The Name Game

Your name says a lot about you. It shapes who you are. This used to be a theory of mine, but it's well-documented, so I'd say it's a fact. The public will treat you differently if your name is Edgar, than if your name is Cooper. Cooper gets to be cool. Edgar gets to be Edgar. Not to mention the years of anguish associated with the constant Edgar Allan Poe references, specifically:

1. He was not particularly handsome,
2. He married his 13 year old first cousin (her age was falsified on the marriage certificate).

Other than that, if you're an Edgar, you're living large.

My friend and colleague, Alex Bodgan, is en route to having his third child. His first two, a boy also named Alex, and a girl named Emma, should be fine. No obvious, harmful nicknames. Today at lunch, I decided to help my friend along with choosing a name for his yet-to-be-born son or daughter. Here are some of my stylings with some new ones I, amazingly, just came up with:

For a boy:

1. Chester Bogdan (runs into potential "molester" jokes)
2. Andre Bogdan (sounds like a football player, maybe a strong safety or an outside linebacker)
3. William "Billy" Bogdan (gets to be called, Billy the Kid, always clutch)
4. Bilbo Bogdan (for all the Lord of the Rings fans out there)
5. Jared Bogdan (it's worked well enough for me)
6. Brian Bogdan (Alex wasn't fond of the "an" sound, since it appears again in his last name)
7. Jason Bogdan (ditto, but it's similar to Jason Bourne, which is cool and could outweigh any opposition)
8. Nick Bogdan (not bad)
9. Greg Bogdan (too many "g"s)
10. Cooper Bogdan (surprisingly, doesn't work)
11. Montgomery Bogdan (umm, nah)
12. Bruce Bogdan (Incredible Hulk parallels?)
13. Hippocrates Bogdan (can't go wrong with old school)
14. Geronimo Bogdan (or native American)
15. Pedro Bogdan (Vote for Pedro!)
16. Giuseppe Bogdan (too ethnic?)
17. Brandon, Sebastian, Goran, Aaron (see 6 and 7)
18. Carl Bogdan (sounds like he's not making a difference in the world, Hippocrates Bogdan, now that kid is curing AIDs, Carl Bogdan is curing meats in a butcher shop)
19. Virag Bogdan (it's a Hungarian name and Alex likes to tell people that he's Hungarian, although I think he's about as Hungarian as Wesley Snipes)
20. Tommy Bogdan (Tommy Boy! I like this one, and you could always start with Thomas if you want to pretend he'll graduate high school)
21. Moses Bogdan (take it to the Old Testament!)
22. Jack Bogdan (Jack is just a solid, strong man's name, can't go wrong with it)
23. Romeo Bogdan (wherefore art thou Romeo?)

Or, he could be having another daughter:

1. Jennifer Bogdan (I guess)
2. Paris Bogdan (just kidding)
3. Michaela Bogdan (allegedly, one of the most popular girl's names for the past few years, but I can't believe that)
4. Victoria Bogdan (sounds like someone who wouldn't date me)
5. Jacquelyn Bogdan (same)
6. Virginia Bogdan (ditto)
7. Natasha Bogdan (I'm seeing a trend here)
8. Diane Bogdan (classy and likes gorillas)
9. Charlotte Bogdan (not that I know anything about Sex and the City, I promise, I don't, but I do know that she was the only one worth looking at)
10. Jane Bogdan (Jane and Charlotte, if one Bronte sister doesn't work, choose the other)
11. Margaret Bogdan (playing with fire, considering likely "Marge" nickname)
12. Stella Bogdan (I like it, but falls in the 4 through 7 category, to which I'm inherently opposed)
13. Lauren Bogdan (the "an" sound ruins girl name possibilities too)
14. Carmen, Allison, Karen (ditto)
15. Heidi Bogdan (probably hot)
16. Heather Bogdan (ditto)
17. Hope Bogdan (probably sweet)
18. Abby Bogdan (ditto, plus can't you just see little Emma and Abby playing dress up together? I know I can...that sounds weird, sorry Alex)
19. Carol Bogdan (sounds old)
20. Florence Bogdan (ditto)
21. Olivia Bogdan (hmm, has potential)
22. Esmeralda Bogdan (finally, a name with character)
23. Borbála Bodgan (might as well end with another Hungarian name)

I think Alex has some winners here. At the very least, the next five to six months should be worry free, I've done all the legwork for him.

Jared