Name In Spotlight: Rainbow

Everyone knew Holly Madison was naming her daughter "something unusual", but were we expecting a baby Rainbow Aurora? Probably not. Aurora is a legit name around the world, a beautiful name for sure, but the spotlight tonight goes to Rainbow. Obviously.

My parents told me that they named me Skye because they liked the sound of "sky", and also the image of peacefulness and tranquility a blue sky evoked to them. The added "e" was just an attempt to make it different (my parents loved alternative spellings...). I've always liked my name and always get positive feedback on it, especially for how "unique" it is to most people. It also made me fond of nature names, especially for boys, and I'll probably carry on that naming style with my kids.

Uncommon Names...

I normally don't talk about stuff that doesn't fit this blog's purpose, but I decided I had to tackle this subject because I felt personally targeted by something I saw. So I read this article about giving kids uncommon names, especially boys, would result in them being depressed and becoming violent. This is the kind of "study" that I just refuse to believe, borderline offensive. What's funny is that the data most of these studies provide is highly debatable.

First, from my experience, I've met several guys with uncommon (not wacky) names that had no problems groing up. I'm also a testimony to that since I'm named Skye, and while there are several Skyler's that go by that as a nickname, few have Skye as a full name. This also applies to guys with the so called "unisex" names, I've never met one that was exclusively bullied because he had a "girls" name. Bullies don't bully someone because of their name, they will bully kids that they feel are "weaker" because of the way they act, they sence fragility and prey on it. Of course they will most likely make fun of their name, but they'll make fun of pretty much everything about them, it won't matter to them if you're a John or a Kerry, both will get teased. I've met several men with unisex names that were never bullied, because they never put themselves in that position, and others named Christopher, Matthew and Michael who were teased to no end - and that's just the way things work when it comes to bullies.