Remembering Names of Grandchildren
I’m a grandparent, and continue to have a little difficulty with the names of my grandchildren. It seems these days hardly anyone gets named Bill or John or Mary or Jane. Often baby names are phonetics cobbled together to produce a hoped for unique or memorable identity, frequently with alternate spellings.
I just had a visit, coming from another state, by one of my daughters and her family including my 12 year old grandson and 10 year old granddaughter. As you might expect, their names deviate considerably from the Bill or Jane variety. They just don’t easily roll off my tongue. I won’t mention them here because I don’t want to embarrass anyone.
I’m quite aware that baby name popularity shifts with the times. My grandfather was named Abraham which you don’t see any more, although a few biblical names have currency such as Jacob and Joshua. These ranked one and three respectively for name popularity in 2006 according to the Social Security Administration.
Now, for girls, the top five most popular in 2006 (in order) were Emily, Emma, Madison, Isabella and Ava. I may have known an Emily when I was a kid, but that’s it.
Anyhow, my grandchildren’s names are not even within the 2006 top name popularity spectrum in terms of being recognizable or popular. Let’s just say that there’s a little hesitation on my part in searching for their names in my internal database while I’m having conversations with them.
Since it seems unlikely that I’ll be having any more grandchildren to be named, I’ll have to wait until I’m a great grandfather to face the same hesitancy I experience today with my grandchildren. Since my oldest grandson is getting married next month, I might not have to wait too long.
I believe one thing is certain. No great grandchild of mine will be named Robert (Bob). That’s my name, and I think it’s a good one.
Tags: age, Age Discrimination, aging population, Aging Process, Anti Aging, Baby Boomers, senior citizens, seniors
