Well, you asked for brutality...
This is my daughter,
Eliana Faith.
Say:
Eliana. That's a pretty name.
Think:
Eliana is pretty, but come on...
Faith? Did you think you were naming a child or a
Precious Moments figurine?
This in my son,
Tristan Micaiah.
Say: That's a cool name.
Think: I might have gone with a more masculine-sounding first or middle name, since both of those are slightly feminine sounding, but at least they're both good names.
This is my daughter, Vail
Hayden.
Say: That's a neat name.
Think: So, did you want a boy, or do you just want your daughter to grow up gender confused?
These are my twins sons, Britain
Ira and
Noah Oliver.
Say: Great names! I love
Oliver!
Think: Great names! Except for Britain, which makes me want to bang my head against the wall!
This is my daughter,
Emma Tanner.
Say: Lovely.
Emma is one of by best friends' names.
Think: Better get used to hearing that, because EVERYONE knows someone named
Emma. They're everywhere. Oh, and I don't care if
Tanner is a family name; if you're going to give her an ultra-popular first name, she ought to have a good, uncommon middle name to balance it out. (
My friend
Emily was given her mother's very masculine maiden name as a middle name, and she's annoyed that she got the most popular name in the country AND a boring, completely unusable middle name.)
This is my daughter,
Charlotte Adelaide.
Say: How pretty!
Think: Vail
Hayden's parents, are you taking notes?
This is my son,
Zachariah London.
Say: Neat name!
Zachariah is so much nicer than
Zachary.
Think: Thank goodness
London is just the middle name.
This is my son,
Anakin Asa.
Say:
Asa is cool.
Think: Insert
Star Wars joke here.

Sometimes I just feel like smacking people with the dictionary, just to see if they absorb any intelligence through osmosis.
-My friend Emma
This message was edited 4/19/2006, 12:27 PM