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I've been dealing with this recently as friends of mine give birth and give their children awful names... Mylie Clare (say it out loud... my eclair) for one, I won't mention more for fear they read this blog as well. But kids get teased enough growing up, do you really need to give bullies more ammo?
My middle name is relatively mild, Joy, and still get "Joy to the World" sung to me frequently as an adult!!

Ceridwen (pronounced Sar-i-dwin) = Welsh goddess of poetic inspiration OR mythical mother of Taliesin the bard.

i wanted my daughter to have the name of a goddess and to have a name that made her feel powerful and majestic.

I work with a guy who named his son Mister. I'm not entirely sure why he did that to the poor kid.

I think any time you have to explain how to pronounce a name -- or spell it out for people -- you've gone to a Bad Place.

I was under the impression that a little girl feels powerful when she's raised by parents that give her self worth and confidence, not a weird name.

Satto: I agree, but who gets to define "weird"?

Birdy,
I couldn't disagree with you more. I have an Arabic name which may be unusual in the USA and I often have to repeat it or spell it out for people, but it's a fairly common name in the Middle East. It's one thing calling a kid Mister, it's another thing just choosing a less common name.

Ceridwen may be an uncommon name in the US...but it's not uncommon in Wales or England. think before you speak.

what's with all the rude people on AT the last few weeks?

I married a Vietnamese fella and now my name is Paula La. You can sing it. We had to really think through our children's names: Holly Lou La is not going to be one of them. Nor will Paul be one of our son's names.

If my husband would agree, I'd use the name Mavis in a heartbeat. I love that name.

Let me clarify: I'm not talking about parents who choose names that have significant cultural meaning to them and are just foreign to those of us in the US. I actually think that's lovely, a way to link a child with his/her cultural background. And, yes, some of those need to be spelled out for those of us who aren't familiar with them. In my attempt to be snarky, I overreached.

What I meant is that I find it an odd and unfortunate trend for parents to go out of their way to name their child the most outlandish thing they can think of -- particularly when it's not even a name, but something they've made up -- just to be different. It really sort of sucks for the kid. (I know -- I had parents who foisted an unusual name on me.)

I remember running into a woman at my OB's office who prattled on about how she'd named her first kid "Haiku", and was planning to name the second one, "Tonka." And I know another woman who named her child "W." That's it: W. Just the single letter.

As for the spelling . . . We ran into a little boy at the playground last week. His name was Kayde. I know this because he said, "My name is Kayde, spelled K-A-Y-D-E." His mom added, "He's learned to do that, because no one ever knows how to spell it." I mean, really, is this really a kind thing to do to your child?

If giving your child an unusual name is cruel I'd like to say that having a "popular" name can be just as bad. When I was starting out in school my first name was in the top 10 names for girls at the time - the year there were three other girls with the same name as me in my class I just about developed whiplash and an identity crisis.

When I'm older, my name will be as dated as Bertha and Bessie and and Ethel seem today. So please! Give your children wonderfully unique "unpopular" names.

Heck, even the girls I knew named "Sunny Meadow Barnes" and "Crystal Day" turned out alright.

"I work with a guy who named his son Mister. I'm not entirely sure why he did that to the poor kid."

Gosh, there's a little boy in my neighbourhood named Mister, too! The poor kid.

My name is Angela (nope, I'm not a man named Angus!) and since you can't really do much to eff with that name, I was mocked for my appearance.
Blessed with Welsh ears and a lovely long humped nose.
I'd prefer someone mess with my name, easier to change than physical appearance.

Birdy - Sorry for jumping. I've been following the thread on AT:Chicago about Arthur's home and it got my feathers all ruffled.

I do agree that I find it odd for people to come up with names out of nothing. I guess I should/could applaud them for their creativity...but doing something just to be different has never struck me as a good reason to do something.

I'm definitely one of the kids that had an unpopular name growing up...Bridgett...I didn't get teased too much for my name or anything (I'm like Angus, they picked on my underbite jaw)...but there's something really annoying about having to make sure your family members know how to spell your name.

oh...baby waking up from nap...must run...

I had a neighbor recently whose name was Cassius Money, though everyone referred to him as Cash for short.

bbt -- since my comment was right after yours, I can totally see why you thought I was responding to your post! I should have clarified that I was talking about the book in general, not your daughter's name.

Sorry if I upset you, that was truly not my intention.

Birdy,

I have to disagree with you. My name needed to be spelled for EVERYONE when I was growing up and now it's popular. There are a lot of dumb people out there who have never heard a lot of names, and I think you should choose a name that you like and not worry about everyone else (except your child).

I am sick of "name nazism" - what someone else names their baby is no concern of mine.

Cash Money = BEST NAME EVER!

well guys, my dearest mom named me Summer Eve...yes, like the douche. Except we were hippies without T.V., so it took me years to figure out why all the boys laughed at my name during roll call. I'm still not EXACTLY sure what a douche is.....

i'm katherine elizabeth, named after two queens! my father wanted to give all of us very strong names, and that didn't do much. we're still a bunch of wackadoos.

My name is Sol, Sun in Spanish. I was mocked constntly as a child and hated my name. But with time I learned to love a name that is short, easy to spell, and that very few people have.

i have to agree with rhowan regarding the curse of the 'popular' name. my parents named me sarah elizabeth--a perfectly lovely name that i actually really like. however i now work in an office with 15 or so other sarahs (at one point they sat two of us next to each other and we never knew who was supposed to respond when someone called our name), and in school i was in a homeroom that topped out at 7 in a class of 25-30.

One of my son's is named Cash, after Johnny. I think it is a great name. Unfortunately, by the time he goes to school, I think it might be as common as Michael or Jason when I was a kid.

My name is Silke and my brother's name is Joaquin. We were tormented growing up because no one could pronounce or spell our names. To each his own, but I would never do that to my child, having lived through it. My sons are Calvin and Jasper, uncommon when they were born and uncommon now (they're 16 and 18) but very easy to spell and pronounce.