Stop the Madison-ness!

Didn't Madison make that splash, oh, five years ago? Off to read the article....

Didn't know about the Splash connection. I had hoped it was a faux-aristocracy thing.

Madeline has been ruined for me by the popularity of Mad* names. It's not so bad that it in its various spellings has been revived along with the sillier Madison, but I'm some sort of anti-trendy snob. I could maybe use it as a middle name. But Emma and Hannah and all those are also on my out list unless I encounter some very very admirable person with those names after whom I wish to name my child.

That article was great. Reminded me of all the reasons I love and hate my own name :o) Easy to spell, everyone knows it's a real name - but there wre 9 of us in my graduating class.

Amy,
When I was in HS, every other girl was Jennifer and every other boy was named Michael.

everyone knows it's a real name

Among my African American peers, it is almost a sort of class marker to actually brag "my name is a real name, not a made up ghetto name..."

I don't know, Pansy. I find some of the made up Ghetto names pretty cool. We get a lot of them here in East Oakland, and often they are rather pretty names. Otherwise it can be a monotony of Jennifers and Michelles (two that were very common in my school).

Erik,
Literally though, I cannot tell you how often I have heard "at least my name is a real name!" I am serious!

I get to hear a lot of 'trendy' names in my line of work. I actually posted the list of the top 100 names for 2002 on our bulletin board - it amazed me how many people would think that they had picked the ultimate cool but non-trendy name, only to find it in the top ten!
Personally, if I hear of another Jaden I will scream.
My friend named her baby boy Elijah - now THAT is a name with power. Middle name still undecided, but considering Francis.
If I can find a link to the top ten I might just post it.....

Pansy,

One time we saw an interview on the TV news with someone named Latrina. Melanie and I just looked at each other and said, "they must not know." Latrina was really a doozy. But overall there are some lovely names. We had a neighbor named Glenysha, which I thought was rather nice sounding.

If Rosey Posey were a boy, she would have been Elijah. Trend aside, I like Elijah.

The Rice family made a mistake in calling their daughter Condoleezia, or whatever it is. It would have been more in accord with their style to have called her Constance. The very respectable black families in my neighborhood - not by any means as wealthy as the Rices, but the sort of decent, self-reliant working class parents who required modesty, courtesy, and good grades from their children - were much more likely to give their daughters Mayflower names like Judith and Margaret and Anne.

Actually there is a reason why they named her Condoleeza, but I cannot remember exactly what it is. It was after something pertaining to music, but not a show of ethnicity. I wish I could remember the story...

Dr. Rice's mother is an organist, and derived her daughter's name from the musical terms con dulce, or con dolcezza, meaning to perform "with sweetness."

Dr. Rice herself studied three instruments in her childhood, and seriously considered becoming a concert pianist. I once saw a clip of her playing the piano in a duet with Yo-Yo Ma. I wish I could be as busy as she and still play that well!

Dr. Rice's mother is an organist, and derived her daughter's name from the musical terms con dulce, or con dolcezza, meaning to perform "with sweetness."

Oy. I suppose the poor lady must be thankful that it wasn't worse. According to this plan, she might have been called Sostenuto, or Pianissimo, or Cantabile. Yikes.