8 ms·
Well, it's too late now, but if there are any other parents out there, for God's sake give your kid a globally unique name. It's all one big namespace now. Th
by Eliezer 18y ago
Well, it's too late now, but if there are any other parents out there, for God's sake give your kid a globally unique name. It's all one big namespace now. There are other Eliezer Yudkowskys out there, the poor bastards, and they'll spend the rest of their lives under my ugly Google shadow.
- yters 18y agoI kind of like sharing names with other people. Plus, names used to mean something about a person, and we all share some sort of qualities with other people. When everyone's completely unique, no one is.
- prakash 18y agoYC startups can point to whichever website PG + JL register. That kind of google karma will easily put George as the #1 George on any of the search engines. Now, if the YC companies are really creative, George will be the 1st result returned even if someone types in "Eliezer Yudkowsky" ;-)
- Eliezer 18y agoGood solution, I suppose. At least the first part. To be fair, I'll be first in line to congratulate PGJL on having not named their kid Jeeebo Graham just because the domain name was available. But I do advise prospective parents to think hard about what the child might think of the name when grown up. Sure, in one sense it would have been awesome, but I'm glad my mother didn't let my father actually name me Luke Skywalker Yudkowsky, Hari Seldon Yudkowsky, or Roderick Frederick Ronald Arnold William MacArthur McBan Yudkowsky. Or similarly: I was once at a science fiction convention, and I saw a young kid - maybe 8 or so - wearing a nametag that said "Vanyel". I walked up to him and said, "Excuse me, is Vanyel your real name?" He said, "Yes." I said, "Are you named after Vanyel Ashkevron?" He said, "Yes." And I said, "Awesome." Which, in a sense, it was - it definitely had a high coolness factor. But what I wanted to ask was, "Did your parents think at all about what sort of problems they might be volunteering their child for, by naming him after one of the most famous gay characters in all of fantasy fiction?" But I didn't ask, because I didn't know if they had explained that part to him yet. Names matter.
- nostrademons 18y agoI know a family that named their kids Luke, Leia, and Jedi. It actually works out fairly well, because Luke and Leia were reasonably common names in my generation (though Leia is usually spelled Leah), and Jedi just goes by Jed.
- tlrobinson 18y agoWell, that's better than "JoyceLynn Aryan Nation Campbell", "Honszlynn Hinler Jeannie Campbell" and "Adolf Hitler Campbell": http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/today/index.ssf/2008/12/holland_township_family_angry.html http://www.lehighvalleylive.com/today/index.ssf/2008/12/holl...
- dfranke 18y agoIf you're going to be creative with a kid's name, you should do it with the middle name. Then it can be up to him whether he wants to use it. My parents gave both my sister and I middle names of Fox, and when she started college my sister begin introducing herself by it.
- prakash 18y agointeresting. maybe the middle name should be left blank and that person could fill it when he/she turns 18!
- LogicHoleFlaw 18y ago"Yes, that's John _____ Smith. Yes, five underscores. Yes, I know. Yes. Ok, thanks for getting that straightened out."
- prakash 18y agothats funny..
- dfranke 18y agoThere are three ex-presidents, two of them living, who I think would have consider more Google juice than a conspiracy of YC startups.
- glymor 18y agoThat's very funny but as someone with an unusual name it's less funny. More seriously your should use a middle name to provide uniqueness. People are basically unable to recognise words they haven't heard before. Complexity in the part of the name used normally is a hassle.
- Dobbs 18y agoI have a unique name Tarrant, after my ancestors from England. Sure there are times when I get annoyed that people can't say my name. I'm at the point where when asked for my name for an order at a restaurant I'll give something like Dobbs, Bob or Joe to make life slightly easier. I will say that I greatly prefer having a unique name over having a common name. I've always loved my name and wouldn't trade it, even with the hassles it can bring.
- megaduck 18y agoI'd say the middle name is the place for common-ness. My first name is unusual (Lon), but my middle name is as common as dirt (David). The first name is a hassle sometimes, but I can always go by my middle name if I want. It also gives me the option to use the elitist "L. David" if I like. I really like having a unique name, and I don't think I'd be happier being a "John Smith". Ultimately, your name is what you make of it. If you're comfortable with it, then other people will be too. It can even be an advantage for getting remembered by people. Just look at Barack Hussein Obama, who seems to be getting along just fine with his "funny name".
- glymor 18y agoJust look at Barack Hussein Obama Actually for much of his early life he went by Barry. Also Barack and Hussein are very common Arabic names.
- Eliezer 18y agoI could wish my name was easier to pronounce, but I would still want first+last to be unique. The thought of people meeting me, typing my name into Google, and getting back a soccer player, frankly does not fill me with joy. Middle name isn't good enough, most people won't type that. Oh, well. I'm sure George Graham will want to change his name anyway at age 21 in order to outrun all the hideously embarrassing Internet posts he made at age 12, should the present world last so long. Maybe you want to give your kid a highly anonymous first+last name, and a unique second+last name, so they can switch to using second+last once they grow up. PS: I know a poor guy who happens to be named David Duke. (I suggested he go by Dave Duke.)
- Eliezer 18y agoYikes, I see this is currently at the top of the page. Please downvote me far enough so that it isn't the first thing Paul and Jessica see when they check in. PS: Congratulations Paul and Jessica.
- point 18y agoLike a GUID?
- tlrobinson 18y agoHi, my name is fbc69d4b-d12b-4c07-8b5c-ed1e41818c5d.
- yummyfajitas 18y agoThis is the sort of reasoning that gives children names like 'Uniq' and 'Latrina'.
- ivankirigin 18y agoI was thinking "Graham Livingston" would be an awesome name.
- BeefingJection 18y agoRemember that a child's name should also be intention-revealing. "George" doesn't do much for you there. Consider some examples-- * Pat: one of the least intention-revealing names possible. The name is androgynous; can we assume the child is as well? Should we assume the child does not wish to buck the status quo (wishes to "stand pat")? * George: doing better. It reveals the sex, at least. There is still the problem that it doesn't say much about what the child does. * Paul Jr.: This is much clearer. The child's sex is clear, as well as its purpose: a lighter, faster implementation of the original Paul Graham (the original, of course, is kept around for reasons of backwards-compatibility). To test a baby name: Imagine a second, very different baby. Will the name work for both babies? Other examples of good baby names include mCarryOnTheFamilyName, fBiologicalImperativeToReproduce, and Buck.