Abusive Nomenclature

A blogger at Mere Inklings writes some interesting thoughts about the significance of names.

Given the recent supremely silly name given to the offspring of the unmarried Queen of Undeserved Attention and King of Unwarranted Fame, it seemed timely to note. The only plus for the aforementioned blameless child is that, given the extreme wealth of her parents, anyone who teases her over her name can be beaten up by bodyguards. Or worse yet, be made the subject of a "song" by her father. Or even worse yet, adopted by some members of her mother's family.

According to a study the article cites, parents in California with lower levels of education were more likely to give their children rare or even unique names, regardless of political leanings. Parents with college or post graduate educations divided along political lines, with parents who reported themselves as liberal politically being twice as likely to select less common names than those who saw themselves as conservative.

Of course, none of these people had the problems of a prophet's kids in ancient Israel. Hosea's daughter was named Not Pitied (Lo-ruhamah in Hebrew) and his son Not My People (Lo-ammi in Hebrew). The daughter later got a break and could call herself Pitied -- I don't know how much of a break that is, on second thought. Isaiah's sons were A Remnant Shall Return (Shear-jasub) and Spoil Quickly Plunder Speedily (Maher-shalal-hash-baz). The latter was rumored to have always somehow managed to take the big piece of chicken at family dinners without anyone noticing.