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We still have about 5 years before the first wave of incorrectly-spelled Khaleesis start showing up at county courthouses en masse.

I read this a while ago (scroll down into section II for the graphs) which conducted a survey to see how happy people were with their names. The consensus seems to be that, for the most part, people just want names that don't annoy them constantly. Very common names rank lower than less common names, until the names become very uncommon. More normal or traditional names rank higher than more modern or creative names.

The conclusion I drew was that people want a normal name spelled a normal way, that is not too common. Why? Because if your name is too common, you are always confused with other people (cue saying "Michael" in a crowded room and having 5 people turn towards you). But if your name is too uncommon, people will constantly mis-spell and mispronounce it, so you will constantly either be correcting people or having to ignore it. If you have a common name with a unique spelling, then people will always misspell your name unless you spell it out for them. And of course, if you are named after a sci fi character or a name that rhymes with your twin, you will probably be bullied for it in middle school.

So if you are naming a kid, your best bet is to look through the current common baby names and pick one somewhere between 100 and 1000 most popular, after eliminating weird spellings or names that can easily be turned into mean nicknames. Bonus points if you can tie the name into your cultural heritage or you have an admirable anscestor to name your kid after.

That spelling of Alexzander a lot of times comes from non American countries (maybe Czech? Unsure)

Look at Alex Lifesons real name lol. I cant spell it

To the people downvoting this, you are the problem.

Children are people, not your property. You owe your kids a loving, caring, and supportive environment because it was your choice to have them. They did not choose to be born, they did not choose you as parents, they do not owe you anything. If you treat them well, they will support you and love you. If they do not, then you did something wrong.

If you think your children owe you anything, don't have kids and go see a therapist.

Sometimes things dont translate well to English. Like the common Indian surname Dikshit

I had a kid in high school with the same name. It was a normal name in his country. Everyone just started calling him Shitty and he embraced it lol.

That was a wild read, thanks for sharing. I'm so glad the kid had a father that cared, and that he got the custody and succeeded in changing that name!

Read the whole thing. That was wild. I think, alone, Weatherby (said together) isn't the worst name I've ever heard but all the rest is cuckoo banana pants. Based on what came out of the court proceedings that woman had some PROBLEMS.

Wow!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marijuana_Pepsi_Vandyck

Cannabis Coke is way more badass

I had a very similar strategy, except I was trying to avoid top 50. I once told a stranger my kid's name and they said "I like it. Unique, but not weird". That comment made me so happy!

This seems rational and thoughtful.

You can always change it

A number of traditional names the world over are literally "first son", etc. Not to mention all the names that mean "so-and-so got me pregnant with this one." Normal names are only normal because we're used to them, not because they aren't made-up bullshit.

I get naming your kid after a cultural figure, but it drives me nuts that so many people believe her name is khaleesi.

Do people just hate their children? There's so many good names to choose, just the longest list of them. There's nicknames upon nicknames, but every goddamn child has to have a combination of letters that've never been used before. Look, I'm not saying that everyone should name their kids Edith and Edward, but we also don't need a bunch of Brekinleighlynnes and Jahckxsonz running around. I feel very passionately about this subject. Pick a name that's either been used before (that isn't ass), or at least a name that sounds like a fucking name. I feel very strongly about this subject.

Actors are notoriously dumb. I'm friends with a famous person and it's sad when you realize they're usually just surrounded by people kissing their ass and afraid to tell them no, you're wrong. People are so shallow they'll agree with anything if it keeps them in their company. No one is truthful around them. One of the reasons we got along was my "ability" to be real with him, as if that is actually a talent i have or something. Truly sad that people think so much of celebrity when they're just people.