Misconceptions About Baby Naming

False. Names such as Addison and Madison, though popular with girls, do mean "son of." Baby naming books today alter meanings to suit the societal changes. There is only one exception to the -son rule: Alison. Alison is a medieval Norman French form of the name Alice, meaning "noble." In addition to the -son names, Mc- names are also a part of the "son of" meanings. Mc- or Mac- names in Gaelic mean "son of." Again, popular among girls, names like McKenna or Mackenzie mean "son of Cionaodh" and "son of Coinneach" respectively.¹

2. Names ending in -a/-ah or the "a" sound are girls names

False. Most names ending in -a are feminine but not all. Ira, Micah, Jonah, Noah, and Josiah are just a few examples of male names ending in -a/-ah. If you are uncertain as to the gender associated with a name, look it up on www.behindthename.com. There is a gender marker right below the name.

3. Surnames make "strong" first names

Depends. It really depends on your outlook. Sure, having a surname sounds high-powered, especially if you are male, but it can cause confusion. I have had students whose surname and first name were switched on documents due to confusion as to which was the actual surname. Also, females with a surname for a first name that is typically given to males, wound up in wrong locker rooms, dormitories, et cetera due to gender confusion. Some surnames, such as McKenna or Mackenzie, are widely used as female names now, so the confusion is not as great. But there are some names that can still cause uncertainty such as Parker or Campbell.

4. Ethnic names are a thing of the past.

False. Au contraire! We may live in the "melting pot" of the world but that hardly means every name is fair game. I know many will disagree with me so here is my reasoning. Ethnic names are defined as names that are most closely associated with a certain culture or people group, i.e. Hussein, Siobhan, Thekla, Thor, etc. Some names do transcend cultures and are used universally. In the realm of "ethnic" names, we are talking about names that are clearly Asian, Arabic, Scandinavian, and so on. Rule of thumb for using an ethnic name: If you have heritage that supports it, use it. If you do not, avoid it. Chang Smith may get some odd looks if he is a blond, blue-eyed boy.

5. You have to name your first son for the father.

False. You do not have to name the first son for the father. Tradition may be that you want to but there are ways to name a child for a parent without using the exact same name. You could take the meaning of the father's name and find a name with a similar meaning for the son. For example, Philip means "friend of horses".² You could take the meaning, "friend" and find other names like, Alden, Alvin, Marvin, Baldwin or Edwin. Another way to honor the father in the son's name is to give him the same initials. If dad is Timothy James, son could be Titus Joel. Last, one of the more common ways to give the son the father's name is by using dad's first name as the son's middle name. In family, the men have passed on their first names this way for generations.

¹http://www.behindthename.com/name/mackenzie; http://www.behindthename.com/name/mckenna
²http://www.behindthename.com/name/philip; http://www.behindthename.com/php/search.php?terms=friend&nmd=m&gender=both&operator=or