Pure Puke

We recently gave birth to our daughter, and named her Matilda. For those of you who have experienced the saga of choosing a name for your child, the name selection process begins early in the pregnancy and does not really end until you sign the child's name to the birth certificate papers at the hospital. But my thoughts have again turned to the choice we made for our little girl, prompted by the news that actors Heath Ledger and Michelle Williams also chose this name for their daughter, born just a few weeks after our own.

I experienced a moment of vindication at the news that famous people (those mavericks of the naming community) had chosen the same name Todd and I had chosen (and even picked a middle name, Rose, which we had considered for our Matilda's middle name). Take that, oh bitchy woman online who, when asked for her opinion on the name we were considering, forewent the commonly-acknowledged-online-babynaming-community phrase "NMS" or "Not my style" (meaning, "in a million years, I would never choose that hideous name for my child") choosing instead to use the much more acidic "in my opinion, that name is pure puke."

Seems Heath and Michelle didn't think it was pure puke either.

This elation at not knowing someone else didn't think Matilda was total spinster material quickly faded into slight unease at the thought that the name Matilda might actually become popular.

You see, there are two distinct camps in the baby naming world. There are those that love a name, and will pick it no matter how popular it is. The choose a name simply because the like it, and don't really concern themselves with how popular it is or isn't, or how popular it will or won't be in the future. Then there is a second group, who cringes at the thought that there will be another child with the same name as their child's when roll is taken in first grade. I am decidedly of that camp. When choosing my childrens' names, the top priority for me was that the name be unique. This is not to be confused with the "uneek" namers, who choose commonly used names, but then change the spelling. (See, Haley, Hailey, Halley, or Madison, Madyson, Madisen, etc.) For me, there was little point in naming a child something that will be used by numerous other children she will come across in the future. Isn't the purpose of a name to set a person or object apart from other people or objects?

So my child's name, Matilda, is suddenly spread all over US Weekly, Star, and People magazine. The name Matilda may end up being as talked about as Lourdes, Coco, or Apple. And that is not a good thing in the eyes of someone who was choosing a name based on how unused it has been in the last 50 years. Not only does it not break the top ten or top 100, but it has been in steady decline since the 1880s, and becomes almost non-existent after the 1960s.

At this point in time, Matilda is still quite unpopular. Just the way I like it. Will there be an upswing in Matildas in future years, prompted by it's sudden appearance in popular culture? I sure hope not. But it will be interesting to watch and see.

For a cool graphical display of a name's popularity over time, type a name into The Baby Name Voyager.