Playing the Name Game

In the eyes of some it may be a miracle but every once in a while Benedict XVI says something eminently sensible. In a mass in the Sistine Chapel yesterday the Roman Pontiff called for parents to end the craze of giving their children 'fashionable' names like Lily and Ashton, and to return to traditional Christian names. The Pope, being a religiously-minded octogenarian, naturally couched his call in religious terms:

'"Every baptised child acquires the character of the son of God, beginning with their Christian name, an unmistakable sign that the Holy Spirit causes man to be born anew in the womb of the Church." He added that a name was an "indelible seal" that set children off on a lifelong "journey of religious faith"'

And while we may disagree with the religious rethoric, I'm sure we can all admit that naming your son Venerdi (Friday), as one couple in Italy did, is irresponsible. Little 'Friday' will, later in life, find himself the butt of jokes and the target of snide comments, and perhaps even find it hard to secure a good job as employers will likely wish to hire someone with a respectable, 'normal' name. He will carry the stigma of his parents' desire to be unique for the rest of his natural life. A British Catholic Church official hit the nail square on the head when he said: '"Naming children after perfumes, bicycles and countries is putting a limit on their potential. They are not merchandise or commodities.'


This trend of 'unique' names is most popular with celebrities, both in Britain and abroad:

'Sir Bob Geldof has daughters named Pixie and Peaches, while Victoria and David Beckham called their first son Brooklyn, after the district of New York. Katie Price, the glamour model, named her daughter Princess Tiaamii. ...  Francesco Totti, the footballer, recently decided to call his daughter Chanel, while Flavio Briatore, the Formula One boss, named his newborn son Falso Nathan.' 

These children will not face the risk of hearing 'sorry, we've hired someone else instead' from employers - their parents are wealthy enough for that. Yet they are, or will be, most certainly the victim of behind-their-back sniggers at their ridiculous names.

With regards to these celebrities the Pope has a point. However, his call, while admirable, is perhaps still a bit premature. As it happens, today saw the release (Dutch language alert) of the latest statistics on the most popular given names in the Netherlands. And as it transpires, the top 20 for both boys and girls consists almost exclusively of good, old-fashioned names like Lucas, Tim and Thomas, and Sophie, Julia and Emma. In fact out of the top 20 girls' names, only Noa and Lynn strike me as odd - of course spelling wise there could be improvement. With the boys' names the field is a bit more muddled with Sem - not Sam - being the most popular name and Milan, Jayden and Finn making the cut as well. Still, as far as the top 20 goes, not bad from a traditional point of view.

I also looked up the statistics for the UK and found that the top 10 for both genders consist mostly of names I would consider for my own children. What did strike me was the tendency of British parents to christen their children shortened versions of names, like Charlie and Evie and Jack. Why not give them the full version and use the shortened one in every day life, for example Prince Henry of Wales, better known of course as Prince Harry? The Office for National Statistics indicates that this is indeed a recent trend and that this shortening of names was 'rarely permitted' in the past.

Looking at the Netherlands and Britain, then, the Pope's call is slightly premature. But still, given that this silly-names bussiness is popular amongst celebrities and people do tend to follow celebrity trends, it is a good thing he warned us. I don't say this very often, but well done you, Pope Benedict XVI.