What's in a Name?

Sorry Shakespeare, but names do matter, even if a rose still smells sweet. A name has to sound nice cross-culturally, not be old-fashioned, not too radical, but not commonly bland. The mouthflow and acoustics needs to be smooth, and it should be hard to tease on the playground. Sounds more like wine tasting than name picking.

My initial idea to name our child after an ethnic food or winery was promptly vetoed, and soon the name well ran dry. Creative name picking is not my forte - I was raised in a house where our cat was called simply “kitty” in Hebrew. That’s either very lazy or very Zen.

The broader American Jewish community isn’t giving us guidance either, since they like to name kids after dead relatives. Super creepy. Doesn’t the kid deserve a fresh name with a fresh start? (wait – wait -”Mentos” – the freshmaker!)

On the other hand, the new Israeli names all sound like titles of Cirque Du Soleil shows. Sure, they have hip, cool names for kids now – but it’s the equivalent of 60’s Woodstock children such as “Moonbeam” and “Sunshine”. My nephews’ name meanings are “water well”, “half-moon”, and “amber”.

We could also be very cruel and name the boy “Nimrod” and the girl “Osnat”. Perhaps “Akugoso” – Japanese for “cute little shit”. That should build character.

So for now, baby has to wait for an appropriate name. At least we can agree on our future cat’s name – “Miso”