Goodreads Bookshelf
O-H- Odd Huh?
I came across this story recently. The gist of it, if you are not inclined to click through, is that a pair of Ohio State fans in Columbus, Ohio, decided to name their first-born son Tressel Hayes, using the last names of two of the great coaches in OSU football history as the first and middle names for their child. As the proud father put it: "If nothing else, it assures that the Buckeye tradition stays in the family. Can you imagine someone named Tressel Hayes going to Michigan for college?"
Oh really? Haven't you heard of teenage rebellion?
Oddly enough, they're not alone: birth records show that at least 6 Ohio parents have named a child Tressel since 2003.
So does this disprove my theory about only girls getting names that were never names before, or is the exception that proves the rule, so to speak?
Taking another slant on this--is there any public figure of the past or present who's meaningful enough to you that it wouldn't seem totally crazy to adapt their name to become a unique-ish name for a child in that person's honor? Should I expect neo-con children named Rumsfeld Smith or Cheney Jones or Bush Johnson? Any better ideas?
With an approval rating in the low thirties, giving a kid a neo con name
might be a death sentence. Harsh? Kids can be cruel but when the kid
grows up knowing his name commemorates one of the most dismal failures in
US History he may be doomed to depression or large legal bills to change
that name. I'm surprised the name Adolf survived after it's association
with Hitler.
Discussing this with the kids in study hall, it was pointed out to me that
at least four couples have named their lads Espen, after the ESPN network.
And they think I name my dogs weird!
Using the Espen method, expect to see Sci Fi Kapoo in the future.
Winston Churchill was my hero, flawed though he was (as are we all) and if
my child had been a boy I would have named him Churchill Tryon Smith.
However, a daughter...well, that was different.