Tali'Zorah is 9 days old: An update and a story on fatherhood

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AldUK

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Oct 29, 2010
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Congratulations on becoming a dad. Now that's out of the way, you've made a massive mistake. This whole thing just comes across as selfish to me. You're not thinking of your daughter's future well-being, you're just appeasing your own hobbies through her, which is... kinda despicable.

I just hope she doesn't grow up to resent you over this. Good luck.
 

Ulquiorra4sama

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Congratulations, man. I'm happy to say it sounds like you're really taking the new position very seriously, and i must admit the things you listed there are some of the reasons's i'm NOT ready to be a dad yet :p

As for the name; i'm glad to see you went through with it. I have more faith in humans than to assume your daughter will be shunned at every turn for having an unusual name or mocked by the few people who're gonna notice the reference. I wish you and your daughter all the best in the future.
 

Raikas

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Cute kid, congrats!

Simple Bluff said:
DrunkOnEstus said:
I already encountered the "apostrophe not working in the computer system" at the pediatrician, so they just dropped it and it's "Talizorah" on the paperwork there.
Wait, really? Why would an apostrophe cause an error in the system? Lots of names have apostrophes - well not in their first name, granted, but there's plenty of "O' Neils, O' Connors" etc. That's an awfully silly system.
It's very common incompatibility though. I (and several other people) mentioned it in the OP's original thread - I have a hyphen in my first name (a not uncommon French name, and I live in Canada, so it's not unexpected) and I married into a family where about half the people have an apostrophe in their last name (d'Souza, so again, a not uncommon name) and both things are regularly a pain across a variety of systems.
 

Eldritch Warlord

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MysticSlayer said:
1. He didn't pick the name. His wife did.
2. His wife never played Mass Effect.
3. His wife heard the name while he was playing Mass Effect and simply liked the sound of it unrelated to who the character actually was.
DrunkOnEstus probably should have told his wife that Zorah is her surname, not part of her given name. Then they could have named their daughter Tali Zorah [surname] and all would be well. Though I don't really care that DrunkOnEstus gave his daughter a weird name (if I had a daughter I'd name her Anaximandria), it just seems stupid to giver her a name that's really two different names concatenated by an apostrophe.
 

Johnny Novgorod

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I still think that just because you like how something sounds doesn't make it fit for a human being to live with it. I like Chewbacca. Would I name my kid Chewbacca McCoy? Anyway, the name's staying. She'll get used to it, change it, use the Tali part, whatever. Props on the responsible 9 day fatherhood update. I don't think I could pull a cold turkey on games just like that.
 

Grimh

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Feb 11, 2009
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It just so happens I was thinking about that thread today. Glad to hear the kid's doing well.

As for criticisms about your choice of name, there are worse "normal" names out there already, and kids'll be cruel no matter what you name her if she's the one to be picked out for that.
I was bullied and teased by some assholes and my name had nothing to do with it, and they could have easily used it5 as I share the name with a certain blankie weilding thumbsucking character in Peanuts (is that what it's called in english? It's that thing with snoopy in it). I mean the options for abuse there are great. Amateurs...
Sure people here do have some points but I don't think it's this life rupturing calamity some seem to paint it as.

All you can do really is to try and teach her to be confident and try to make sure she owns her name independently, and not as a person sharing it with that one character in that thing.

*EDIT*
And at least you didn't name her Dovahkiin to get free stuff.
 

Callate

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Congratulations. Your daughter is adorable. And doubly congratulations on quitting smoking; good for you. You're going to want to be there for that little girl for as long as you possibly can.
 

Sigmund Av Volsung

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Dec 11, 2009
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Don't worry yourself man, I know what a bad father is, and you are nothing like that.

Best of luck to you, and to Tali!
 

TheMigrantSoldier

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Nov 12, 2010
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Congrats. At first, I thought you made a mistake but then I rethinked it. People have been naming their children after popular characters (literature, fables, plays, even film) for a very long time. Plus, Tali has its roots in Hebrew.

I'm wondering if she will play the Mass Effect series in the year 20XX. Would be awkward.
 

Camaranth

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Congratulations mate! really glad to hear that she is doing well.

Even though I advised her name to be Tali Zorah Rose [surname] I think the people still berating you are being a little over zealous in their nay saying. Besides you yourself have already shortened it to Tali ;)

So all the best, congratulations again and take good care of that little cutie!
 

Jamieson 90

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I don't get the logic behind the whole "kids will bully other kids anyway so let's just give them one more reason to bully our kid," argument. I mean sure kids really will find any reason to bully other kids but the point is that you minimize the probability of that happening and don't increase it. That's like saying "Sure you're going to get shot at in a warzone anyway so walking into the open whilst waving your arms about isn't going to make any difference," a bit of an exaggeration but you get the point....
 

Elijah Newton

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Sep 17, 2008
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Man, wasn't going to respond but there are some comments on this thread that are just flat-out mean. Granted, this is the internets we all know and love but yeesh. People.

"D'awwww" ain't the half of it. My daughter just turned three, and man I miss the days she was that small. I'm sure you're getting a sense of it but for a time to come she's going to have the most perfect dead-pan reaction to everything. Play it up for laughs but don't let it get to you (or your wife). The youngling loves you like crazy, just has no muscles to show it. One day she'll smile and the top of your head will be blown clean off. Then she'll do it again and again and you'll stop caring about the nagging suspicion that she's got you wrapped around her little finger.

Good on you for quitting smoking. My dad the the cold turkey thing when I was born, same reasons as you. There are bits which'll suck but it can be done and I'm glad to hear you're doing it.

Regarding the name. Awesome. I work for a school district and there isn't a normal to speak of, mine isn't exactly standard and it's never caused problems. Tali will be as fine as any kid. It's cool to be proud of a name as a parent, too, I can't believe folks are giving you grief about this. Maybe - pure speculation here - they haven't named kids yet. Or maybe they have and our opinions differ. Everyone has (or ought to have) a story about how / why they named their kid. Feel good about what you did.

Also, be happy. Be very very happy. And for the love of all that is good, sleep whenever the kid sleeps.



PS - fwiw you're aware that Robin Williams named his daughter Zelda after the videogame, right?
 

Headsprouter

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Welp, there's nothing more I, or anyone, can do to convince you otherwise, now, no matter how many pages we fill.

Honestly I think this name is just going to give you more crap to deal with, but you seem to be facing the crap on and screaming "COME AT ME BRO" so, whatever.

Boy, that was crude. Anyway, best of luck to you, enjoy the kid. Let's hope things continue to run smoothly for a while, at least.
 

EternallyBored

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Jun 17, 2013
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Simple Bluff said:
DrunkOnEstus said:
I already encountered the "apostrophe not working in the computer system" at the pediatrician, so they just dropped it and it's "Talizorah" on the paperwork there.
Wait, really? Why would an apostrophe cause an error in the system? Lots of names have apostrophes - well not in their first name, granted, but there's plenty of "O' Neils, O' Connors" etc. That's an awfully silly system.

Anyway, congratulations on the baby. I didn't look at the pictures but she sounds well. I can't say I like the name Tali'Zorah (Tali sounds really nice on its own though), but you've thought about it a hell of a lot more than I have, and it seems like you done it for the right reasons. You seem to be doing a pretty good job of looking after her, and that's always nice to see.

Thanks for sharing OP. Made my day a little brighter.
Those names can cause problems too, although the last name field can sometimes be set up to handle apostrophes while the first name field isn't. Blame it an lazy programmers not realizing that first names can have apostrophes as well.

OT: I told you about those apostrophes in the last thread, I told you those damn things were going to cause a headache. You're going to have to be careful in the future, as it can cause problems like dropped information and lost applications with large companies and government agencies, so you and eventually your daughter are going to have to make sure you're proactive at following this kind of thing up, having her in the various systems as both Tali'zorah and Talizorah is going to fuck something up somewhere down the line. Be aware of that, and you should be able to catch it before it becomes a major inconvenience.

As for everything else, well my pedantic nerd side kind of rages that you've given her a quarian first and last name for just her first name, but, I've still seen far worse; at least you didn't name her Glittery Moonlight (Yeah, I've seen someone named that, poor girl spent her entire teenage years resenting the hell out of her parents for that). Like I said in the previous thread, I've dealt with kids a lot in my life, quite a few with unique names, and it usually comes down to them either hating their name with a fiery passion, or loving it, there's usually very little middle ground.

Still, you can shorten the name to Tali, and that's a totally legit name, so your kid might very well get away with the apostrophe being the most inconvenient thing about the name growing up. I suppose it depends on how many people make the Mass Effect connection, and what field she wants to get into, if she goes into something like politics or international business relations, she'll probably be practically forced to change her name or officially shorten it to Tali, a major political party is not going to let a major candidate on stage who's name is a blatant reference to a copyrighted work. That happens to people with normal names too though, the public stage often requires that people have a name with the most effectiveness you can try to squeeze out of it.
 

w9496

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It's your decision and I respect it, but I'm kinda surprised that Zorah wasn't the middle name. You could've even gave her 2 middle names if you wanted to keep Rose.

But at least she is healthy. From what I can gather, that's what most parents really want.
 

bossfight1

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I guess if you refer to her as Tali the whole time, and only use "Tali'Zorah' as her full name (Like Catherine, Joseph and Christopher), I suppose it won't raise too many eyebrows. If she has a problem with her name when she learns its origin, though, I'd be ready to work something out with her?maybe call her 'Rose', maybe even change her name legally if she wants. Of course, that's the key thing: what she wants. Her name is hers, and, a few years down the line, she likes it or she doesn't.

But if she DOES stick with it, you had BETTER get her into the habit of using terms like "Keelah" or "Boshtet."
 

laggyteabag

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SourMilk said:
Risingblade said:
God that's gonna be awkward in school
What about getting a job? If kids in schools weren't enough, employers are the real bullies in this as they tend to discriminate on all grounds.
I wouldn't say so, when she starts school I highly doubt that many children are going to know what Tali'Zorah relates to, and in 20 years when she gets a job I highly doubt that anyone who was around when Mass Effect came out will remember that Tali'Zorah was even a character in anything. If the child was in school or in the world of work today then I would imagine that it would be somewhat of an issue, however I cant see it being a problem a few years down the line.
 

EternallyBored

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Laggyteabag said:
SourMilk said:
Risingblade said:
God that's gonna be awkward in school
What about getting a job? If kids in schools weren't enough, employers are the real bullies in this as they tend to discriminate on all grounds.
I wouldn't say so, when she starts school I highly doubt that many children are going to know what Tali'Zorah relates too, and in 20 years when she gets a job I highly doubt that anyone who was around when Mass Effect came out will remember that Tali'Zorah was even a character in anything. If the child was in school or in the world of work today then I would imagine that it would be somewhat of an issue, however I cant see it being a problem a few years down the line.
With work, the problem isn't so much people recognizing it as being from Mass Effect, it's that people tend to give favor to more recognizable names and avoid weirder sounding or foreign names. It's part of the reason so many Asian families in the U.S. name their children typically Westernized names, there have been statistical studies showing that in cases where all other factors are near equal, a person hiring an employee will heavily favor someone with a more normalized or recognizable name. In cases of putting people on the public stage, then yes, the name being recognizable as being from a copyrighted work would likely also cause problems, politics and business do not like that kind of thing on their public face, so if she wants to run for government office or work in public relations, there's a much more likely chance of her name holding her back compared to something like the engineering field where a name isn't as important.