American Culture for Picking First Names
Every country has its naming culture characterized by the general norms and the laws enacted to govern the naming systems. The US is one of the countries with fewer laws aimed at governing the system of choosing first names. For instance, the parents are free to determine what first names they would want for their children. This liberty has led to several naming trends and variety of names in the American society. The US, being one of the most culturally diverse nations in the world, has a rich naming culture. This cultural diversity is evident in the variety of first names present in America.
The diverse culture and the freedom of naming have given rise to a lot of creativity in coming up with great first names for American children. American families view names as a way of expressing personality, cultural values, creativity, and identity. In the midst of the overall American culture, some elements of subcultures are expressed through the names. This is why some names are attributed to particular groups of people, such as the Hispanic names, Hebrew names, and Hindu names among many others. Despite this being the case, majority of Americans, especially the urban dwellers, have a common naming culture that is characterized by shared values and defined by the regulatory requirements.
The Free Speech Claus of the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment provide Americans with the liberty to choose any names for their children. Nevertheless, a few regulations that limit the extent to which one can enjoy this freedom exist. These regulations are formulated by different states to guide the naming process for the residents. The limitations are meant for nothing other than administrations purposes. For example, the limitation of the number of letters in a given name is only meant to make recording easier. Moreover, to uphold morality, some states have banned obscenity in names. One outstanding law is one that was formulated by the state of California. The state enforced a law that prohibits the use of diacritical marks on official documents. This means that if your name is Jos', you risk not being registered in the state of California. If you are a young Hispanic woman who has just move to California, be warned that any name you pick for your baby must not have these characters. Failure to adhere to this rule may stir up a lot of record issues for your baby.
The regulations only affect the characters in a name by defining the length and the use of special characters. However, they do not restrict the creativity of the parents when coming up with first names for their children. Since there are no clear law governing the naming process, most American moms seem to go for the popular names, especially the names they have interacted with in the media and entertainment industry. For instance, some mothers chose to give the names of their favorite fictional characters to their children. Others decide to give the names of the celebrities they admire to their children. This is because they would love to see their babies grow up to impact the world the way they feel the celebrities have done.
The decision to name after people we like and admire is psychological. It is born out of the belief that a name defines an individual and influences his or her character. This trend probably explains why many popular first names like James, Michael, among others, have been reproduced over the years. Some American parents believe that a name defines a person's destiny. According to them, a name determines who we marry, where we live, our profession, quality of our lives, and quality of our work. I don't know the extent to which thus is true or false. Maybe it works for them, maybe not. However, research indicates that it informs the decision on the first names that some American parents pick for their children. This group of parents believes so much in the connection that a name creates between the individual, his destiny, and his personality.
The logic behind the influence of a name on the destiny of an individual may be used to explain why American Christians go back to the Bible to source for first names for their children. And even when they do that, they only pick names that would bring out the attributes and destiny they desire for the newborn. For example, a David is desired to exhibit kingly attributes; Solomon is expected to grow up to be use; while Mary repents womanly virtues. Have you ever wondered why the names Cain, Jezebel, Gomer, Delilah, Lot, Ahab, and Nebuchadnezzar are not common among the Christians? This is because these names are associated with negative personal characteristics. The Christian parents fear that giving these names would transfer the negative values to their children; hence, lowering the quality of life they would live as adults. Hence, they parents keep off these names and chose the alternative characters whose names inspire virtue.
American parents use popular names to keep up with the current trend. This is why famous people and characters popularize most of the names in the list of top ten popular first names. An example is the name Arya which rose to popularity thanks to the popular TV series Game of Thrones. This character represents courage, valor, and authenticity and this makes her appeal to many people across the globe and especially in America. Since Game of Thrones started playing in 2014, the name Arya began to rise in popularity among new moms. By 2016, it had claimed the number one spot in the list of the most popular names. Today, it may not be the top of the list; but many children remain to bear this name as a testimony to the popularity of this character. Similarly is the name Malia which was popularized by the first daughter Malia Obama. Since the inauguration of her father, the name began to rise in popularity across the nation as more and more Americans felt the need to associate with Barack Obama and Michelle Obama.
