Watching those initials!

When naming children, one thing which often goes unnoticed is the initials. With the every increasing use of acronyms through things such as Netspeak: Lol, Brb as well as just old abbreviations such as RIP or short words such as Fat, there are many combinations which you must look out for.

A friend of mine has the initials J.E.W. And while this is no big deal, its a little weird and often made fun of (in a joking manner) by friends. The thing is, with a bit of wisdom this could have easily been avoided.

Don't believe me? Theres lots of cases. Its a little hard to find with Google image searches like I normally do but check out:

http://www.letspartytonight.com/index.php?l=102&section=weddings_and_parties&cat=4&sub=15&key=670

Felicity Anne Gorman. FAG. Lovely. To be fair this could have been done by marriage.

Two Myspaces of girls name Charlotte and Clare with the initials COK.

The first lovely girl, Charlotte, actually goes by the nickname "COK" so future parents, if you want your child to grow up like this go ahead and give them a negative initials:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=3066698

The other girl, Clare, notes right at the top of her profile how unfortunate her initials are, clearly showing a dislike for it:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=49091115

At least the second one seems normal, theres hope for people with dodgy initials yet!

Heres a simple guide for parents, look for the letter of your last name.

Last name starting with B..
First name: S, Second name: O = SOB

Last name starting with D..
First name: M, Second name: A = MAD

Last name starting with E..
First name: A, Second name: P = APE
First name: D, Second name: I= DIE
First name: P, Second name: E = PEE

Last name starting with G..
First name: H, Second name: O = HOG
First name: P, Second name: I = PIG

Last name starting with K..
First name: K, Second name: K = KKK

Last name starting with N..
First name: S, Second name: I = SIN

Last name starting with P..
First name:R, Second name: I = RIP

Last name starting with R..
First name: H, Second name: O = HOR

Last name starting with T..
First name:F, Second name:A = FAT
First name: R, Second name: A = RAT
First name: R, Second name: O = ROT
First name: Z, Second name: I= ZIT

Thats not a comprehensive list by any means, but gives a good indication. Parents need to check.

Parents of little girls must also beware. Steer clear from certain first and second name initials which may lead to problems when they marry.
Initials such as F.A can be troublesome is she marries someone with the last name Thomas, Gilbert or Riley-Thomspon.
Once you've chosen out your name, try the first two letters with the rest of the name. For example, if you've chosen the name Jamie Abigail do a quick test by trying it out with the alphabet
Like
Ja- A
Ja- B
Ja- C
Ja- D
And so on and so forth, if JAC and JAB are the worst you can come up with then the initials are safe!

There are ways of using initials in a positive way, however. Short words such as Joy: Jane Olivia Yale could be done.
Or, a clever little trick is if you're choosing a short name is to spell it out in the initials.
For example: Jai Alexander Irvin. Which spells out Jai.

For a short list of suggestions (NB: Middle names can certainly be changed, and different names can be substituted such as Alison Louise for ALI etc.):

Last name starting with A..
Mia Isabelle: MIA
Tia Imogen: TIA

Last name starting with B..
Sebastian Elias: SEB

Last name starting with C..
Nicolette Ivy or Nicholas Isaiah: NIC
Victoria Iris: VIC
Zachary Alexander: ZAC

Last name starting with D..
Cedric Elliot: CED

Last name starting with E..
Zoe Olivia: ZOE
Joel Owen: JOE

Last name starting with H..
Ashley Hazel or Ashton Harley: ASH

Last name starting with I..
Abigail Beatrice: ABI
Alexandra Louise: ALI
Annabelle Natalie: ANI
Elizabeth Laine: ELI
Emily Madison: EMI
Olivia Louise or Oliver Luke: OLI
Eli Lucas: ELI
Jai Alexander: JAI

Last name starting with L..
Belinda Emerson: BEL
Hallie Alison: HAL
Melissa Emily: MEL
Sally Ava: SAL
Calvin Alexander: CAL
Malcolm Andrew: MAL
William Isaac: WIL

Last name starting with M..
Dominique Olivia or Dominic Oliver: DOM
Jemima Emily: JEM
Samuel Alexander: SAM
Thomas Oliver: TOM


Last name starting with N..
Monique Olivia: MON
Benjamin Eli: BEN
Vincent Isaac: VIN

Last name starting with O..
Leo Edward: LEO

Last name starting with R..
Lorelei Olivia: LOR

Last name starting with T..
Natalie Ava or Nathan Alexander: NAT
Matthew Alexander: MAT
Patrick Andrew: PAT

Last name starting with U..
Louise Olivia: LOU
Prudence Rachel: PRU


Last name starting with Y..
Ivy Violet: IVY
Shyla Hazel: SHY
Sky Kayla: SKY
Roy Oliver: ROY

Last name starting with Z..
Jazlyn Alice: JAZ

Another way of doing this is to have two middle names if you want to use a four letter name. So
Hope Olivia Pearl Ellis: HOPE.

Comments on the blog? Got some suggestions for changes? Want advice naming your child? Email me at anni.ekate@yahoo.com.au