Worst Naming Trends: Girls

During my time working as a photographer in a chain portrait studio, I encountered a lot of children, most of which were toddlers or infants. Generally the children I met had lovely and appropriate names. However more than a few had some that made me cringe. I've noticed a few (sadly prevalent) terrible modern trends in naming. Here are some of the worst baby name trends for girls:

Creative Spellings

Parents want their daughters to grow up to be unique and special, that much is certain. The best way to do this is to instill within your daughter self-confidence and a love of self-expression. The worst way to do this is to give her a "creative" name. Tiffany or Tiffani are perfectly fine names which will probably not result in excessive teasing. Tiphini on the other hand is just cruel.

The same thing goes for the mystifying trend of adding extra vowels to established names. Yes naming your daughter "Alleyseynne" will make her stand out from the crowd, but consider every introductory conversation she will have for the rest of her life: "That's Allison, A-L-L-E-Y-S-E-Y-N-N-E."

Places

Is it romantic to name your first born after the place where you had your first date? Sure, if your first date was somewhere like Adelaide in Australia or Devon in England. It's not such a good idea if you first met and wooed in Phuket or Wichita. Place names can make for beautiful girl names, or they can lead to a lifetime of embarrassment. Think of the poor girl having to explain the origin of her name every time she introduces herself.

Fictional Characters

This is a big no-no. Unless the character you are naming her after has a generic name, do not even consider this. For one, your daughter will always be teased by those who know the character. Another thing to consider is that you might not always be as enamored by that character as you are now. Consider the Twilight phenomenon. Naming your daughter Bella or Alice probably won't immediately conjure up images from the book. Naming your daughter Renesmee on the other hand? She'll always be associated with a book series you'll probably be completely sick of in a couple of years. It's like getting an embarrassing tattoo, only you're not getting it - your daughter is. Don't do that to her.

Concepts

Naming your daughter "Love" will almost ensure that she is full of vitriol, just as surely as naming your daughter "Chastity" will ensure that she is not so chaste. Life is funny and cruel like that. Avoid naming your daughter after vague, idealistic concepts or you may end up with an ironically named stripper. Some of these words have become acceptable as names over the years in their own right. While "Hope" and "Joy" are perfectly fine names, "Peace" and "Virtue" just don't work.

Something else to avoid is naming your daughter after a trendy concept you know nothing about. Are you well versed in Eastern philosophy? No? Then don't name your daughter "Dharma," "Karma," or "Bodhi."

Made-up Words

Many parents want their child to have a completely unique name and that makes sense. After all, who wants to be the student in the class who is known by first name and last initial? Making up a word just doesn't work, though. Kids are ruthless, and little "Lalisan" just won't have a chance. Gibberish is gibberish for a reason, and there are plenty of good names out there already. If you feel like you have to make one up, at least make it sound like a name! Your burst of creativity will stick with your child forever.

If you do feel compelled to give your child one of these names, at least have the courtesy to give her a normal middle name so that she's got a choice of which to use. Poor "Tuscon Aelliseabeth" just doesn't have too many options.

The most important thing to remember when naming your daughter is that her name will always be with her, even as trends come and go.

It should also be noted that, yes, the examples given are all names I've encountered.