Conference oass::babynames

    
    	How do you pronounce that?  Like Ondre the Giant? (wrestler)

    I pronounce it like On-dray-a.  Kind of like Andrea but with the
    On instead of An.  Make sense?  I knew one little girl when I was
    in elementary school with that name and it has always made an
    impression on me.  I loved it then and I love it now.  
    
    But everyone thinks it is tooo strange.  I really don't.
    
    Vickie
    

    
    	If you really like the name then use it.  I have a boys and
    a girl's name already set, and I'm not even pregnant.  My fiance
    really has qualms about the boy's, but I like it, and both are 
    different- just like Ondrea.  I prefer unique names as well, but
    try to come up with the worst nickname possible, and if it's TOO
    horrible, then I go on....
    
    -Jeanne

    I like the name.  The name will probably be mistaken for Andrea
    until people are used to it.  Keep the name if you and your husband
    like it.  
    
    What I found when I was searching for my child's name was that not
    everyone was happy with any name I mentioned.  People would say
    to me, "I knew someone with that name and I'll never forget that
    she peed in the street".  I didn't appreciate it.  It would make
    me think awful things whenever I thought of the name.  
    
    My husband and I didn't chose my son's name until he was a week
    over due.  Once he was born people were surprised with the name
    because they thought it was the name we chose months before.
    
    If you like Ondrea, keep it.  
    
    Anna
    
    
    

    
    What a lovely name!
    
    I can understand your reasoning for picking an unusual name, but 
    consider the small but repetitious and annoying tribulations 
    experienced by one who has an unusual spelling to his name.  My best 
    friend and possibly the world's greatest human being alive today (he's 
    dictating to me at this very moment :-) ), has a not-so-uncommon first 
    name of Rodger.  Notice the 'd' inserted between the 'o' and the 'g'.  
    Some are familiar with this spelling but most think of R-o-g-e-r when 
    they hear the name spoken.  To make matters worse, his middle name is 
    D, just D.  Notice, as in the style of ancient Hebrew, there are no 
    vowels in the spelling.  Most people think of D-e-e when they hear the 
    name spoken.  This is not an initial; there is no period and it does 
    not stand for something else.  These are small differences, but 
    differences nonetheless.
    
    From first grade on, he was constantly correcting any person trying to
    spell his name such as teachers, counselors, doctors, truant officers, 
    jail clerks, and so on.  Important documents such as his high school 
    diploma, driver's license, marriage license, subpoenas, warrants and so 
    forth have sported various combinations of simple but irksome 
    misspellings.  Not even the passage of time has brought relief.  Today, 
    although a respected and productive member of society, he sees no 
    end to his problem.  Checks are routinely sent back to the bank for 
    reprinting...
    
    Well, I think you get the idea.  It's not a pretty picture.
    
    Question: What does all this mean?
    
    If you use Ondraya (see, she's already having trouble), just make sure 
    to get her social security number right away.  It may be the only thing 
    that maintains her identity, as numbers are rarely misspelled.
    
    Frank
    
    
    P.S. My spell checker wanted to change Rodger's name to Roger!

    My first name is "Themis," who is the goddess of justice in Greek
    mythology.  My parents are from Greece and didn't think anything
    of giving their daughter a name that is uncommon, unpronouceable
    and a big pain.  Do you get my drift?  Avoid unusual names.  My
    name has been an obstruction.  Not only do I have to spell it but
    I also have to correct people's assumptions that I'm a man.  When
    I meet new people or introduce myself on the phone, there is ALWAYS
    a discussion about my name.  I can understand that parents want
    to avoid the trendy names.  However, it is just as important to
    avoid names like mine.  Sure, it's fine that people from other
    countries have names that reflect their nationality and whose names
    may not easily roll off the American tongue.  It isn't fine to do
    this to your children.  Although my name is pretty, unique and
    unforgettable, it isn't worth the aggravation.

    Actually it really isn't that unusual.  It is a slightly different
    form of Andrea which is quite common.  The only thing I am trying
    to prevent by naming her Ondrea rather than Andrea is to ensure
    that her name is pronounced correctly and to make sure she never
    is called Andi.  So that is really it.  Although I tend to disagree
    that unusual names are bad.  I think that totally off of the wall
    names may be but not unusual.  I think overall I like them.  I have
    still not totally decided on a name for a girl and if I have one
    it will probably go longer than the baby York without a name.  However,
    most, but not all, of the names that I have been looking at are
    slightly unusual i.e. Brianna for one.  Althought I have been looking
    at otherwise common ones like Jessica.  I don't think I will know
    for sure until it happens.  
    
    Vickie
    

    I thought you might be interested to know, if anyone reads this, that I
    had a girl.  She was born on December 17, 1988 (almost six months now). 
    I didn't name her anything unusual and infact very common.  I had
    several names picked out and just as I had stated, I didn't know until
    she was born.  Then I looked at her and knew exactly.  Jessica Lynn. 
    Common and probably over used, but her to the tee.  
    
    Vickie
    

    
    Hi there!  When naming my son, I felt the same way as you about an
    over-abundance of boys with the same name, so I gave it a lot of
    thought.  Finally, I settled on Mathieu (Flageole being our family
    name).  It was only after a period of six months or so that I noticed
    just how many boys had the same name.  UGH!  
    
    Anyhow, I don't think there is any way to avoid this situation, unless
    you are willing to go for some highly unusual name!  Personally, I've
    become accustomed to it.  Mathieu suits my son, goes well with our
    French family name, can be pronounced Matthew (for our English
    relatives), so what the heck!  Mathieu is now three and a half years
    old.  It amuses him to see that there are other Mathieu's around,
    because like me, he thinks he's pretty unique too!
    
    Good luck!
    
    Sue