Unique names...

I am helping my mother, a teacher with her students' list. What a name. Very unique names indeed. Some of the name are Johannest, a boy named Mix, a girl named Francois, a boy named Adriane... I could go on if you like but I think you got what I mean.

If only we were Portuguese, none of this could happen. Their government is very particular with nomenclature. The name have to be Portuguese and meaningful. Foreign sounding names are "Portuguesized*" particularly Arabic names.

Link to list of approved names in Portugal
http://www.irn.mj.pt/sections/irn/a_registral/registos-centrais/docs-da-nacionalidade/vocabulos-admitidos-e/downloadFile/file/Lista_de_nomes31-03-2012.pdf?nocache=1333375560.38

How strict is Portugal. However, it is not practical if applied in a multicultural nation. However, parents to be should be advised to use common name. Not too exotic. For me. Biblical names or Saint's name are good enough. How hard it is to spell Matthew, Patrick, Francis or John. If naming is so hard, just name your child with patron saint. Say, if a child was born on 17th March, you can name him Patrick or Patricia. But the problem is not all day are Patron saint's feast day. Or a day like today. Would you call your child Todos Santos or All Saints. Be sensible when naming your child. There are lots of websites for suggestions.

Another problem with parents from this part of the world, using Surnames as First name. Over here you'll find a lot of local artiste with such name... Anderson, Johnson, Ericson... you name it... not a drop of Scandinavian. Or McClare, Fitzland without a single Irish blood.

With obsession with having Western name, some do name their child with just nickname. More absurd, sibling with same name. For instance, John younger brother is Johnny. There are actually 2 Johns in the family. Another example is Ron and Ronnie. They are brothers. Give them proper name.

Danish is also quite a popular name in this region. My friend had an 'allergy' to this name. It's edible she would say. Or Danish, Bruschetta, Baguette having a slumber party together.

Our obsession with Western sounding names...

My friend's experience in college is quite funny. She's witty. One day during the orientation week, every students would introduce themselves to other students. A girl introduced herself as Apple, another as Orange. They have proper name, Asian names but would prefer her friends to call her Apple or Orange, trying not to be Asian... why are we so embarrassed with our name. They have proper name unlike Danny, or female Francois or male Adriane. Back to the story, it's always You can call me Apple and you can call me Orange. When it's my friend's turn to introduce herself, "Hi, my name is Simone (not her actual name) But you can call me Durian.... giggles..."

The most ghetto name I've encountered today is LATEESHA... One is an Austrian bodybuilder governor wannabe, Schwarzzenezzer... I know Schwarzenegger is black smith. Schwarzzenezzer is what? a portmanteau of schwartz (German for black) and King Nebuchadnezzar? Another boy that I pity most is Michael Boboy... seriously? Boboy... Would you take say a doctor, Doctor Boboy? What if this child become our Leader. Would we still call him Boboy. The person who named him is imbecile!

In other part of the world, A French Canadian had a dilemma naming his child. It's OneFrenchCanadian. He might be not popular, but I like his vlogs. Here the link to his video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z2kL3npzrMg&list=UUqGZeotg_wBYLKu4UMZUYYg
He might be funny, but he is still responsible in naming his progeny.

But in the end, it's up to the parent's decision to name their child... but (I couldn't emphasize more) please give a proper name, not nicknames, not surnames or weird spelling hermaphrodite names... If you like to give exotic names, try becoming a Taxonomist. Even taxonomy have naming protocols...

Hey, I'm still halfway with the name list... I'll write more soon. Thanks for reading.

*Portuguesize =  like Anglicize but Portuguese. (I can't find the exact term. If you know any, please comment)

p/s somebody please teach me how to put better link to other videos or articles... as you see I suck at this. :P