What's in a name

Tonight I attended my childrens’ art show at school. As I walked around, looking at the work of all the young Kates and Alexas and Jacobs, one name struck out:
Poet.
This is not a name you would have found in small-town North Carolina, but it reminded me of a small-town name I did encounter that made me giggle similarly: Jewel-Beth. Different socioeconomic backgrounds, same result.

I fear that the futures of both Poet and Jewel-Beth will be limited, and this says more about society than it does those children or their parents. I realized early, as a parent, that naming a child is the very first thing you do to let that child go. A name is an important component of that all-important first impression, and just as a law firm probably isn’t going to hire somebody who comes in for an interview in wrinkled clothes, they probably won’t take a Poet or Jewel-Beth as seriously as they’ll take someone with a more conventional name. There is a part of me that loves the romance and sentiment behind a name like Poet, but I couldn’t give it to my child because it fails my test.

For each of my children, I employed a test: “Could I imagine a CEO being named this?” I certainly don’t insist that my children become CEOs (I’m not sure I even want that for them), but as they grow, they – and not me – will decide which direction they will take. The creative world won’t close its doors to a Robin or Kathleen, but the worlds of finance and medicine and government and academia and, yes, law, might not be so forgiving to an Apple or Kal-El. Will a president consider tapping Pilot Inspektor Lee for secretary of state? Would you want to know that your spouse’s brain is about to be operated on by Dr. Moxie CrimeFighter Jillette? Granted, the aforementioned celebrity kids can fall back on their respective pedigrees, but only if they stay in the acting world. I wonder how many of them will discreetly go by Mike and Amy come college.

I would be delighted if my children decided to go into creative fields, but I don’t require it. As long as they pick professions that are legal and respectable, I will support and celebrate their choices. I will do my best to keep their doors open, whether they decide to become world-famous artists or cashiers.