One of the joys of my life is working in a building where there is a preschool. The halls will be silent this week because the children are taking their Christmas break, but they still show plenty of signs of the children who come each day. On Thursday and Friday our parking lot was filled with the cars of parents and grandparents who filled our fellowship hall to hear the Christmas programs put on by the children. There was no small amount of excitement, possibly fueled in part by no small amount of cookies, candy and other goodies shared with the children in anticipation of the Christmas holiday.

I have always worked in close proximity to children. The congregations we serve have been intentional about their programs for children and church school and youth group have been important parts of our shared ministries. Yesterday’s worship was led by our children, who presented songs, readings and skits to lead us all in growing in our faith.

But there are some things about working in close proximity to children that puzzle me from time to time. One of the mysteries that I have never figured out is how parents choose the names they give to their children. Early in the fall each year, when the first artwork by the children in the preschool is posted, I wander through the displays after the children have left the building, reading the names. Each year there are a few names that are repeated, so it is easy to tell what is popular. But each year there are a few names that are unique – and usually one or two that are very strange spellings leaving doubt about how they are pronounced.

It seems that there is no small amount of desire to give children names that are unique. Somehow choosing a name that reflects the ways this child is different from all other children becomes a priority for some parents. Because our children were given names from the Bible – names that have been used over and over again for thousands of years – we obviously took a different approach. There can be some debate about the English spelling for names that were originally Hebrew, but our children have names with common spelling.

Each year the Baby Center conducts a survey of baby’s names. About a half million parents submit their baby’s names as a part of a larger survey conducted by the center. The Center then compiles a list of names. To make the list a name has to be used at least twice so that it is not considered to be a fluke. Still, each year they come up with names that make my shake my head.

This year, parents taken a close look at their beautiful baby daughters and bestowed upon them the names of Ace, Admire, Americus, California, Couture, Deva, Excel, Fedora, Gilmore, Hallo, Inny, J’Adore, Jagger, Jazzy, Jeevika, Joshitha, Juju, Jury, Kaixin, Kirshelle, Leeloo, Mclean, Monalisa, Oasis, Orchid, Queenie, Rilo, Rogue, Samanda, Sanidy, Sesame, Shoog, Starlit, Thinn, Tigerlily, Twisha, Ummi, Vanille, Vinique, Yoga and Zealand.

For their precious little boys, they chose names like Aero, Alpha, Ball, Bond, Burger, Cajun, Cassanova, Cello, Cobain, Crusoe, Devid, Donathan, Drifter, Elite, Espn, Exodus, Four, Goodluck, Google, Haven’T, Hippo, Htoo, Hurricane, Jedi, Kix, Legacy, Mango, Mowgli, Navaryous, Neon, Pate, Pawk, Popeye, Rogue, Rysk, Savior, Shimon, Thunder, Tron, Turbo, Vice, Villiam, Xenon, and Zaniel.

Yes, I did have to turn off the auto correct feature of my word processor to copy the lists. No, I don’t think that the name Thinn was chosen by the same parents who chose Hippo. No, I don’t know how they pronounce Espn.

Years ago I was having a conversation about children’s name with a member of a congregation that I served. There was a lot of press about Chastity Sun Bono, child of Sonny and Cher at the time. This was before the person now named Chaz Salvatore Bono had undergone female to male transgender surgery, but there may have been some tabloid stories outing Chastity as a gay woman. At any rate the person with whom I was talking told me that the parents did the child no favor with the choice of name. Picking a name that means purity with a direct reference to sexual abstention is a poor label to hang on a child, this person argued. I mostly listened, but finally couldn’t refrain from responding, “Yes, Virginia, any child is going to figure out the meaning of a name and other children might tease.”

In all fairness, a woman named Virginia has been technically named after a state. The name Virginia was coined for the naming of the U.S. State. The state was named in honor of Elizabeth, “The Virgin Queen,” and the name Virginia was coined as a place name before it became popular as a name for female children.

Names are, however, important. They carry elements of identity. There are many cultures in which new names are granted in relationship to significant life events. The name by which a child is called might not be the name that is employed when that child becomes an adult. Lame Deer, Crazy Horse, Sitting Bull, Red Cloud and other famous leaders of people in this part of the world were not given the names by which we know them at their births. Those names came about as a result of other experiences they encountered in life.

We have passed the stage in life where we are responsible for choosing names. We now just learn the names of the children in our school and try to offer them as much love as possible. We’ve found that children can grow into productive leaders in society with all sorts of names. Still, one wonders what might happen if Savior and Vice ended up applying for the same job. Would their names affect which one got hired? How about Rogue and Excel writing their college admission essays? Would one name garner preference?

I guess that Fedora might wear well as the years go by.

Copyright © 2012 by Ted Huffman. I wrote this. If you want to copy it, please ask for permission. There is a contact me button at the bottom of this page. If you want to share my blog a friend, please direct your friend to my web site.