outlandish-sounding names cropping up in conservative quarters is simple, Wattenberg says. Women in red states tend to have their first children earlier than women in blue states. A 23-year-old mom is more likely to come up with something out of the ordinary than one who is 33.
Still, I’m pretty sure that despite the conservative reaction to the GPU/Plan A and all that, Sohum would be considered “blue” and we have some awesome alternative names around here. My favorite was in one of the local papers within the past few weeks. Seriously, isn’t Dandelion Lovemonkey the most awesome hippie name ever?
A few years back a young man named “Alias” joined the KMUD Board. I asked him if he was named after the Dylan character in Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (one of my favorite westerns). He said that I was the only person, up to that point, to guess the background of his name. Given the countercultural aspects of the movie, that surprised me, and then I remembered that it came out a few years before satellite dishes were massively available.
16 comments
Comments feed for this article
May 14, 2012 at 10:37 am
Anonymous
If parents today named their children as the natives of so many ancient cultures did, like the american indians, it would be very telling. For every one person named “he who has the ability to climb over a typical chain link fence” there would be a hundred people named “always drinking soda” or “she who texts more than talks” or “he who is never allowed to play in the yard by himself”.
May 14, 2012 at 11:39 am
A. Hughman
I don’t buy the researchers’ explanation. The findings should be adjusted for religious preference and educational level. My guess is that religiosity is higher in red states and non-religious parents in those states are more likely to view Biblical names as Biblical names (rather than American cultural names) and thus choose divergent names. We might discount this notion living in Humboldt, but it’s a bigger deal in communities where atheists (etc.) live in the closet for fear of losing their jobs, or worse.
May 14, 2012 at 11:43 am
Eric Kirk
Aren’t most American cultural names (in the Anglo-Saxon tradition anyway) Biblical names? Peter. Paul. Mary.
Paislee, Liberty, Rykan and Scottlynn are not Biblical names.
May 14, 2012 at 12:29 pm
HUUFC
And paislee, rykan, and scottlynn are ridiculous names to inflict on your children.
May 14, 2012 at 12:52 pm
Eric Kirk
HUUFC is a liberal cultural elitist?
May 14, 2012 at 1:13 pm
Unk John
Anonymous 10:37- Don’t forget “Dances with Angry Birds”, or “Gamin’ Fool.”
Eric, let’s not forget that your aunt Sigi was born in Germany at a time when it was more than just prudent to give your child a Teutonic name.
When I first got to Germany in 1962, there were a lot of women with names like “Heidi”, “Helga”, “Hilde”, “Inge”, with a few named “Sigrid”, etc.
After the war, that changed a lot, especially in East Germany. Sigi’s cousin Dietmar named his kids “Maik” (pronounced “Mike”), “Annette”, and “Ringo”. Another cousin named his daughters Andrea and Martina.
I think culture certainly has a lot to do with it, and other factors are significant, as in the case of 1930′s and early 40′s Germany. I think that fear could have played a role in that case.
May 14, 2012 at 7:36 pm
Anonymous
snippets from the NCJ-
Bohn’s views on land use largely echo those of the property rights and pro-development proponents —
Many of his biggest donors have also made considerable donations to the campaigns of Estelle Fennell and Karen Brooks in the 2nd and 3rd Districts respectively, both of whom are vocal property rights advocates and pro-development.
May 15, 2012 at 7:15 am
Mitch
There’s an election official in Florida whose birth name is Ion. Everybody thinks it’s Ian, but he was named after the positive and negative thingies.
My all-time favorite name is not a birth name but one a brilliant classmate chose for themselves sometime between college 30 years ago and now, when they’ve become a “crazy activist”: Stardust Darkmatterji.
I think it’s a great name for any adult, but I wouldn’t saddle a child with it.
May 15, 2012 at 7:16 am
Mitch
“themself”
But maybe “themselves” is a good slip.
May 15, 2012 at 7:56 am
AnonnyMoose
It is interesting how many unrelated kids in SoHum have the last name Madrone. Most of them are children of the back-to-the-landers born in the 70′s and 80′s.
May 15, 2012 at 10:08 am
Charley
I remember when a friend changed her last name to Madrone 10 years ago, she contacted every Madrone (person) she knew to make sure she was welcome in their family.
At the risk of getting called racist again, having grown up on the mostly black South Side of Chicago I remember one-of-a kind names, especially from Louisiana, being unremarkable, while common traditional names included Marcellus, Cassius and Cassandra. Black folks’ freedoms with punctuation and spelling as well as with names themselves seem to be spreading to white folks. Especially in the South?
May 15, 2012 at 1:35 pm
Not A Native
Always wondered why you rural Christians can’t name your sons Jesus? Its not a problem for Spanish/Latinos but you Anglos just can’t go there. Is it because you use Jesus most commonly as a swear word?
May 18, 2012 at 3:34 pm
Anonymous
Boo Weekly–golfer
Peek-a-Boo Streak–skier
May 18, 2012 at 4:02 pm
Eric Kirk
Peek-a-Boo Streak is a daughter of hippie parents.
May 18, 2012 at 8:12 pm
Anonymous
Dickey Pride–golf
May 19, 2012 at 2:38 pm
suzy blah blah
-Jonie Rose did a great song about children of soHum hippys changing their names from things like Stardust and Rainbow and so forth to Barbara and Bob etc. I wish suzy could find the lyrics. Maybe someone else will post them.