From Romeo to Juliet

The Power of the Name

By Mark Stackpole

What's in a name? That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet. 
–William Shakespeare

As Juliet pines for Romeo from her balcony, she ponders at length why it is something as trivial as a name that keeps her from her true love. She was referring to an age-old feud between the Capulets and the Montagues, of course, and though she does not agree that a name should have so much power, Juliet certainly understands that it does.

What if we were to call Rose something else? After all, according to the Social Security Administration, Rose was only ranked 333 out of the top 1,000 girl's names for 2005. Surely we can improve on that. How about Suri? Apple? Pilot Inspektor? Moxie CrimeFighter? OK, maybe those aren't much of an improvement, but they are all real names of children of celebrities, so that must count for something.

How about Emily, Emma or Madison, the top three girl's names for 2005? Maybe we should just leave Rose alone, seeing as how she smells so sweet anyway. (Just for the record, Juliet placed 587 and Romeo came in at 614 for 2005. The Bard's first name, William, was 11, narrowly missing the boy's top 10 list.)

Linda Rosenkrantz is a baby names expert and the co-author of several baby-naming books including The Last Word on First Names: The Definitive A-Z Guide to the Best and Worst in Baby Names by America's Leading Experts (St. Martin's Press, 1995). "The bizarre star baby names headlined in the media are, of course, an aberration – many more celebrities will call their children Jack, Charles or James," says Rosenkrantz. "In addition, the media also tries to project even conventional names as weird, such as Julia Roberts' daughter Hazel or Gwyneth Paltrow's son Moses. For regular folks, so much depends on where and how a child will be growing up. If she's going to school in New York's East Village or Malibu, Calif., no problem. Her classmates may well be named Aqua and Cerulean. But in most communities, I'd say, 'Don't try this at home.'"

Want to see more?

• What's in a Name? The Methods Some Use to Name Their Babies
• The Name Game: How to Pick a Name That You and Your Baby Will Like
• "You're Naming Her What?" 9 Rules for Discussing Names
• Talk about it!