[adrianka]

This is an interesting thread to read - the tradition of naming the kid in a unique way isn't as strong in Slovakia as it's in the US. I can only guess the reasons. I'd say the tendency to individualism is not that strong with us.

In the past, when you were naming your baby, the registry office could choose to refuse to let you use an eccentric name (like, when people chose to name their baby after a character from a novel and such), and even if these days you have much more freedom, I think somewhere deep within we kind of think that it's not well to name your child in a "weird" way. These days I think such restrictions no longer exist, but sometimes I feel they might, because some people come up with horrible stuff... Some names just don't sound right if you put them next to a Slavic surname, believe me! It's much easier in English - a language that truly allows for anything to become a name without sounding off. :-)

So... I'm a very open-minded person in many things, but when it comes to naming a baby I'm on the conservative side. If I had children I think I'd think about: a) whether I like the name, b) whether it goes well with the surname, c) whether it exists both in Slovak and Luxembourgish context and d) whether I like the meaning of the name.

I see the trouble with popular names, but right now the weird ones are popular hereabouts, so I guess my choice wouldn't be risky from this point of view. :-)

One thing I noticed with my name preferences (and yes, I'm not married and with kids, but I've always liked to come up with names because I've always wanted to be a mother, it's just life took a different turn) is that when I like a name, and then I meet someone who bears this name and it happens to be a person I dislike, I tend to stop liking the name as well. Doesn't exactly widen the choices, eh. :-)

Libby, good luck with naming baby Pritchett, I'm sure you can come up with something you both like and that the kiddo will love as well. :-)

ETA: I forgot to mention that in Slovakia (and other European countries) every day of the year is associated with a name. The names are included in calendars and when it's your name's turn, it's called a "name day". We celebrate these; it's not as huge as a birthday, but still. When you name your kid with a non-calendar name, you rob it of a chance to have a name day. So I'd never do it. :-)

But I think this tradition might be the reason why "weird", i.e. non-calendar names are not that huge in our country.