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HelpRe: Japanese names on non-japanese kids?
in reply to a message by shijin
Wow. Someone else thinks about this as hard as I do?! Wow.
being perfectly honest, there's an expression of myself in my choice of baby names; my desire to represent myself as a trend-setting parent is a component here in much the same way that the shirt on my back and the car I drive speaks of my tastes - I would think so for most people, though there are some people, I'm sure, who can't be bothered to care, or some people who just don't understand their social standing well enough to accurately assess the situation.
I think the child should view the name bestowed upon him as he views the curvature of his nose or the color of his eyes - not choices, but given traits that influence the choices he makes.
though my primary interest is in giving my son a name that will do right by him, I have to admit that I - like most parents, I think - tend to commodify my child in my approach to baby naming. He becomes a walking, talking billboard for the virtues of my genes. It might not the healthiest attitude for a dad-to-be, but I'm trying to be as honest as I can.
This is great. Thanks for your thoughts. It's a treasure for me. I'm so stuck on the naming thing.
The virtues of our genes, you say. I never thought of it that way. Fascinating. This is a much more functional POV than the one I've been taking, which is that my values and background produce a taste and a self-image, and that produces a name for my kid - which imposes on and limits that person in some way I can't see. But hell, you're right in a way. I mean, I am who I am in part because of genes, and in part by fate - and so will be my kid. Not a whole lot of difference it's going to make, even if I could come up with a name that transcended myself. It might never have occurred to me to do as you do though - to just take credit for your tastes, and accept that any name's compromises become historical, not something a person has to negotiate daily. Rather than questioning your choices into dust until you don't know what to do. Heh.
- chazda
being perfectly honest, there's an expression of myself in my choice of baby names; my desire to represent myself as a trend-setting parent is a component here in much the same way that the shirt on my back and the car I drive speaks of my tastes - I would think so for most people, though there are some people, I'm sure, who can't be bothered to care, or some people who just don't understand their social standing well enough to accurately assess the situation.
I think the child should view the name bestowed upon him as he views the curvature of his nose or the color of his eyes - not choices, but given traits that influence the choices he makes.
though my primary interest is in giving my son a name that will do right by him, I have to admit that I - like most parents, I think - tend to commodify my child in my approach to baby naming. He becomes a walking, talking billboard for the virtues of my genes. It might not the healthiest attitude for a dad-to-be, but I'm trying to be as honest as I can.
This is great. Thanks for your thoughts. It's a treasure for me. I'm so stuck on the naming thing.
The virtues of our genes, you say. I never thought of it that way. Fascinating. This is a much more functional POV than the one I've been taking, which is that my values and background produce a taste and a self-image, and that produces a name for my kid - which imposes on and limits that person in some way I can't see. But hell, you're right in a way. I mean, I am who I am in part because of genes, and in part by fate - and so will be my kid. Not a whole lot of difference it's going to make, even if I could come up with a name that transcended myself. It might never have occurred to me to do as you do though - to just take credit for your tastes, and accept that any name's compromises become historical, not something a person has to negotiate daily. Rather than questioning your choices into dust until you don't know what to do. Heh.
- chazda
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