The Naaaaame Gaaaaaaame

I said now come on everybody, now let’s play a gaaame.

I always liked to have guys named Chuck around when we played the name game in middle school.

Anyway, we’ve been thinking about names for our little girl, and we have one we really like.

Thalia -

THALEIA (or Thalia) was one of the nine Mousai, the goddesses of music, song and dance.

In Classical times, when the Mousai were assigned specific artistic and literary spheres, Thaleia was named Muse of comedy and idyllic poetry, and portrayed holding a comic mask, or a shepherd’s staff or wreath of ivy.
–From Theoi.com (more about Thalia at the link)

It is important to me to give my daughter a unique name with a sense of history. When I think about what values I want to instill in my daughter, I think of wisdom, respect, creativity, humility, lightheartedness, a respect for the earth… I’ll stop there. “Thalia” seems to embody these values and gives them a historical context.

That, and it’s really low on the Top 1000 Baby Names in America list (#668), which is important to me. Our first name idea was Madison, which is now the 2nd most common name in America for little girls. Imagine losing your kid in a crowd, calling out their name, and having 12 little heads turn around. Not my cup of tea.

On the downside, Thalia could grow up with a “Boy Named Sue” complex - constantly having to explain her name, never finding a keychain or bike license plate with her moniker, etc. I don’t mind that so much though - being unique is something of great value.

Speaking of “Unique” - it’s #937 on the list. Can you believe that?

So, what do you think? Like it? Hate it? Don’t care? Come on people- let us know. Just remember, Thalia (if that becomes her name) will read this one day!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, February 7th, 2007 at 4:46 pm and is filed under The family. You can follow responses to this entry from the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

7 Responses to “The Naaaaame Gaaaaaaame”

  1. Rebecca
    2/8/07

    I love this name, great choice!

  2. Carolyn
    2/8/07

    I love it. I like unusual and different names that have a meaning. I named my daughter Kara (in Italian spelled with a ‘C’ it means darling). I have always liked the goddess and god stories of ancient time. And don’t worry about not finding her name on things, most places allow you to special order them.

    Just be aware that if she doesn’t like it and even if she does it will probably get shorten. I figured if my daughter’s got shorten it would be to Kari. Nope her friends call her KK ????. One other thing to keep in mind is can kids rhyme it with something else or change a letter or two and come up with a mean name. Kids are mean when you get in school and you just might want to keep that in mind. My son gets called Bratley all the time. But I have heard worse for other kids.

    Hopefully this comment doesn’t scare you from choosing a name you like. If you raise your daughter strong, she’ll let everything else roll off her back. And if she gets the qualities of her namesake, you’ve got nothing to worry about.

  3. Shawn
    2/8/07

    I hear ya, Carolyn. “Shawn Plew” was truncated and morphed into “Shamu” in elementary school. It was brutal. It’s going to happen with any name.

    She’ll always have “Lynn” to fall back on - that will be her middle name no matter what.

  4. Brandy
    2/9/07

    I just can’t get past the fact that its another “T” name… Sarah would be so proud and that’s all she will talk about:)

  5. Shawn
    2/9/07

    Meh. This baby’s last name is Plew, not Vetter.

    Besides, if she’s a source of pride for the family then we must be doing something right.

  6. Devon
    2/9/07

    Oooh, that’s cute!
    I keep thinking Alba [freaking The Time Traveler's Wife has brainwashed me]. XD

  7. Denise
    2/10/07

    I will agree the Thalia is different, but cool. Whatever the name she will be loved.

    (Sarah won’t care about the name its not one of her kids!!!)

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