Does it impact your baby naming if the name is used for an unflattering cartoon character?

[Anonymous]

For example, Henry the Hugglemonster or Olivia from the pig books. I'm not sure if I would want a Henry associated with a Hugglemonster or Horrid Henry throughout his childhood. Jake from the Neverland pirates is pretty cool but not sure about these others.

[Anonymous]

Henry is such a great name. I wouldn't worry about it. And Olivia is a good character. Her only "downside" is that she's a pig, right?

[Anonymous]

I wouldn't worry about these kinds of associations with a very popular name like Henry or Jake. The cartoon characters are just one association among many that people will have with those names. Now if you were choosing a relatively unusual name where the cartoon character is pretty much the only association, that would be a different story.

[Anonymous]

Henry and Olivia are two of the most popular names for small children. I will be more likely to associate the name Olivia with the 4 Olivias under 8 that we know, and Henry with the 2 Henrys in my daughter's class at school.

[FruminousBandersnatch]

Well, I'm not sure I'd pick Homer.

[Anonymous]

skeletor is always a good name - don't be a hater

[Anonymous]

Characters that share the same name as you have nothing else in common with you. Sharing a name is not a reflection on the person. There are always going to be associations with names as writers, authors, screen-writers, Disney, Pixar, etc all continue to create and name their characters names that fit their needs. There will always be a new athlete sports star or a new movie actor or reality star whose names will become famous and they will share their names with many people. It does not have an affect on individuals.

Does the Penn State scandel make men named Jerry horrible?
Are women named Casey embarrassed because their name is now associated with a mother who killed her own children?
Do you think there are millions of men trying to change their name because they share their name with Tom Riddle?

Barring naming your child Adoph, there aren't too many names that don't have both good and bad references associated with them and so you shouldn't let such associations talk you out of a good name for your child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Characters that share the same name as you have nothing else in common with you. Sharing a name is not a reflection on the person. There are always going to be associations with names as writers, authors, screen-writers, Disney, Pixar, etc all continue to create and name their characters names that fit their needs. There will always be a new athlete sports star or a new movie actor or reality star whose names will become famous and they will share their names with many people. It does not have an affect on individuals.

Does the Penn State scandel make men named Jerry horrible?
Are women named Casey embarrassed because their name is now associated with a mother who killed her own children?
Do you think there are millions of men trying to change their name because they share their name with Tom Riddle?

Barring naming your child Adoph, there aren't too many names that don't have both good and bad references associated with them and so you shouldn't let such associations talk you out of a good name for your child.

I agree with you. But...would it cloud a child's view of their own name if these are the only associations they have to make their with their name?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Characters that share the same name as you have nothing else in common with you. Sharing a name is not a reflection on the person. There are always going to be associations with names as writers, authors, screen-writers, Disney, Pixar, etc all continue to create and name their characters names that fit their needs. There will always be a new athlete sports star or a new movie actor or reality star whose names will become famous and they will share their names with many people. It does not have an affect on individuals.

Does the Penn State scandel make men named Jerry horrible?
Are women named Casey embarrassed because their name is now associated with a mother who killed her own children?
Do you think there are millions of men trying to change their name because they share their name with Tom Riddle?

Barring naming your child Adoph, there aren't too many names that don't have both good and bad references associated with them and so you shouldn't let such associations talk you out of a good name for your child.

I agree with you. But...would it cloud a child's view of their own name if these are the only associations they have to make their with their name?

What's stopping you from sharing other associations?

[Anonymous]

Don't do Caillou. Please.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't do Caillou. Please.

It's a bad name, unrelated to the weird bald Canadian baby-child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't do Caillou. Please.

LOL. I'd like to drop kick Caillou back to Canada. I regret the day I let my kid watch that show. Worst character ever.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Characters that share the same name as you have nothing else in common with you. Sharing a name is not a reflection on the person. There are always going to be associations with names as writers, authors, screen-writers, Disney, Pixar, etc all continue to create and name their characters names that fit their needs. There will always be a new athlete sports star or a new movie actor or reality star whose names will become famous and they will share their names with many people. It does not have an affect on individuals.

Does the Penn State scandel make men named Jerry horrible?
Are women named Casey embarrassed because their name is now associated with a mother who killed her own children?
Do you think there are millions of men trying to change their name because they share their name with Tom Riddle?

Barring naming your child Adoph, there aren't too many names that don't have both good and bad references associated with them and so you shouldn't let such associations talk you out of a good name for your child.

I agree with you. But...would it cloud a child's view of their own name if these are the only associations they have to make their with their name?

If it was their only association? Yes, but you mentioned 2 very common names. A child named Henry or Olivia is going to have many associations with that name.

I would not choose an uncommon name that is strongly associated with a single character. The Homer example is a good one (although I have a few other Homer associations, the Simpsons are definitely top on most people's minds), but Henry or Olivia wouldn't make me blink an eye.

[Anonymous]

I've never heard of any of these cartoon characters. I wouldn't worry about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you. But...would it cloud a child's view of their own name if these are the only associations they have to make their with their name?

It depends on how you teach your child. Children learn how to understand and react to associations by watching the key adults in their lives. If you react negatively to their name, they will associate bad feelings with their name. If, however, you react as if the character is just some unimportant TV character and that your child proves that the character is bad but not the name, she'll get that association.

We have pre-schoolers and we work on guiding how they associate feelings with words, labels, names etc. You can teach your child that the name is a good name even if there is a bad character named that. It's just one of the myriad things that you'll teach your child throughout their childhood.