The Influence Of Names In Young Children

Arguably one of the important decisions people have to make upon becoming parents is picking a name for their newborn child, a handle he can proudly use for the rest of his life. As the naming paradigm seems to be shifting towards more variety and creativity1, the artisans of new names have to pay attention to the thin line between unique and odd, culturally representative and obscure and powerful and offensive. If the impact of their choice was limited to themselves, the state would have no reason to intervene and limit them, but, unfortunately, this is not the case, as the one receiving the name is usually a young child, which is at the same time part of the group most likely to be influenced by names, as a large portion of children consider …show more content…
This effect is even more visible when dealing with young children, as over two thirds of verbal toddlers associate their name with a picture of themselves3 and about 82% of children aged between 4 and 6 and an overwhelming majority of boys consider their name and physical appearance essential to their identity4, suggesting that at a young age, when kids lack any other significant defining factor, they rely on their name. Therefore, if their name bears any negative connotation, it might have problematic social repercussions, such as mocking or bullying and psychological ones, such as increased chances for reduced self esteem and emotional instability5 at a young age. Thus, based on the available evidence, we can state that some form of protective mechanism must be put forth in order to reduce some of those detrimental effects. Additionally, these objectives and the interest of states (that people should have highly practical names) are similar: names should be easily pronounceable, decently short and not pejorative, as it would make it unpleasant for others to utter