{"id":12215,"date":"2016-07-14T07:35:31","date_gmt":"2016-07-14T11:35:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/?p=12215"},"modified":"2016-11-14T09:55:54","modified_gmt":"2016-11-14T13:55:54","slug":"baby-naming-issue-whats-the-problem-with-ignatius","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/2016\/07\/14\/baby-naming-issue-whats-the-problem-with-ignatius\/","title":{"rendered":"Baby Naming Issue: What’s the Problem with the Name Ignatius?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle,<\/p>\n

I am writing to question the seeming total unpopularity of a name I really love – Ignatius.<\/p>\n

A brief outline: My husband and I are expecting our second child, a boy, in September. We have a son named Theodore. Our preference for boy names is long, traditional names with a cute shortened version for everyday use and familiarity (Theodore goes mostly by Theo and also Ted and Teddy). We also don’t like anything *too* popular.<\/p>\n

Our favourite name for our son is Ignatius with the nickname of Iggy or Nash\/Nashy (and maybe even Nate when he is older if he prefers it).<\/p>\n

My issue is, it seems like such an unpopular choice … Why? It seems to live in the world of Alexander, Theodore, Oliver, Frederick … But no one seems to use it.<\/p>\n

When I research it online it seems to be only discussed as a name considered trendy simply because it is so out of style and even termed ‘ugly’<\/p>\n

We really want and plan to use this name – but I thought it might be good to see some discussion – what’s the problem with Ignatius?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

I wouldn’t have said that the name Ingatius was hanging out with Alexander, Theodore, and Oliver. I would instead have placed it, as The Baby Name Wizard<\/a> does, with Leonidas, Tiberius, Octavius, and Ulysses. I wouldn’t pair it with Theodore: I’d pair it with Theodosius or Theophilus.<\/p>\n

It’s hard to say WHY we’re not really using that category of name in the U.S. right now. Styles come and go, and some names that would have been seriously startling to use two generations ago are now in the Top 100. Perhaps we will soon have a revival of names such as Euphemia and Euclid. But right now, at the time you plan to use it, the name is extremely out of style, and this will be part of the package deal of choosing to use it. You can do a lot of research trying to figure out WHY it isn’t in style, but I suspect it will be as difficult and as simple as figuring out why we’re not currently wearing togas: they just don’t appeal right now. Perhaps next summer the maxi-dress will be completely eclipsed by the new toga trend (they’re not THAT different), but it’s not here yet.<\/p>\n

If you like unusual names, you may want to go ahead and use it anyway, just as if you liked togas I might tell you to go ahead and get down with your bad self. People might be startled (especially when the child’s brother has a Top 100 name), but they’ll get used to it—and may end up envying\/copying your style. But with names, it is good to keep in mind that you are making decisions on someone else’s behalf. We can’t know whether our babies will be the type to love an unusual name or hate it, but it’s still a good idea to consider the issue.<\/p>\n

For me, Ignatius fails the “Would I want this name for myself?” test. I would recommend having your husband perform the Starbucks test on it: ordering a drink at Starbucks (or ordering anything else at any place where they ask your name) and giving Ignatius as his name. I also suggest that whenever you’re in a busy place for the next couple of months (a mall, a restaurant, etc.), you mentally put the name Ignatius on every boy and man you see: it’s like trying a new clothing fashion on a variety of people instead of just on a model. But again, there’s no real way to tell if he’ll be the kind of kid who fits the name or not. You’ve got some good nicknames in mind, which will help in case he does not. And I think the reaction to the name will be more positive once the child is already named: people feel freer to discuss potential issues when the name is not yet a done deal.<\/p>\n

I do think it would make a fabulous middle name. I would not mind at all, if someone asked for my middle name, saying “Euphemia” instead of “Nicole.” I would use it with one of the other names you mention, such as Oliver or Frederick. If it were my choice, I would choose Wesley: wonderful with Theodore, and Wes may be my top favorite boy nickname of all.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Name update:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Hi Swistle,<\/p>\n

I would like to send out a huge ‘thank you’ to you and all the commenters on my recent question about the name Ignatius. I was so thrilled and surprised to see that so many people had a positive and encouraging response to the name and during our decision making process I read and re-read the comments many, many times.<\/p>\n

In the months, weeks, days and even hours before our son’s birth we were back and forth between using Ignatius as a first or middle name. Ultimately we decided to wait until his birth before making the final decision.<\/p>\n

When our son was born we were still back and forth and started calling him Ignatius for the first hour or two, but it didn’t quite feel right. We went back to our finalists and ‘tried on’ our other favourite name and it just seemed to fit. Our son, now six weeks old became<\/p>\n

Henry Ignatius<\/p>\n

We feel very happy and settled with this decision. He is definitely a little Henry and we often call him the full ‘Henry Ignatius’ just because we love hearing it so much.<\/p>\n

Thank you again to everyone for their comments.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi Swistle, I am writing to question the seeming total unpopularity of a name I really love – Ignatius. A brief outline: My husband and I are expecting our second child, a boy, in September. We have a son named Theodore. Our preference for boy names is long, traditional names with a cute shortened version […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12215","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-name-update"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3iyiG-3b1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12215","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12215"}],"version-history":[{"count":18,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12215\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12412,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12215\/revisions\/12412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12215"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12215"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.swistle.com\/babynames\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12215"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}