What is the best system to name people?

[The Two Jerseys]

Well, the USS Monitor was the first warship built for the Union Navy in the Civil War - a pretty badass thing to be named for!

Monitor is a pretty dope name for a ship, but I was talking about RL. I know everyone is disappointed, but I am not an actual boat.

Plot twist: RL Monitor is a sheep and RL Blaat is a ship.

[Ghost Land]

I'm noticing that they're all male names (which is to be expected, considering the label I used was "regular GUY names"), they're all 1-2 syllables long, a lot of them are short forms or diminutives, and they were all popular in the United States somewhere between the 1940s and the 1980s. Have you had your heart broken by someone with every single one of these names, or what?

They're all traditional Western European names. You've just implicitly called literally all non-Wester-European names "weird".

Nope.

Your constantly reading racist garbage into practically every post when there isn't even a mention of race or racial issues to begin with is quite predictable by now, and quite tiresome.

[Salandriagado]

They're all traditional Western European names. You've just implicitly called literally all non-Wester-European names "weird".

Nope.

Your constantly reading racist garbage into practically every post when there isn't even a mention of race or racial issues to begin with is quite predictable by now, and quite tiresome.

So why, exactly, are Troy, Jose, Joel, Louis, Juan, Carlos, Tyrone, Luis, Leon, and Darin not on your list? Because all of those were more popular over that period than Chad, Chuck, or Kyle. The answer is obvious: by "regular guy", you mean "white guy".

[Xmara]

The best system is to let people name their children without interfering.



Mostly generational preference. There are no better alternatives.

If we are going to let parents name their children whatever, we should also have a system in which children can demand a legal name change.

Agreed. It would prevent names like Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii.

Although kids can come up with some pretty eccentric names themselves. One of my cousins adopted a 4 year old boy a few years ago and when she and her husband took the boy to get his surname changed to match theirs, they also let him change his first name. He ended up with a pretty standard white American name, but initially he wanted to be called Dinosaur.

[Forsher]

If we are going to let parents name their children whatever, we should also have a system in which children can demand a legal name change.

Agreed. It would prevent names like Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii.

You mean, like what happened in that case?

Actually, fairly surprising she was given the name in the first place when you consider how strict we can be about names here.

[Xmara]

Agreed. It would prevent names like Talula Does the Hula from Hawaii.

You mean, like what happened in that case?

Actually, fairly surprising she was given the name in the first place when you consider how strict we can be about names here.

Yeah, I know she got her name changed. But that’s in New Zealand. I’m not sure if she would have gotten the same result in the US.

[Ethel mermania]

You mean, like what happened in that case?

Actually, fairly surprising she was given the name in the first place when you consider how strict we can be about names here.

Yeah, I know she got her name changed. But that’s in New Zealand. I’m not sure if she would have gotten the same result in the US.

For an adult its not a difficult process, as a kid I dunno.

[Ghost Land]

Nope.

Your constantly reading racist garbage into practically every post when there isn't even a mention of race or racial issues to begin with is quite predictable by now, and quite tiresome.

So why, exactly, are Troy, Jose, Joel, Louis, Juan, Carlos, Tyrone, Luis, Leon, and Darin not on your list? Because all of those were more popular over that period than Chad, Chuck, or Kyle. The answer is obvious: by "regular guy", you mean "white guy".

First of all, I've known a handful of guys named Troy in my life, all of whom have been white. Jose and Joel are both very similar in spelling to Joe which is already on there (Jose in fact is just the Spanish form of Joseph/Joe) - and for what it's worth, I haven't known a Joel who hasn't been white either. Most Hispanic people are in fact at least partially white, which makes Jose, Juan, Carlos, etc. very much "white names" as well. (Ever hear of a country called Spain, for instance? Tons of white people with Spanish names there.) Darin (that spelling) was never even in the top 100 in the United States. Leon was most popular in 1918 and in general gives off a vibe that's more old-fashioned than befitting of a "regular" guy in the modern era. Chuck, on the other hand, is a diminutive of Charles, which was in the top 10 continuously through 1954, in the top 20 continuously through 1969, and in the top 40 continuously through 1991 - making it one of the chart's most enduring names!

Not that it's particularly worth picking out your argument or making any kind of counterargument because you seem more interested in playing the race card than actually considering the intent of my post. To quote myself:

I like the set of "regular guy names": [...]

Note the first two words: "I like", which clues you in right away that I'm talking from a subjective point of view and not going to include names I personally don't particularly like in my list. Note also that my list was not intended to be exhaustive; I'd say it's a good smattering of the most quintessential "regular guy names" in Anglo societies, though there are certainly a few good examples I'm missing and really the whole list is largely subjective anyway. Also, like I said, I'm white and live in a city that's 87.5% white as of the 2010 census, which means the majority of people I encounter on a regular basis are white and have "white" names, so it only makes sense that those are the names that come to mind most readily for me. I'm not sure where you live, what race you are, or why it matters so much to you, but not everything has to do with racism or white supremacy or prejudice or discrimination or segregation or whatever BS you're trying to argue about.

[Xmara]

Yeah, I know she got her name changed. But that’s in New Zealand. I’m not sure if she would have gotten the same result in the US.

For an adult its not a difficult process, as a kid I dunno.

Yeah I know that adults can easily change their names, and if a kid gets their parents to authorize it, they can get a name change.

But then you have kids with embarrassing names whose parents won’t let them change it, and idk if a judge in the US would ok a name change for a kid without parental consent.

[Vikanias]

Name everybody after Seal species, and you may say “but there isn’t 7 billion Seal species!!” And your right, when that happens name everybody after a different animal and it’s species,

[A Cornstar]

Given name, Family name (or vice versa). Then if applicable a cool title like Africanus or Lionheart.

[Ifreann]

Given name, Family name (or vice versa). Then if applicable a cool title like Africanus or Lionheart.

Well over a billion people live in Africa. "Africanus" is gonna wear thin as a title pretty quickly.

[Taxonomic Kingdoms]

Name everybody after Seal species, and you may say “but there isn’t 7 billion Seal species!!” And your right, when that happens name everybody after a different animal and it’s species,

You've just described how names work in my nation.

[Katganistan]

The best system is to let people name their children without interfering.



Mostly generational preference. There are no better alternatives.

If we are going to let parents name their children whatever, we should also have a system in which children can demand a legal name change.

We do? With one parent's permission, a judge might change a kid's name if the parent supports it; once the kid is legally an adult (18 in the US) they can change their name themselves.

[A Cornstar]

Given name, Family name (or vice versa). Then if applicable a cool title like Africanus or Lionheart.

Well over a billion people live in Africa. "Africanus" is gonna wear thin as a title pretty quickly.

The goalposts have moved. It would now be reserved for someone who could conquer the whole continent.