My daughter is named Tali'Zorah. I suppose I'm crazy : )

[Flutterguy]

So I don't know how they found out, but I just got reached by Bioware to have a chat about Tali. Each day just gets more wild than the last! I'll let you guys know what comes of it.

I understand it's a fun ride for you and everything, but please don't get some sort of sick addiction revolving around exploiting your daughter to get attention for yourself. One Hunny Boo Boo is enough for our planet.

 

[La Barata]

Wow. You haven't even gone into labour yet and you're planning your revenge.

But in all seriousness, this really seems a case of 'Lol! Lookit us, we're quirky, we named our kid something silly!', especially looking at the 'We named our kid something silly, I guess this means we're crazy lol!' title of the thread.

I don't think she'll get teased for it or anything like that. Out of curiosity, am I totally off base about that?

I'm... Not sure it's possible for you to be any further off base if you were on the dark side of Europa. Kids are absolutely VICIOUS. There is an absolutely insane chance this kid is going to be bullied so hard she won't want to leave her room when she's older and in school. Kids will snap up ANYTHING to torment you about, and with an obvious neon glowing 'kick me' sign like a 'lol my parents are quirky lol' name, her school years are going to be a living hell.

I highly doubt you'll listen to a random stranger on the internet, but PLEASE don't put your child through that just so you can get attention and be 'wacky'. It's hard enough to be a kid, and it'll be that much worse with a name like that. And that's not even getting into the fact that nobody will take her seriously as an adult with a name like that.

EDIT:

Aaand it's too late, she's born and the attention has already started flowing. Poor kid...

 

[aramil31]

Sorry if this somehow belongs in gaming discussion.

Anyway, tomorrow my daughter is scheduled to be born. I'm freaking out and all that, but that's not why I'm here. Since day 1, her first name was always going to be Tali'Zorah. It's not necessarily "named after Mass Effect", but rather my wife fell in love with the name during our first playthrough of ME1 many years ago. Confused friends and relatives are told "we wanted a nice Quarian name" just because it's funny to see the confusion become worse.

All that aside, a couple of people have told me that we're nuts for giving a child that name. I like it a lot, I'm assuming she'll like it, and I don't think she'll get teased for it or anything like that. Out of curiosity, am I totally off base about that? For further discussion value, this thread can be about the entire concept of video games being used to inspire names.

It's not necessarily "named after Mass Effect"

Confused friends and relatives are told "we wanted a nice Quarian name"

>"we wanted a nice Quarian name"

>It's not necessarily "named after Mass Effect"

>"Quarian"

>"named after Mass Effect"

I have a bun, a piece of cheese, a slice of meat, some lettuce, tomato, and onions, and they're all stacked inside the bun.

But it's not really a cheeseburger, guys!!1!

 

[TheIronDuke]

Others have already mentioned it but the main problem won't be bullying, as that can happen to normally named kids too. Scientifically and statistically, an unusually named person just has a harder time throughout ALL their life, even without being bullied.
I'm sure we all know that every study done about it shows that even completely nice, open minded, unbiased people will show at least some bias towards more attractive people in almost every way. It's a hard-wired biological thing. Same thing happens with names. People with strange names which we aren't sure how to pronounce statistically get ahead less in life than the Bobs and Sarahs (and have less personal or behavioural problems).

Supposedly, it's not so much about commonness, it's about the difficulty to pronounce or spell, which some have suggested leads to mild confusion and uncomfortableness for those who meet them or read their name for the first time. And, just as with the attractiveness studies, it seems these first impressions count. Other researchers have suggested it may be related to confidence or frustration about having to correct people and explain to people who get their name wrong or give quizzical looks.

So, for all that it matters at this point, I'm lending my voice to those who suggest dropping the Zorah off the first name. All names were unique at some point in history, and there's nothing wrong with making another unique name, but whether read or heard, I can make a pretty educated guess about how to pronounce or write, say, Jessica or Jack. Or Tali.

Plus, forget the bullies, you know 95% of the time she's just going to get Tali anyway.

 

[nyankaty]

snipped the baby pix and replies

What a cutie! Okay that's a lie, I actually think ALL newborn babies are hideous pink raisins but they get cute, heh. But don't take that personally, it's ALL newborn baby humans, they just are too weird looking for me, but I guess since I recognize the extreme emotional connection and helplessness of them, I find them cute in a way. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Sturmlied]

DrunkOnEstus: As I read it is already to late and your daughters is born. (Congratz!)I think you and your wife made the right decision. In my opinion it does not matter where the name comes from. Tali'Zorah is just a beautiful name!

Chances are that it will not make any difference anyway. Kids will always find a way to tease each other.

Names evolve over time anyway and why is it considered bad to give a child a name just because it was first used by a video game character?
There is no negative, silly, insulting, etc. association with this name. It just sounds nice.

All the best to you and your family

Christoph

 

[Britisheagle]

I find it troubling that all of these sources of fiction are perfectly acceptable, but gamers themselves have shown the most shame about their chosen form of media. Also, I've read plenty of comments on other sites linking to this thread from people claiming that they left the Escapist because of how mean-spirited and vicious the forums are, and I have little means of proving them wrong.

Good for you getting your moment in the spot light at the expense of your daughter. People are only expressing how they feel and believe it is not fair. If you like the name so much, legally change your own - that way no harm done.

And welcome to the world of parenthood, as long as you are not as selfish as you have been at the beginning of her life, you will do great and hopefully lead a very good (but tired) life.

 

[Sturmlied]

Good for you getting your moment in the spot light at the expense of your daughter. People are only expressing how they feel and believe it is not fair. If you like the name so much, legally change your own - that way no harm done.

And welcome to the world of parenthood, as long as you are not as selfish as you have been at the beginning of her life, you will do great and hopefully lead a very good (but tired) life.

Why is it selfish to choose a unique and beautiful name for his daughter? There are many names that are used as common names that overtime received other very common meanings (like body parts) and most people would not mind.

The only mistake he made in my opinion is to ask strangers on a forum for there opinion.

 

[CloudAtlas]

I find it troubling that all of these sources of fiction are perfectly acceptable, but gamers themselves have shown the most shame about their chosen form of media.

Gamers are, for once, just real here. It doesn't have to do as much with games as medium at all. First, it is a dislike for overly unique names, no matter their origin. It is also a dislike for parents forcing their fandom onto their children in such a manner. If someone came here and wanted to give her child a very unique name inspired by some currently-but-perhaps-not-in-20-years popular TV series, movie, or book, the response would hardly be more sympathetic. Do you think Khaleesi, Obi Wan Kenobi, or Peeta, or some weird anime name, would fly better? Or Legolas or Arwen, names from a 60 year old hardly obscure work?
And, yes, we also do realize that games aren't held in the same regard as books, movies, or music, not yet anyways. We might wish that would be different, which would require both society to become more accepting and games to mature, but we don't want to make our own kids the spearheads of this effort without their consent, and we don't want them to suffer from that.

Also, I've read plenty of comments on other sites linking to this thread from people claiming that they left the Escapist because of how mean-spirited and vicious the forums are, and I have little means of proving them wrong.

I was actually very surprised how much people cared about the future well-being of a child that they don't know at all, and the critical distance and they displayed towards their own fandom in doing so. Sure, it certainly helped that you could criticize someone in the process, but that doesn't invalidate that they cared.
Truly vicious comments like "you're horrible parents" or "you shouldn't have children" were actually very rare. But calling your decision a bad parenting decision is direct, yes, and not exactly minced, but hardly vicious, and most people didn't go nearly as far.

Someone people already voiced the sentiment that you just came here looking for validation for your decision. You know, I don't believe that's true, even though it very much appears this way now. But in your first statement you expressed some doubts about whether you're "totally off base" with this name. And all that people here did was telling you that, yes, you're right to have these doubts, your doubts are totally valid!
But when facing this criticism, you became very defensive about it, which is only understandable in the situation you're in, but still unfortunate. You seem to have explained it to yourself that you got negative reactions because people are just assholes, but not because they genuinely care and genuinely think it is a bad idea. Instead of embracing the criticism, and thinking about the arguments forwarded here, you became even more convinced of your decision, and brushed all the doubts you yourself had away.

 

[R4ptur3]

Congrats estus on the birth of tali! Hopefully she gives you many years of happiness (until she becomes a teenager of course xD)

On a side note, while it is completely different circumstances, my name is Christopher Robinson, which is very close to the character Christopher Robin from Winnie the pooh. Regardless of the son at the end of my last name people still saw the connection from the cartoon character (some people still do), but I was never teased. The worst I got was 'how is Winnie the pooh doing?' The fact is, if tali has friends around her when she goes to school she will be fine.

Congrats again.

 

[CloudAtlas]

Good for you getting your moment in the spot light at the expense of your daughter. People are only expressing how they feel and believe it is not fair. If you like the name so much, legally change your own - that way no harm done.

And welcome to the world of parenthood, as long as you are not as selfish as you have been at the beginning of her life, you will do great and hopefully lead a very good (but tired) life.

Why is it selfish to choose a unique and beautiful name for his daughter? There are many names that are used as common names that overtime received other very common meanings (like body parts) and most people would not mind.

The only mistake he made in my opinion is to ask strangers on a forum for there opinion.

It is selfish to force one's own fandom unto the child by choosing such a name, in the same vein as it would be selfish to, for example, push your child to become a doctor just because you always wanted to be one but couldn't or didn't manage for whatever reason. It is selfish if you choose a name only because it carries lots of meaning to you even if it doesn't for the child who has to wear it.
Choosing an overly unique name closely associated with a certain character or figure is not good because it forces a bit the identity of this character on the child, making it harder for the child to forge its own. And chances are that a child's character turns out to be quite different than what is associated with it's namesake. If you give it a name with very specific associations, these chances are pretty great.

We want our names to be remembered for the things we did, we don't want to be remembered for the names someone gave us.

 

[CloudAtlas]

On a side note, while it is completely different circumstances, my name is Christopher Robinson, which is very close to the character Christopher Robin from Winnie the pooh. Regardless of the son at the end of my last name people still saw the connection from the cartoon character (some people still do), but I was never teased. The worst I got was 'how is Winnie the pooh doing?' The fact is, if tali has friends around her when she goes to school she will be fine.

Congrats again.

Winnie teh Pooh is more famous now than Christopher Columbus or Robinson Crusoe? What has this world come to...

 

[Queen Michael]

Congrats on that adorable little cutie! And congrats on the name, too. It's a beautiful name, and that's all that matters. I'm glad you didn't let potential bullies in her future decide if she should get a unique name.

 

[Sturmlied]

It is selfish to force one's own fandom unto the child by choosing such a name, in the same vein as it would be selfish to, for example, push your child to become a doctor just because you always wanted to be one but couldn't or didn't manage for whatever reason. It is selfish if you choose a name only because it carries lots of meaning to you even if it doesn't for the child who has to wear it.
Choosing an overly unique name closely associated with a certain character or figure is not good because it forces a bit the identity of this character on the child, making it harder for the child to forge its own. And chances are that a child's character turns out to be quite different than what is associated with it's namesake. If you give it a name with very specific associations, these chances are pretty great.

We want our names to be remembered for the things we did, we don't want to be remembered for the names someone gave us.

Every name is associated with something "You are named after your grandfather." "You are named after the guy who saved my life in the war." "Your are named after that movie star."
Many parents choose a name from books because it mean "Brave Warrior" or "Kind soul" or because it once belonged to this saint or this person.

How is that different?

And every kid is growing up with people around him or her that have expectations of how he or she should turn out. Be a good student, be good at football, to behave.... It's a burden we all have to overcome.

the chances are also pretty good that in 10-15 years most people will not remember the character the name is based on. Maybe there will be a famous musician, doctor, scientist or artist named Tali'Zorah Rose

 

[[REDACTED]]

Gamers are, for once, just real here. It doesn't have to do as much with games as medium at all. First, it is a dislike for overly unique names, no matter their origin. It is also a dislike for parents forcing their fandom onto their children in such a manner. If someone came here and wanted to give her child a very unique name inspired by some currently-but-perhaps-not-in-20-years popular TV series, movie, or book, the response would hardly be more sympathetic. Do you think Khaleesi, Obi Wan Kenobi, or Peeta, or some weird anime name, would fly better? Or Legolas or Arwen, names from a 60 year old hardly obscure work?
And, yes, we also do realize that games aren't held in the same regard as books, movies, or music, not yet anyways. We might wish that would be different, which would require both society to become more accepting and games to mature, but we don't want to make our own kids the spearheads of this effort without their consent, and we don't want them to suffer from that.

Also, I've read plenty of comments on other sites linking to this thread from people claiming that they left the Escapist because of how mean-spirited and vicious the forums are, and I have little means of proving them wrong.

I was actually very surprised how much people cared about the future well-being of a child that they don't know at all, and the critical distance and they displayed towards their own fandom in doing so. Sure, it certainly helped that you could criticize someone in the process, but that doesn't invalidate that they cared.
Truly vicious comments like "you're horrible parents" or "you shouldn't have children" were actually very rare. But calling your decision a bad parenting decision is direct, yes, and not exactly minced, but hardly vicious, and most people didn't go nearly as far.

Someone people already voiced the sentiment that you just came here looking for validation for your decision. You know, I don't believe that's true, even though it very much appears this way now. But in your first statement you expressed some doubts about whether you're "totally off base" with this name. And all that people here did was telling you that, yes, you're right to have these doubts, your doubts are totally valid!
But when facing this criticism, you became very defensive about it, which is only understandable in the situation you're in, but still unfortunate. You seem to have explained it to yourself that you got negative reactions because people are just assholes, but not because they genuinely care and genuinely think it is a bad idea. Instead of embracing the criticism, and thinking about the arguments forwarded here, you became even more convinced of your decision, and brushed all the doubts you yourself had away.

Thank you for perfectly wording just about every problem I had with the name but was too incoherent and shouty to adequately express. @DrunkOnEstus: If you ignore every critical comment in this thread and just look at this one, you'll get a much better view of what our problem with the name actually is. I know we may have gone a bit overboard with the vociferousness of our response, but I would hate for you to misunderstand where we're coming from on this.

 

[Frost27]

Are you naming her Tali'Zora or Tali?

Tali = Good (well, acceptable) idea
Tali'Zora = Terrible idea

I have no problem with people naming their kids after media and whatnot but choose something normal if you're going to do that. Parents think that naming their kids with a unique name let's them stand out and it does...but not in a good way. Your child is a person, not a fashion accessory or toy for you to break out at parties.

The kids gonna get teased and she's going to have to tell people how to spell her freaking name for her entire life (assuming she doesn't change it the second she's legally allowed to).

I agree. Tali by itself is cute and works well but the 'Zorah is too much and as Tippy said, it will add lifelong inconvenience and even embarassment. If you HAVE to have the rest, drop the apostrophe and make Zorah her middle name. Bonus points if your last name is Shepherd.

 

[JPArbiter]

to the OP, both of my sons are named after characters from the Battletech Franchise... what's more at my wife's request. So you are not alone in this action. Stand tall be proud.

 

[Movitz]

Just name her Tali, it's apperently a total legit name, at least if that person on Master Chef is not also named after the video game character.

 

[Generalissimo]

Congrats on that adorable little cutie! And congrats on the name, too. It's a beautiful name, and that's all that matters. I'm glad you didn't let potential bullies in her future decide if she should get a unique name.

i don't mean to be a pessimist, but if she decides to google her name one day, don't be surprised i she's...maybe a little annoyed.

just sayin.