Yes, the problem is bigger than what they are named, but there DOES seem to be an association with the type of parent who would choose to name their child something peculiar, and they tend to also parent a certain way.
I just took my daughter to the park the other day. The children's play area has a gazebo in the center, and the equipment surrounds it. This was during school hours so most of the kids who were at the park that day were tiny tots not quite ready for school yet.
There were parents like me, who had children who were just a BIT too small to play on the equipment completely alone. We didn't have to have a hold on them the entire time, but we just followed our children, inches away, in case they tripped, fell, or some other kid barreled them over.
There were other parents whose children were old enough to play by themselves, but not quite "there yet" to be out of reach. Those parents circled the equipment, depending where their child was on the structure, and kept watch. They circled almost like vultures (I hate to use such a negative connotation! LOL), but any time their child fell, tripped, etc., Mom or Dad was right there to swoop in and save the day.
...then there was "Marley's" mom. I know her name was "Marley" because her mother said it at least 50,000 times in the hour or so we were at the park.
Marley's mom sat in the gazebo. Marley was just as little as the other children, but she was free to roam the equipment as she wished and Mom parented from afar.
I swear, I think she did it just do she'd have an excuse to say, "Marley" like a broken record.
"Oh, MARLEY, you look so cute on that slide!" "MARLEY, look up so I can get a picture!" "MARLEY! Let that little boy go first, its his turn!" "MARLEY, be careful, that's a wobbly bridge!" "Did you get mud on you, MARLEY?" "Hey, MARLEY, come over and get a sandwich!"
Just on and on and on. I don't even know which kid was Marley, but I will never forget that was her name!
It just seems fitting that the little girl's name was Marley. I assume it was a little girl - I guess it could have been a boy. But in all the time I have been around other parents and their children, its never the "normal, boring" names that are on repeat. I've never heard, "Bob, come here, Bob don't do that, Bob do this, Bob, Bob, Bob!"
Now, I could ask my parents the same question and they WOULD have heard "Bob" because cutesy names weren't that common when I was growing up. Bill Cosby tells a similar story in his "Himself" routine and the child was named, "Jeffrey."
There's always been kids like that, always been parents like that. Its just easier to spot them now because the parents and kids' names often go hand in hand (its not a rule, just an observation).
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