Bad Names

I just read this article about the horrible names that some people saddle their children with. When I see or hear about names like these, I feel really sorry for the children. I wonder if the parents ever considered how these names would affect their children.

Growing up, I hated the fact that my name was so different from everybody else's. It wasn't that my name was so uncommon, but that fact that my parents chose to give me a less common name with an even rarer spelling. I hated that my friends could all buy things with their names on them, but I never could. Even if they had my name, it was always spelled with the traditional "y" instead of "ie." I also mistakenly got called "Melanie" a lot.

When I had children, I remembered how I had felt about my name being different and I made sure to give my children classic, timeless names with traditional spellings. They never have to correct anyone about the pronunciation or spellings of their names, and they can buy cute little trinkets with their names on them wherever they go. And they never have to worry about being the butt of one of Bart Simpson's jokes!