The clickbait caught me. Oh no, I thought. What diabolical, unspellable, unpronounceable, “creative” first name has an innocent babe been saddled with now? There is an “unethical names” tag on Ethics Alarms. It’s a topic that both interests and amuses me: of course parents who inflict weird names on their offspring are irresponsible, incompetent, selfish and unethical. “A Boy Named Sue” is the template for the breed.
Let’s see: in the past EA has discussed children named “Harland,” in the case of parents who accepted money to name their little girl after Col. Sanders of “finger-lickin’ good” fame; the famous Hogg sisters, Ura and Ima; the parents who were blocked from naming a kid “Messiah,” Kim and Kanye’s child “North West;” a Hawaiian thug named Alkapone Cruz-Balles; a little girl named “Abcde;” a young woman named Marijuana Pepsi Vandyck; and the American parents who stuck their infant daughter with the name “Chernobyl.”
So what was this latest exotic name parents were under fire for naming their daughter, a name so controversial that People had to feature the mother’s passionate defense of it?
“Love.”
“Love” is not a freak name. Jennifer Love Hewett went through her whole career as a child and ‘Tween actress as Love Hewett. Some sources show that in recent years, approximately 300-400 babies get named “Love” annually in the U.S. In fact, Love is in the top 1,000 most popular names for girls according BabyNames.com. Another source says that there are only 655 Americans named Love, then later states that there have been only about 2,000 children named Love since 1926. Regardless of which stat you use, Love is just not so unusual that anyone should care about it. It certainly is not a name so remarkable that a mother’s “defense” of it warrants a feature in a national magazine, especially not an “Exclusive.” Will People give all the parents who named their kids “Love” equal time? Or does this woman have some information she is using to extort the magazine’s publisher?
Now, the Pittsburgh Pirates have an outfielder nicknamed is “The Password” because his name is Jhostynxon Alirio García. His parents has some explaining to do.
Ethics Alarms 
Well, here’s a name for you: Te’ Quillvion Jones, Jr. Yep. That’s a real name. And he is a “junior.” The mind simply boggles.
jvb
Just wait for “The Password” to have a son who he names The Password García who goes to play for the same team and gets the nickname “Jhostynxon”.
His younger brother, Johanfran García, nicknamed “The Username”, is a professional baseball with the Red Sox. It is not uncommon for Latin American parents to name their children some sort of transliterated English sounding name. It is very common in Honduras and Guatemala. John becomes “Jhon” or some such. So, this isn’t too surprising to me.
jvb
Speaking of ‘sixties sit coms, in “Gilligan’s Island,” Mrs. Howell is always referred to as “Lovey” by Thurston Howell III, played by the incomparable Jim Backus. Come to think of it, one of my best Cuban high school buddies calls his wife “Lovey,” but with his accent it comes out as “Lowy.”
Many years ago I met a young man named Love Hawaii.
Wait: I love Hawaii!
We have a grandson named ‘Catch,’ and according to two internet sources, there are only 18 boys with that name in the US.
Not as exotic as Jhostynxon, though.
I remember Hazel! I loved that program. I’ll have to look for episodes.
I’m so tired of click bait sensationalism. I have never understood enjoyment of gossip, it’s so mean-spirited. It used to be only the check-out counter tabloids that engaged in it, I didn’t foresee the mainstream media sinking as low as it has. It’s disheartening.
Shirley Booth was a renowned, serious Broadway dramatic actress, and the part was out of character. I don’t recall the show being run in repeats much: I bet its on Hulu.
If you loved “Hazel,” you don’t actually remember it. You remember seeing it, not actually it. She was a meddlesome combination of Eve Arden in “The Mothers in Law” and “Alice” in the Brady Bunch, with a pinch of Nanny from Nanny and the Professor.
Harsh but true.
I was going to add something about Mr. Ed… but I thought I’d be nice. And you’re right, outside of Hazel, Shirley Booth was a prolific stage actress. Like Elaine Stritch, perhaps, — both talented and both had that rough exterior, world-weary wit and sharp tongue…
Booth was more accomplished and acclaimed as a lead dramatic actress than Stritch, though. Stritch became a cult figure, thanks to “Company.” Booth won two Tonys for dramas and an Academy Award. Stritch was always in supporting roles.
Booth was more “vulnerable” in her stage persona than Stritch, which is a nice layer if done well. Thelma Ritter was another crusty, world-weary, sarcastic everywoman (“working girl”) on stage. They all deserve credit for being original variations on a theme. You have experience as a director of plays I think.
Very likely! I was 5 or 6 when it was broadcast. I remember liking the actress. I felt a twinge of nostalgia when Jack mentioned it today, but I can’t say I recall episodes. More like a nostalgic fog 🙂
How about this: Female, pronounced Fee-mah-lee. She said her mom explained it by saying that she (mom) delayed naming her, so the hospital “named” her.
One of the rare benefits of working in a jail. 🙂
Given that the vast majority of our inherited names were, at some point in the distant past, literally just words in the common language, Love should past muster.
Alfred = Aelfraed = Elf (wise) Counsel (Anglo Saxon)
Rudolph = Rhuodwulf = Glorious Wolf (Germanic)
Frank = “free man” (germanic)
Israel = “wrestles with God” (Hebrew)
Edward = Eadweard = “wealthy guardian” (Anglo Saxon)
John = Yohanan = “God is Gracious” (Hebrew)
Zachary = Zekharyahu = “God has remembered” (hebrew)
Jennifer/Guinivere = Gwenhwyfar = “Fair one” (welsh)
Sarah = “noblewoman” (Hebrew)
William = Wiljahelmaz = “strong warrior” (Germanic)
Luke = “Lucius” = light bringing or bright (Latin)
Etc
If I had to bust her butt for something, it would be for spending money on a tattoo that makes it look like she was in a bad car accident, has varicose veins on her arm, and/or received a transplant from a long-mummified body.