Monday, January 28, 2008

Names

I love my name.

I get a lot of compliments on it.
It's not too unusual, but it's not too popular either.
Sometimes people have trouble spelling it. "Is it Natacha? Natacia? Natascha? Natashia?"
Or pronouncing it: neh-ta-sha / nah-TAW-sha (Americans seem to always pronounce it this way.. Me: 'Hi, I'm Na-tah-sha' Them: 'Hi Na-taw-sha') / naw-taw-sha / nat-ih-sha / NET-ah-sha (as Jimmy said it haha emphasizing the beginning) / na-TAH-sha (the way I say it)
I like it when people pronounce it "the American way" - it makes it sound a bit more sophisticated, but I would never pronounce it that way for myself. A bit weird. Sounds like I'm trying too hard 'cause you have to make your mouth a certain form to say the "aw" part.

Natasha is my 2nd name.
Emily is my official first. Nobody calls me that though. When I was younger, I always had to ask my mom if I should write "Emily" on the form or "Natasha". She told me to write Emily "Natasha" hah. Now, I just write Natasha.
I dislike the name Emily (for myself). I guess it's because I've known a lot of Emily's I didn't like very much... and a lot of them were plain Janes. I do think the short form, Emmy, is super cute though.
It really surprises me that Emily has topped the charts for baby names at first place since 1999. How come I don't know a lot of Emily babies?
I usually don't even answer to Emily... even if I realize that the substitute teacher might call on that name. It takes a while to sink in... and by that time it's usually too late and I'm "absent".

How did I get my name?
Before I was born (obviously), my parents met my Uncle Albert's looong time girlfriend at the time and her name was Natasha. She's eurasian I believe... Italian + Chinese. We still sort of keep in touch with her and she now has a family of her own - my uncle married someone else... anyway, my parents liked her a lot so they said they'd name their child Natasha. They also met Natasha's best friend who was named Emily and my dad liked that name. But, when I came along, they realized the order "Natasha Emily" didn't flow as well as "Emily Natasha" so that's how my name came to be.

What does "Natasha" mean anyway?
I never knew until I just looked it up 5 minutes ago. My parents obviously chose it for how it sounds - not it's meaning. All I knew was that it was Russian and that there was a famous Russian ballet dancer with my name... and something about Star Trek lol But according to my research, it has Italian or Latin origins. It's just popular in Russia.
It means: Born on Christmas Day/Christ's Birthday (close to Nativity)
haha! I'm so not.... and I'm not even religious.
It's a form of Natalie/Natalia
On a forum, people have said that it means: I'm grateful (in African), Strong, Intelligent, Queen of everything (uh.. I'm doubting this one lol), Beautiful
Wiki Answers: "It is usually used to portray desirable and enviable female characters in film, literature, etc. (Not Boris and Natasha! They were an evil team). Most Natasha's are beautiful. They exude mystery and seduction." lol can't say if I agree with this either.

Nickname: Nat/Natty/Tasha
The only thing I don't like about my name is the short form of it. Nat is a pretty ugly nickname haha but I'm so used to it that it's totally fine.

I gotta say that it's quite neat who possesses this name. Browsing at the "Natasha" group on Facebook.. seems like all races do... especially mixed. In fact, I sometimes get asked if I am mixed (though I really don't think I look it) b/c of my name.... and for ppl who don't realize Eng is a Chinese surname.

It's funny to hear people name their pets Natasha..... "I have a pet snake. Her name is Natasha."... attractive.

I like my name because it's not a weak, prissy name like (.... uh... it's hard to think of one w/out hurting someone's feelings)... Crystal or Angela or Lily, it has a bit of sass and attitude to it... and a bit of an independent sense too.

Although my name seems to be less and less popular over the years (haha it's peak seems to be around when I was born!!) , I think it's a pretty timeless name. Somehow I relate it to Audrey... though I'm not a fan of that name. They have the same feeling to me though.

My name starts to look weird after seeing it so often...

Baby Names

I think baby name trends are pretty interesting... like how celebrity parents name their child wacky names. Seems like people don't really want conventional names. They want unique ones... ones that will hopefully be as unique as their child. If it's not a completely unique name, they want it spelled differently. My Auntie Sandy is like that... my cousin's names are Emerald (after her favourite gem) and Triton (originally supposed to be Titus.....). How conventional is that.
Some baby name trends: Irish names, especially for boys. Ryan, Kevin, Sean, Connor and Brayden... Aedan. (Ooo I like the name Aedan. It reminds me of the cutie on John + Kate Plus 8)
"When it comes to Ireland itself, Irish parents are choosing more internationally common names. The most popular baby boy names in Ireland in 2006 were Sean, Jack, Connor, Adam and James. The top girl name favorites were Sarah, Emma, Katie, Aoife and Sophie. The largest popularity leaps were made by the all American girl names Ava and Lucy, with Ava taking the top sixth spot. So while American parents are choosing their boy names from the Irish baby name pool, Ireland’s parents are reciprocating by crowning their newest family additions with American favorites."

I remember around year 2002, I saw the name Jaden everywhere... it seemed like every second aunt's friend's son was named Jaden/Jaedan/Jaydan/Jaedyn/Jaydyn (haha that spelling looks so girly). It's quite a nice name.. but seriously every 2nd baby had it. Another trend right now is the spelling of the baby's name. Think of the baby's future, parents! I think it'd be quite annoying if someone would always have to correct the pronunciation/spelling of their name. Even at the bookstore, I would scan people's Student ID cards and ask them if they were whoever they were. Sometimes I'd be pretty sure the name was pronounced a certain way but it's different! There was one girl named Kaelian... you'd say it Kay-lee-an, right? Well it was "Keeleeeeen"... whaa???? haha I'm getting so offtopic.. anyway, the name I always have no idea how it's pronounced is Leah or Leigh. I keep on wanting to say "laya" or "lay" but it's almost always "Lee" and only "Laya" once in a while. So weird... and what's with the different spellings of Steven? Stefan... Stephan... how do you know if you say it Steven or actually "stePHawn" psh.

Even though it's not my problem, it irks me when ppl try to be too unique with the spelling of their child's name... like Jesika or Iivy

"My name is Scooter so I thought that I should name my daughter something different also, I named her Peanut. " omg..

It's too bad that some (infamous) celebrities give names certain connotations... like I remember I liked the name Britney/Brittany waaaay before Britney Spears ever became popular.... now who wants to name their kid Britney???

Me? I like traditional/classic (but not so classic like Mary or Elizabeth or Margaret or Anna) with a bit of a twist. Semi-modern. I don't really care for meaning, but it'd be nice to know what the name is associated with.
Kylie: Happens to be Irish. Means graceful and pretty. I like the way it's written in cursive. My mom had a coworker named Mayling (who is actually White) and when she wrote her signature, she connected the y and l together and it flowed really nicely.
Jordan/Jordyn: This can be for a boy or girl. I can't decide if I like the a or y for the spelling for the girl... but definitely the plain "a" for a boy. I think "y's" make it look girly. It means to flow / down flowing ('cause it's related to the River)
Jordan and Kylie happen to be #97 and 66 respectively on the most popular girls names 2006. They were #47 and 48 in 1999 haha
Although I quite like these names and have liked them for almost a decade, I haven't really delved into/studied the possibilities of names so my opinion might change.

Butchea. Whatever name you choose, choose it for yourself. Don't care if other ppl disagree with your choice.
... unless it's a really bad name haha like "Castor" .. that reminds me of Castor Oil.

This is my 101st post! I think I'm going to take a break from blogging this week. I have a LOT on my plate. I have an essay due on Thursday, my Op-Ed 1-2 paragraphs (and a clear idea of what my whole composition will be about that I'll probably have to research throroughly about !!! Possibly on the Pine Beetle + Climate Change or something to do w/ the Kyoto Protocol...) due Tuesday, 2 Japanese quizzes (tons to learn), and 1 article and 2 textbook chapters to read. Will resume on Friday unless something interesting (like if I found this amazing dress that can't wait another day to be put up.. or if Britney Spears does another unthinkable) comes up.

1 comment:

Nat said...

HOW CAN YOU SAY NAT IS AN UGLY NICKNAME?? SNIFFLE

i think nad is worse! naT is so much sharper, fresher!