Classic Rant #629 (December 2, 2011): Baby Talk

I have to begin this Rant by telling you that my eyes are really bothering me today. Everything is fuzzy--like the way it was before I had my procedure a few years back--and I can't see clearly.

I have had this problem before, so I am hoping it goes away. If not, then I will have to see my retinologist sometime in the near future.

And with this fog encapsulating me, I am going to tell you what some of the most popular baby names are today.

Evidently, according to an annual survey done by something called BabyCenter.com, two out of five mothers find inspiration among famous people in naming their newborns.

The most popular female names are currently Sophia, Emma, Isabella, Olivia, Ava, Lily, Chloe, Madison, Emily and Abigail. A big trend here appears to be names with vowels as their last letter.

Boys names include Aiden, Jackson, Mason, Liam, Jacob, Jayden, Ethan, Noah, Lucas and Logan. I see a definite pattern here, with the letter "n" found at the end of six of these names.

I like the way myself and fellow Jewish people pick names. We honor someone who has passed away by either naming the child directly after that person or taking the first letter of his or her name and using it to name the child.

And we do the same for the child's Hebrew name too.

There are no juniors or repeat names in Jewish families, such as II or III. However, Sephardic Jews do often name their children by using "Jr."

So perhaps one day, the "L" in my first name of Larry will be passed on to a child in my family.

Or maybe the entire "Lawrence/Larry" will be recycled.

I hope that child will know who he or she is named after.

My hebrew name is Yoael, so I guess that that name will be passed on too.

I hope that person wears the name or initial well.

Believe me, I have tried, I really have.