This article hits close to home for me. I'm the third in my family to have Wesa (sounds like Lisa) for a first name. It wasn't until I was in my late teens that I finally accepted my name and the inevitable misspellings or mispronunciations that comes with it.

My name is Shyra. I'm named after my aunt, who was named after a character on a radio soap opera; my grandmother guessed at the spelling. It's pronounced like it's spelled/spelled like it's pronounced, but G-d forbid anyone figure that out.

I was a shy child, so having a name that starts with the word "Shy" was tough. I like the name now, though it's still a challenge for some people.

Ugh.. what passes for an article these days. Let's see what the author is advocating here..

1. Conformity: Your kid's name better be very simple otherwise he will develop insecurity

2. Instead of teaching kids to appreciate other cultures and backgrounds, be afraid that your kid is going to teased for his name that is going to scar his confidence.

3. Using a name that doesn't fit on a jersey is a bad name? Is this what passes for selecting a name. How much shallower can it get? How about naming a kid with just single alphabet - A,B,C.. maybe his grades would reflect the name

4. Of course, if have to give a hard name, then give a nick name. That is convenient. Have you considered what happens if kids start asking what the real name is? For example, if somebody asks TJ Houshmanzada his name, and TJ replied 'John'. Ugh..

I know this is a free speech issue that we can write whatever the hell we want, but think twice before you start teaching your kids conformity and familiarity. It kills curiosity.

father of two..

I dwelled and pondered and tried to come up with a first name for my daughter than noone could rhyme (I was called Jill Dill Pickle for too many years for this not to bother me - kids will find a way to do the most awful things to names). I also didn't want something anyone could abbreviate, though it still happens. Now she only has to worry about them demolishing her last name.

I think the worst were the judgemental people who always asked what you would name the baby after it was born while you were still pregnant, then draw judgement on it and tell you it wasn't a good name because of this thing or that thing. I ended up saying the most outlandish names to them (and they typically fell into the category of the discussion here). I think one of them was onimatopia if it was a girl and constantinople if it was a boy, of course there were many others - ha! Of course, it made everyone all the much more happy with the name we ultimately chose to use.

Awhile ago, I fell into a discussion with someone who worked in an HR department of a medium sized company. This woman talked about how it throws her to see unusual names on resumés, and how too many hiring managers assign "strangely named" people to different races, genders or cultures without meeting them first, and hence, make a preliminary decision on hiring them or not. It was a conversation that always stuck with me.

As for my name, I'm a 5th generation down my mother's side of the family to be named Barbara, and not only is it rare to find someone my age with my name, but family legacy is something to be proud of :-)

I don't think the stigma of an unusual name is what it once was, what with all the Nevaehs and McSomethings running around. Lots of kids have names that are just randomly made up, are brand names, etc. There have been hundreds of babies named Lexus and Armani. And if your child is going to be made fun of, it will happen. A pretext will be found.

But people should think about the ramifications of the child living with the name, and should place that consideration over their own need for creative expression. I think a balance can be found most of the time.

I track this phenomenon (badbabynamesverified.com) and my pet peeves are names with pretentiousness, or with creative spellings. Spelling idocy (example: Paysleigh) represents a very amusing dilemma for the new parents. They just HAVE to jump on some bandwagon and join in a trend (like Nevaeh) but they can't stand the thought of being "unoriginal" and so they misspell the name (this is already happening with Nevaeh, and it's ludicrous given that the entire justification for the name is that it's heaven-spelled-backwards.)

On the author's kids' names: I see Matthias and think mah-TEE-us, a common European name. Others might think of mah-THIGH-us. So to me that's a great name with the slight problem of pronunciation ambiguity. Kylin is "eh" to me because I don't like made up names, but I have seen far, far, FAR worse. And I like that it's pretty clear how to pronounce it.

Veronica,

My neice is called Ronnie too! I would rather call her Veronica but she goes by Ronnie -- I assure you, though, it doesn't ring any negative, masculine bells for me. It's just that Veronica is so pretty by itself.

I think npeople think topo much about the issue. People do connect names to identity, and so we should be careful of frivolous or very strange spellings, perhaps, but an unusual name is often something to be proud of later in life. The number of letters and/or difficulty of spel,ling a name should not be a consideration at all, as the child should npot be starting school without already knowing how to write and recognize their own name. As for teasing, determined children will find a way to make ANY name rhyme with a body part, even if it takes force. Better to teach kids to ignore teasing than to have a schoolyard full of John Smiths.

I can't wonder who these people are that tag pretentious names on their kids. I’m a college prof and have come across more than my share of mundane Xanders and Danikas as well as near-genius Jacks and Jills. I'm giving my kids solid, easy-to-pronounce names that are ready to be filled by their own unique personalities and talents, not the other way around. Fancy names, like fancy clothing, set up huge expectations of an individual that a person, in the end, may just not be able to live up to.

I put a lot of thought into my children's names and they are, in my opinion, unique. Their first names each mean something more personal and family-related, but their middle names are a little more esoteric – meaning, that the name itself stands for a specific idea (if that makes sense, without giving too much info away).

Someone was looking for a way to try to identify trends in baby names. Go to this link -- it's pretty fun to play with.

http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager/lnv0105.html

We decided on "Andrew" -- not Andy, maybe Drew if it has to be shortened. We like the full version of the name. My thought was if I was going to call him Andy, I'd have named him Andy... 

My parents didn't like having long names in kindergarten (Kathleen and Patrick) so they specifically gave my brother and I short names (Scott and Amy). I thought this list was funny because it was EXACTLY their thought process. My boyfriend and I were picking out hypothetical baby names, and his rules were pretty much the same as your list. We came to a truce on Jeremy.

Fifty years ago, my husband's parents were ready to name their first-born son Ian (not my husband, whose name is Clay, but his older brother). Mom's older brother George, ever the jokester, told her a few weeks before the birth that the name was going to be a curse for the boy, because he'd be taunted and mocked by bullies with the phrase, "Ian's peein'!"

As a result, they reluctantly chose to not go with Ian, but Howard Alexander, and nicknamed him Sandy (which I still haven't figured out why a nickname that is customarily female would be a better choice than Ian). Anyway, fast-forward to 1993. I'm pregnant with my first son, and knew how much my mother-in-law loved the name Ian, so I told my husband, "Hey, I'd like to name him Ian, for your mom's sake." Zowie - he was thrilled, she was thrilled, father-in-law was thrilled, and, for a few weeks, so was I. But THEN, in the dark, wretchedly hormonal recesses of my mind, Uncle George's prediction five decades earlier doomed the name for me. As the day of delivery grew closer, I imagined more and more frequently my beautiful child being the victim of playground abuse and shame.

Meekly, I told my husband that I was chickening out because I couldn't go through with saddling my baby with a name that rhymes with urination. I think I made the right choice, but I still like the name. And we went with the name Chase for him instead, which presents a whole other set of opportunities for teasing (although nowhere near as embarrassing or vulgar as Ian's Peein').

I with great thought named my first born Stuart due to it's origin meaning "steward of the house" as my husband had just took a powder & it looked like me & baby were on our own. Fast forward to his teenage years where to my great dismay he takes on the moniker of "Stu" which brings to my mind memories of a very large red headed drunken football player from my college days! Certainly not who that precious bundle of 8 lbs 12 oz was ever destined to be in my eyes. Oh well - My name is Tari (like Teri, Terry, Terri etc) so everytime I give the name I am always asked is that with an I or Y to which I reply yes because it just takes to much time to correct them unless it's very important, which of course it never is because if it was they would know how to spell & pronounce my name. And yes - I did have trouble early on with a stupid teacher who didn't belive me when I told her how to spell my name & that I could write myself.