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Help[Opinions] Re: Navy and Remi as girl's names in Utah
in reply to a message by clevelandkentevans
In part, it's because of big families. My parents have six children, and each come from a family of seven children. That means I have 28 aunts and uncles and nearing 100 cousins. When that happens, it makes it harder to choose names that others already haven't chosen before. So the more "uncommon" names have appeal.
Also in Utah, there is a big push for naming children with a name that has significance to a family. The practice of giving children a name and a blessing in front of the whole congregation will invite questions of how the name was chosen. However, when you are in a big family where cousin X already took your favorite ancestral name, it could be perceived as "stealing" the name to use it again, not to mention confusing. Hence, taking a maiden name such as Remington or a grandfather's name and shortening it and making it feminine could be appealing to many. Also, Navy could be paying homage to the fact that a grandfather or other respected family figure served in the Navy.
Also, Utah is big on consumer culture. That leads people to feel pressure to be unique. I think that's the main driving factor for names that are uncommon elsewhere.
My two cents!
Also in Utah, there is a big push for naming children with a name that has significance to a family. The practice of giving children a name and a blessing in front of the whole congregation will invite questions of how the name was chosen. However, when you are in a big family where cousin X already took your favorite ancestral name, it could be perceived as "stealing" the name to use it again, not to mention confusing. Hence, taking a maiden name such as Remington or a grandfather's name and shortening it and making it feminine could be appealing to many. Also, Navy could be paying homage to the fact that a grandfather or other respected family figure served in the Navy.
Also, Utah is big on consumer culture. That leads people to feel pressure to be unique. I think that's the main driving factor for names that are uncommon elsewhere.
My two cents!
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Thanks for your reply! I am sure that the search for "new" names in Utah during modern times does have something to do with the large families. However, the idea that two COUSINS couldn't have children named after the same ancestor is itself part of modern "consumer culture." Back in the 19th century there are plenty of instances of first cousins having the same first name, often because they were named after the same grandparent, and people thought nothing of it. So the idea that two second cousins (which is what children of first cousins are to each other) shouldn't have the same name and that one cousin can "steal your favorite name" by using it first would not have computed to people back then, and I think that probably went for the LDS as well as other Americans in the 19th century. :)
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