Baby Name

[limewave]

People say what they are going to say about baby names--doesn't really bother me. I kind of like to get all the comments out of the way before the kid arrives.

We're excited to have a little Bear in the family. And, actually, I've seen in the paper a couple of kids named Bear born over the last few months--so it must not be as unusual as we all think.

[limewave]

Although if i were the grandmother, I'd have a fit about that name, I know that names do not bear the stigma that they used to (unless they do sound like something silly like Les Moore or something) Children's names have taken on a life of their own, any spelling goes, city names, brand names, why not animal names too. (and you can probably blame it on MY generation!!

I asked my mom about naming him "Bear" before we put the name in the hat, and she really liked it. We even had her secretly poll her card group. They've been friends for more than 30 years. I knew we'd get honest feedback from them, and they all loved it. Funny because we got tons of negative comments from them on DD's name, which is Sage. I didn't think her name was that weird.

[Tuckervill]

It's not Bear, it's Bear with Bryan that I would avoid if it were me.

I was in a mass job interview once when a guy introduced himself as Bob White. Of course, some one whistled the bird call, and you could tell he was totally disgusted and annoyed, once again! There are way worse names, like I said, but the connotation the name brings to mind is always a consideration.

Karen

[sfa]

I really wouldn't worry about the football thing. Very few people ever hear/use both of their names in combination, so all the worry that parents have about whether a first and middle name "flows" or if there is some connection people will make with it is really a waste of time. People *won't* connect Bear Bryan with Bear Bryant because they will almost never hear him called Bear Bryan. And in spite of football fans thinking that their knowledge base must be shared by everyone on the planet, I'm betting that only a small fraction of the people who DO hear the whole name will have heard of Bear Bryant. Whoever he is. I hadn't heard of him before this thread.

A friend of mine had people warning her not to name her daughter Sarah Michelle because when she was born, Sarah Michelle Gellar was all over the place. But they wanted that name to honor relatives, so that's what they chose, figuring that the full name would only be heard at baptism, graduation and her wedding. Sarah Michelle is now seven or eight and no one thinks she's a vampire slayer.

Now if it's a given and a last name that might make people think of other things/people, then I might hesitate over a name I like. Bob White would have done well to go by Robert.

Sarah

[Aggie_Ama]

Yeah, we have a lot of southerners here and I am an Aggie. So of course I know who Bear Bryant was! You ask my SIL who is a Southerner but despises sports and she wouldn't know. Her husband loves football but not Aggies or Bama so he won't know because he only knows Darrell Royal as far as old football coaches go. So I agree, he will hear it if his full name is mentioned to some people but otherwise it really wouldn't matter! And again how often are you going to be calling you son Bear Bryan?

I worked with a guy named Michael Jackson, he was older than Jacko but what the heck after the 80's no escaping the weird looks!

[Tuckervill]

1. sports trivia buff 2. Texas Aggie 3. Alabama fan but

I'm none of those things and immediately made the connection. But, whatever.

Karen

[alpinerabbit]

I asked my mom about naming him "Bear" before we put the name in the hat, and she really liked it. We even had her secretly poll her card group. They've been friends for more than 30 years. I knew we'd get honest feedback from them, and they all loved it. Funny because we got tons of negative comments from them on DD's name, which is Sage. I didn't think her name was that weird.

It's perfectly fine, bear is a very powerful animal (read up on native power animals and such?) - sage is also a very powerful plant. Good stuff.

[ny biker]

My college basketball team used to have a star player named Michael Jordan. No, that that one. But he was number 23.

Anyway. Unfortunate names, courtesy of the BBC:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/7909561.stm

I personally would like to meet Hazel Nutt.

[mtbdarby]

Congrats Limewave! May you have a very healthy baby - please keep us posted when the time comes

[lph]

I like Bear! It's a common name ("Bjørn") in Norwegian so I'm used to the connotation.

Can I tell my Fruit Stand name joke again? Oh please, lots of new readers here now... can I? Can I?

[alpinerabbit]

please do

[PamNY]

Congratulations and best wishes. My friend named her son Bear (early 1970s) and I thought it was a lovely name.

Have you heard of nominative determinism? Maybe your boy will have a great career in sports.

Pam

[indysteel]

Congratulations and best wishes. My friend named her son Bear (early 1970s) and I thought it was a lovely name.

Have you heard of nominative determinism? Maybe your boy will have a great career in sports.

Pam

I was sort of wondering the same thing. There's a show on the Discovery Channel called Man vs. Wild with this guy named Bear Grylls. The premise of the show is that they drop Bear into the middle of nowhere and see if he can make his way out of it. Maybe Limewave's little boy will group up to be an adventure sport aficiado!

In any event, congrats Limewave. I wish you and your family all the best!

[Zen]

It's perfectly fine, bear is a very powerful animal

Winnie the Pooh wasn't that powerful. He got his head stuck in the honey pot

[CyclaSutra]

People can and will make fun of almost any name. My husband wanted a teasing-proof name: Delilah? "If she's chubby, they'll call her Deli." Drake, after Sir Francis Drake, an ancestor of mine who was a privateer, some say pirate. "They'll call him a butt pirate. Not that there's anything wrong with that."

So I chose the name, although Desi is a slang term for individuals of Indian descent (the country, not the one whose country we snagged). For me, the name is a short form of a poem that I love, a father's advice to his child, "Desiderata." It means "desired things" in Latin, and she was debated for a decade before we decided to have her.

Desi Alexandra Love Edwards was born on Dec. 19. I think she may be our one and only experiment with procreating, but I'm saving Drake for a boy if we decide to go down this road again...

Congrats, Limewave, and hope Bear arrives with a roar!