My son's name
By Sissy15
@sissy15 (12269)
United States
April 30, 2017 4:11am CST
I remember when I named my son I got a lot of different reactions from "Don't name him that" to "I love that name it's so different." My son's name isn't heard very often but it's not a bizarre name which is what I was going for. I like different. Growing up with someone else named Keisha in my class and dealing with the constant confusion made me not want that for my child. I didn't want to give him the most popular name but I also didn't want to give him a name that would get him teased constantly either.
I remember I combined names I liked to get his name. I originally loved the name Colton before it became popular and if I would have had him a few years before I did that would have been his name, ironically one of his best friends in school is named Kolton, which amused me.
I knew my son's name before I had him and my boyfriend, fortunately, liked it and went along with it. I told him it probably wouldn't have mattered if he didn't like it because I loved it and since I was the one who had to carry him and go through labor and since I ultimately did most of the hard stuff after he was born too that my decision was the end all decision. I know some people disagree with that, and that's your right but for me, it was how I felt. I mean I did take his feelings into consideration too, and my son's middle name is after my boyfriend's father or well great uncle (the man who raised him). His other middle name is after my dad.
I told him if we ever had another kid I'd give him a lot more input but I just wanted one son to have this name. He was more than OK with it, although I honestly don't know if it would have mattered or not if he wasn't ok with it. I often wonder if I'd really stick to my guns or not if he wasn't.
I know I've been asked before what his name is and I don't advertise it too often because it's different and my son wouldn't be that difficult to find. His name is Brayland, and really it's not off the wall different but I can honestly say there is no one else in his school with his name. I've heard variations that were similar where the d was missing or where there were other letters switched around but not my son's exact spelling and pronunciation. My son's name seems to fit him and he loves it and we all love it so at the end of the day that's what matters. I remember getting comments about people not liking it and I didn't listen and I'm glad I didn't.
4 people like this
6 responses
@Courtlynn (66921)
• United States
30 Apr 17
I love his name. Think ive only heard one persons nane be close to that
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
30 Apr 17
Thank you, I've heard a few names that were similar. My son loves his name. I like that he is the only kid that has his name in his school. Most people remember him too. His name has always stuck out. I have had people who don't particularly care for it but I don't really care too much. I figure we are all different. As long as our children like their names that's all that matters.
2 people like this
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
30 Apr 17
@Courtlynn That's true, there's a difference between being different and giving your kid a name that is just messed up.
1 person likes this
@Courtlynn (66921)
• United States
30 Apr 17
@sissy15 true but there are those wacky parents eho come up with terrible names
@chrissbergstrom (10767)
• Banks, Oregon
1 May 17
I think that is a great name and very original i dont think i have met a Brayland before.
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
1 May 17
Thanks, not many people have. I think I read that there are 36 people with that name in the US. Only a handful were given that name since 2007. I was surprised that it was that original. I just combined Braylon with Ryland. I didn't even know how original it was until this past year or two. If you look up his name you'll more than likely find him. I liked that it was original without being extremely weird. I looked up his name and actually found him in my search on the first page.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
1 May 17
@chrissbergstrom I've heard Brayden and Braiden but not with the spelling Braydon. I have never seen Brayton. My cousin actually named her son Braylon and he's like 2 now and my son is 6, so I'm grateful I didn't name my son Braylon. This is actually my cousin's daughter and I'm not very close to her so I doubt me having a child named Braylon would have changed her mind in naming her kid that. I'm glad I went the way I did even if my son's name is pretty rare lol.
1 person likes this
@chrissbergstrom (10767)
• Banks, Oregon
1 May 17
@sissy15 I have heard the name Braydon quite a bit but never Braylon, also Brayton i have heard some.
@owlwings (43915)
• Cambridge, England
30 Apr 17
I like the name Brayland. It's easy to spell and pronounce (very important for a school kid!) and looks 'English' so, although it's not common (Ancestry.com says that it was first used in the US in 1994 and that seven people were given that name in 2007), it might very well be from the surname of an ancestor or be a placename (as far as I can see, though, there is no place with that name when I search).
When my first grand daughter was born, my daughter wanted a name which was unique and rather liked the names Terran and Taran, both of which seem to be mostly male and, in any case, not unique, so we finally settled on Taranne (pronounced /ter-ANNE/), which seemed more feminine and was, as far as I could find out, unique.
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
30 Apr 17
Thanks, I loved it and thought it was different but I didn't realize how differently until recently when I did the same name search and found that there are only a small handful of people in the US with that name. I was in shock that it was that different. I actually just combined Ryland and Braylon. That's a cute name. I often get flack because his name is longer and then he also has two middle names. My son loves his name and I love that I don't have the multiple kids with his name issue. When we do carpool they don't even have to call his last name as he's the only kid in his school with his name.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69416)
• Germany
30 Apr 17
Having the same name as a classmate is not a good thing. I was a teacher and I can tell you it's also bad for the teachers. If I had the same first name in one class more than once, I used to address the pupil with his/her first name and surname. Yet, once I had two girls with the same first name *and* surname. So I called them Andrea Mayer 1 and Andrea Mayer 2 according to their date of birth. Poor girls. Yet, what could I do?
Where did you find the name for your son?
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
30 Apr 17
I combined the names Braylon and Ryland. I liked both names but they were both semi popular and I didn't want my son to have a common name. I used to be Keisha H. and the other Keisha was Keisha D. It got super confusing and I often felt bad for the teacher too. That would be super confusing. I imagine teachers come into that issue a lot here in the US with common first names paired with the last name Smith.
1 person likes this
@boiboing (13153)
• Northampton, England
30 Apr 17
I will never understand the American trend for made up names or for giving kids surnames as first names - especially trying to justify that calling your daughter something like Radford (I've met two of those) will give her an advantage getting jobs because people won't know if she's a boy or a girl'. Individuality is one thing but these days it's going too far.
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
30 Apr 17
To each their own I say. I wanted different but I wasn't about to name my son Apple or Pilot inspector. I wanted something that stood out but also that didn't get him constantly teased. I don't have an issue with surnames as first names, some people actually do that because they're naming their kid after their family and didn't necessarily like anyone's first name. I don't like a lot of the traditional names and some of them are just so common that you run into like eight of them. I used to like some traditional names but they are all way too popular. I used to get confused with one person with my name and I didn't want that for my son. I have never heard my son's name as a last name not to say it isn't, but I just combined two first names. I mean I like different but even I have a limit. Gender-neutral names are very in but a lot of gender neutral names go pretty far back and originally started out as just boy names. Lindsey, Leslie, Kelly, and Marion for example. I could come up with a huge list of more traditional names that have become a name for both genders now. Some names are also made into a more feminine form. I mean there's Francis and Aaron/Erin. Ironically both my boyfriend and I have a middle name that can be used for boy or girl. The list goes pretty far back really.
@Alternative4 (449)
•
30 Apr 17
My ex husband and I chose the name for the child and his godfather also loved it. I agree that most popular names can lead into confusion. It is also good for a person to have an original name to be instantly noticed and remembered. One more thing parents should take into consideration when choosing a name for a child is what are the odds the child will like it. It is probably the most important thing. So you had it all covered. I`m happy that your son loves his name!
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
30 Apr 17
I agree. I think you need to thing about a name from all angles too. put their first name with their last name or with their middle name combine them and sound them out. Spell out the initials so you know it doesn't spell out anything weird. For instance, I knew of a girl named Jenna Tolls because her parents didn't bother to really think about the name and that got her made fun of a lot in school. I mean it's an important decision as your child is stuck with it for quite awhile unless they decide to change it later and even then it's difficult because a lot of people aren't going to want to call them by their new name.
1 person likes this
@sissy15 (12269)
• United States
1 May 17
@Alternative4 Thank you, I was just paranoid.
1 person likes this
