Names

Often, as I drive my son to school each morning, we see the same car with the name "Rereshanti" written on the back window. In the black community, it is really popular to make up new names for babies. As my son and I were discussing this particular name, my son said, "I kid you not, there is a girl at my school whose name is Toprameneshia." We questioned how the parents came up with this name. Did they say, "Hmmm, Nachoneshia or Toprameneshia? Well, I think I like Top Ramen better, so Toprameneshia it is." My son told me there is also a pair of twins at his school, a brother and sister, by the name of Mister and Misses.

I don't know about you, but my husband and I thought long and hard about the names we chose. We thought about the implication of possible nick names. We thought about how it sounded with our last name. You have to wonder if some of these names were last second whims. Or maybe I'm wrong. Maybe these parents have always loved the sound of "Top ramen".