Naming Your Son - A Guy's Perspective
By: Jacob Henderson
So, when it came to naming my first son, my wife had about a million ideas, picking everything from Clarence to Icarus to Zavier. I think in her mind, she was imagining telling her girlfriends the great news about our son's name, and something like Cyril would make them think "Wow, that is such a unique and interesting name. I wish I had a stylish name like that for my son"
However, as a guy, I think we have a different approach. We choose names for our offspring based on several key factors:
1. What name would establish our kid as the leader of the pack in school, and not as someone that everybody loves to pick on. So Clarence and Icarus is out unless your kid is built like a tank and already sporting a fully grown beard at birth. Swirling around my head were strong names like Bruce, Gordon, Jake, and Wolfrider. ( ok, my wife probably wouldn't go for the last one. )
2. Next, it's important for us to imagine what our yet to be born son will grow up to be. If he's going to be a hairdresser or a fashion designer then something like Georgio, Zavier, or Ralph might work, but for me, I want my son to grow up to be some sort of sports personality ( like a million other father's out there ), so my new name options included Bobby, Oscar, Dan and……Wolf. ( can't get away from that one, but imagine…..Wolf Henderson…..MVP 4 years in a row……Sports-star, Legend, Hero ) |
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3. After that, it's important for me to consider the fact that my kid will grow up…..hit his rebellious teens, and will resent me for the name I choose for him. The name can't be too common, and it can't be too “out there”. In other words….I can't win here. No matter what name I choose, my kid will pull it apart. What's really important is to choose a name that he won't hate me for after he passes those “oh so wonderful” teenage years.
In my mind, those are the key factors for what I name my son. When he grows up, I want him to say “Thanks dad, for giving me my name. I never got picked on in school, my name has established me in my job as a football legend, and I couldn't have picked a better name myself. It's everything I would want in a name”
So….I've settled on Tom. You can't go wrong with Tom, however, my wife still wants Cyril ( which sounds like a villain name to me, from some movie ). Anyway, my wife and I still have a month to make the final decision for our little bundle of joy.
I wish you all the luck in your baby name selection process.