Baby Names (a Personal Fascination, and a Gateway to Political Proselytizing!!!

[BuddyRey]

OK, I know this is going to sound really, really lame to some of you, but I'm into names. Names are a fascination, a fixation, and even an obsession with me. Everything is in a name; attributes, potentials, airs, presuppositions, etc., and yet they are almost never a fixture of conversation or afterthought in modern society. I have dreams of what I'll name my children someday, and I frequent baby-naming sites on the web to find noms de guerre that are yet undiscovered, so that I might add to the list I am keeping of a multitude of interesting handles for my hypothetical future progeny.

One particular site I visit with somewhat alarming frequency is babynames.com, since it allows you to maintain a customized, editable list of favorite nomenclatural candidates that is attached to one's account. One feature of the site allows one to submit ideas for site-featured, user-generated "theme lists" that other users may peruse. Today, I sent them this list, which took a lot of research (and a lot of geekitude) to compile. It is entitled "Baby Names from Classical Liberal, Libertarian, and Individualist-Anarchist Theory"! Here was the body of my "pitch":

"Kind of esoteric, but it'd make a great list! Mostly, these picks would make very suitable middle names, and the list should definitely include:

Lysander
Auberon
Spencer
Murray
Rothbard
Proudhon
Godwin
Stirner
Tucker
Hayek
Roarke
Rand
Galt
Voltairine
Llewellyn
Rockwell
Bastiat
Thoreau
Nock
Nozick
Hazlitt
Jefferson
Konkin
LeFevre
Paine
Molinari
Castille
Ruwart

...to name just a few. ;-) "

Hopefully, whoever's in charge of this site will read this, become intrigued, and investigate classical liberalism, libertarianism, and individualist-anarchist theory further. I doubt it, but it was worth a shot!

[2orb]

Our ten month old is named Henry David

[BuddyRey]

Our ten month old is named Henry David

Nice!!!!!!!!!! Good choice!

I consider it an unofficial mandate of every Ron Paul Revolutionary to affix to their spawn some sort of liberty-related appellation!!!

Well, maybe not a "mandate", but it's a darned cool idea!

[heavenlyboy34]

Not lame at all, OP. Authors spend hours deciding on names for characters because names set up expectations. You should get into etymology-it will teach you about the origins of names, along with words in general.

P.S. I don't see Frederic Bastiat on your list! :O

[nate895]

I am not sure how I will name my children, my list of boy options is:

Thomas Jefferson Evans
Ronald Paul Evans
Thomas Jackson Evans
(insert political/military hero first and last name) Evans

[nate895]

P.S. I don't see Frederic Bastiat on your list! :O

Bastiat is there.

[BuddyRey]

Not lame at all, OP. Authors spend hours deciding on names for characters because names set up expectations. You should get into etymology-it will teach you about the origins of names, along with words in general.

P.S. I don't see Frederic Bastiat on your list! :O

Thank you, Heavenlyboy. That is very good advice, and I can already tell you that I am "et up" with a love for etymology!

D'oh!!! You're right! I put "Bastiat" on my list, but not "Frederick", which would have been a triple-header, as it was the first name of Frederick Bastiat, Frederick Hayek, and Frederick Douglass; three highly famed and historically significant liberty-lovers!

Looking back, I'm not sure I should have included Proudhon, as his most famous quote continues to be "Property is theft!" Most historians consider him an Individualist-Anarchist, but I'm not sure how one can fit this mold without supporting property rights!

Voltairine de Cleyre also flirted with the Collecitivist wing of Anarchism in her later years, but I included her because she started off a rabid individualist and really had it out with Emma Goldman a time or two!

[2orb]

My first name is Paul however my wife didn't like the name Ronald. You can see where I was trying to take it but she wouldn't relent.

[BuddyRey]

My first name is Paul however my wife didn't like the name Ronald. You can see where I was trying to take it but she wouldn't relent.

I can see where your wife was coming from with regard to her dislike of the name Ronald. But you could always derive Ron as a diminutive, from a full first name which has Ron as its tail end, like Auberon (which, ironically, is on my list, since it was the first name of Auberon Herbert, the founder of Voluntaryism!) Maybe next time!

[constituent]

One day, if we have a boy, my wife and i have decided on Caractacus.

[Natalie]

If somebody ever gets married, I think a perfect baby name would be Ron Paul. I think it's perfect, considering you know who met at a Ron Paul meetup.

[BuddyRey]

Shameless self-blump!

[Danke]

This website belongs to a Ron Paul supporter:

http://www.yeahbaby.com/

[heavenlyboy34]

Here's an idea-Jefferson Davis. (I don't know if that's been covered, I forgot to check)

[nate895]

Here's an idea-Jefferson Davis. (I don't know if that's been covered, I forgot to check)

I have him under "other political/military heroes," I'd name my kid after Davis if the BS isn't rampant where I live when I move down South.

[BuddyRey]

Bump for preggers Paulites!

[Old Ducker]

Imina be the odd man out on the liberty baby stuff. My opinion is that its morally wrong to inculcate your values, other than those that govern moral behavior, into your children. The role of a parent, is to guide them to find their own path in life, not copy or adapt your own. It's a facet of unconditional love.

[BuddyRey]

Imina be the odd man out on the liberty baby stuff. My opinion is that its morally wrong to inculcate your values, other than those that govern moral behavior, into your children. The role of a parent, is to guide them to find their own path in life, not copy or adapt your own. It's a facet of unconditional love.

I completely agree with you, OD. I'd never advise someone to inculcate their children into any viewpoint, whether religious or political, because I've seen the consequences of this myself. But I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with naming your child after somebody you admire. After all, a lot of parents name their kids after themselves, their ancestors, or even Biblical figures. This list is more of a novelty than anything.

[kkassam]

OK, I recognize all the names and their origins but Castille. Care to enlighten?

[BuddyRey]

OK, I recognize all the names and their origins but Castille. Care to enlighten?

Wow...I'll have to do a little browsing to find that one again. I don't remember where it came from either!

[Philhelm]

*sigh* I got hosed with the name Philip Andrew Foster. It sounds so stiff and proper. It would be a great name if I had a title of nobility though. What's interesting is that I refer to myself as Philip, but my friends always call me Phil. Perhaps there's some subconscious self-resignation to my name to keep it stiff and proper.

As far as names go, I think they are interesting too. I think that my favorite names are the Germanic ones. They simply have a certain strength to them. My favorite name is Wilhelm (pronounced Vil-helm), for whatever reason. Well, that gives some of the backstory to my screen name.

[Krugerrand]

I completely agree with you, OD. I'd never advise someone to inculcate their children into any viewpoint, whether religious or political, because I've seen the consequences of this myself. But I don't think there's anything necessarily wrong with naming your child after somebody you admire. After all, a lot of parents name their kids after themselves, their ancestors, or even Biblical figures. This list is more of a novelty than anything.

I have to emphatically disagree. Our children will be taught leftist dribble in schools. How can we expect them to realize its fallacies if we do not steer them towards the values of liberty? Children should be taught the importance of liberty and the free market from a young age - not forced to discover it on their own after being buried in statist crap.

Also - consider a Hindu couple. The believe their Hindu faith. Why would anybody expect them not to teach that Hindu faith to their children? That would be poor parenting to not share what they believe with their children. The same goes for any other faith. If you believe it, you should teach it to your children.

[Krugerrand]

One day, if we have a boy, my wife and i have decided on Caractacus.

My daughter has been on a "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" kick recently - which came to mind when I read Caractacus.

[Krugerrand]

Another point to consider when naming a child is future privacy. How easily do you want a web search return information on your child? The more unique the name, the easier it is to find information on somebody. Sometimes it can be advantageous to be able to slip into the mob of everybody undetectable.

My last name is not particularly common, so the point for me is somewhat moot.

[fisharmor]

I have to emphatically disagree. Our children will be taught leftist dribble in schools. How can we expect them to realize its fallacies if we do not steer them towards the values of liberty? Children should be taught the importance of liberty and the free market from a young age - not forced to discover it on their own after being buried in statist crap.

Also - consider a Hindu couple. The believe their Hindu faith. Why would anybody expect them not to teach that Hindu faith to their children? That would be poor parenting to not share what they believe with their children. The same goes for any other faith. If you believe it, you should teach it to your children.

+1000
If you're not teaching your values to your children, they're going to pick up values somewhere else. How can a liberty minded person be supportive of all the "it's the video games ruining our children" crap? That's essentially what is being proposed: let other people raise your kids, and complain and suck up to the government when it's not working out the way you'd hoped.

And as far as religion goes: if you're not teaching it to your kids, you don't really believe it, and you're wasting your time with it yourself.


Back OT: My name is Joseph. I know I was named for my uncle and grandfather, and they were undoubtedly named after either Christ's guardian or Jacob's son. But in truth, ever since I was a kid, the namesake I've most admired is Chief Joseph.

[brandon]

I'll probably name a son Ron. My dad's name is Ron too...so it will be like a double tribute.

[Old Ducker]

I have to emphatically disagree. Our children will be taught leftist dribble in schools. How can we expect them to realize its fallacies if we do not steer them towards the values of liberty? Children should be taught the importance of liberty and the free market from a young age - not forced to discover it on their own after being buried in statist crap.

Also - consider a Hindu couple. The believe their Hindu faith. Why would anybody expect them not to teach that Hindu faith to their children? That would be poor parenting to not share what they believe with their children. The same goes for any other faith. If you believe it, you should teach it to your children.

I know I'm in the minority. I understand your viewpoint and it's the prevalent view. If I were a Hindu, I wouldnt want my kids to accept it simply because I forced it on them. The same goes with liberty. If its true, they'll find it themselves, especially since they'll be exposed to it through me.

I abide by the instruction of a college professor of mine who said, "I cann't teach you anything, all I can do is point the way."