Top Baby Names 2011 and Worst Ever: Boy Named Budweiser?
The top baby names of 2011 have been posted, which poses the question, why do people name their children what they do?
The act of naming a newborn child has a very long history. The act of naming goes so far back that it is difficult to trace how the idea to name children first became popular or how some of the first names were chosen. Even more difficult is to trace the meaning behind names.
The Codex Herald reported that some early names appear to have began with descriptive words.
"Examples of name descended from nouns are the Irish Gaelic names Conan 'hound, wolf' and Aed, 'fire.' Irish Gaelic names derived from adjectives are such names as Fial 'modest, honorable, generous' and Finn 'fair, bright, white.' A more elaborate descriptive naming practice is exemplified in the Bible, when Rachel names her last son Benoni or 'son of my sorrow' and his father Jacob renames him Benjamin 'son of the right hand' (Genesis 35:18)."
Names in today's times still often have meaning, although perhaps not all parents consider that when naming their child.
One of the names that made the top 100 list was Carson, which in Scandinavian means "son of the marsh dwellers," according to Family Education. Jacob made number one on the list, which means "the supplanter."
Jayden was the number one girl's name last year, which means "God heard."
Some of the worst names ever? Although a matter of opinion perhaps, Nameberry users that were given an opportunity to offer their idea of the worst names they had ever come across had no problem suggesting a few.
One reported that her son's friend was named Lucifer. Another suggested that one of her friends wanted to name her daughter Tempany-Tepanga, but "luckily," the friend had a boy. A pre-school mother even noted that she had once met a boy named Budweiser.
