Do Our Names Shape Us?
LONDON. July 28. KAZINFORM The newest prince of England has been given a name: George Alexander Louis. Choosing a name is often serious business for parents. And it's no wonder, given that a number of psychological studies have shown that a person's name can influence subsequent events in their life.
The new prince's father, Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, was named William Arthur Philip Louis at birth. His father, Charles, Prince of Wales, was called Charles Philip Arthur George by his royal parents.
That's a pattern that bestowed four "first" names and no "last" or surname. Each of those first names was chosen to honor past monarchs and royal relatives in a long line of the House of Windsor.
For commoners, however, there is a great deal more flexibility when it comes to names.
Some parents choose to name their offspring after their interests, such as ESPN (pronounced Espen) or Jed I. Knight. (Note: These are both real names.)
Psychologists have also noticed that some people take up professions that seem somewhat predetermined, based on their names. In a phenomenon called aptonyms, examples include the American Heart Association's Cherish Hart, basketball player Tyce Tallman, Mike Blackbird of the Audubon Society, and the aptly named accountant Sandi Cash.
Then there are the really unusual names, according to news.nationalgeographic.com
In 1999, parents in New Zealand named their daughter Talula Does the Hula From Hawaii, although a judge legally changed the girl's name when she was nine years old.
The judge said, "The court is profoundly concerned about the very poor judgment that this child's parents have shown in choosing this name. It makes a fool of the child and sets her up with a social disability and handicap, unnecessarily," according to the Guardian.
In his ruling, the judge included a list of already-prohibited names on the New Zealand books. Among them: Stallion, Yeah Detroit, Fish and Chips, Twisty Poi, Keenan Got Lucy, and Sex Fruit. Names that made the cut included Midnight Chardonnay, Number 16 Bus Shelter, Violence, and a set of twins called Benson and Hedges.
Such unusual names are not limited to New Zealand, though. Celebrities have long been known to give their progeny unusual names, from Frank Zappa's choice of Moon Unit, Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva, to Gwyneth Paltrow's kids Apple and Moses, to Kanye West and Kim Kardashian's daughter North West.
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