Giving complicated and unique names is probably a good idea. I have got a unique name but I don’t think there is any relation between the name of a person and his behaviour or attitude. There is a famous saying in Nepali that goes — an ox that doesn’t have singh (horns), will be called Singhe. The only benefit of unique names is that there wont be any necessity of telling your last name also to be recognised. But the main drawback is one has to repeat his name more than twice while introducing himself and people generally tend to laugh and make fun of. It maybe difficult for people to get remember it in the beginning but once they remember such names it gets permanently stored in their minds.

— Dwaipayan Regmi,

Biratnagar

Our name is our identity. With time people have started to name their kids very uniquely regardless of anything. People have started to reduce or modify their names. Parents have started this trend in the hopes that it will help to build and develop their children’s personality, but actually it seems to do no good. I think it is more important to give kids good manners and attitude rather than fancy and hilarious names. If names would help in the development of a child’s character and individuality, then parents should name their kids Newton, Michael Jordon or Mahatma Gandhi or whatever that might help their child to grow. I have seen two kids named after subjects. It was odd and hilarious too. Every time they were called it sounded someone was looking for a book or their assignment paper. Moreover their names didn’t seem to help them in those subjects at all. Therefore, I disagree with the thought that unique names help children to prosper.

— Suyachhya Shrestha, Thamel

Today people are generating new ideas and thoughts. Giving a child a unique name is also one of them. I feel unique name should be given to a child because it sounds good and also helps to boost the child’s image in front of others. But I don’t think it will really help in the development of child’s character and individuality. Moreover parents should be a perfect example for their children. They should be the ones who motivate and inspire them. A rose does not stop giving its sweet scent even if we give it a unique name other than rose. Therefore, we should rather try to direct children in the right direction to build their character and develop their personality.

— Surendra Rai

Once a child is given a name it remains for his whole life. It will not change even when they do. A person’s name is a person’s identity. I have come across many unique names that are very meaningful as well. If parents give their children unique names just for the sake of sounding cool and the name has no meaning, then I think it is really useless. For example, if you name your child X-men then that would be utter foolishness. Every parent wants their child be special and unique in some way. Maybe that is why the trend of giving unique names has become popular.

— Darkquest

I don’t think that names can make any difference in the development of children’s individuality, character and behaviour. We keep our names just for our identities. It does not matter whatever names we give to our children. If names could make an impact on children’s character and behaviour, then every parent would name their child with the best of names like Ram, Sita, Arjun, Ashoka. Then even the world would be without selfishness, hatred and jealousy.

— Saqir Mark

The trend of giving children unique names is spreading fast in our society. I think we are influenced by westerners when it comes to giving such unique names. I don’t think giving a child a unique name will help in the development of a child’s character and individuality. Unique names of children may introduce him/her uniquely. As we are familiar with the quote, “Never judge a book by its cover,” similarly, we cannot judge a person just because s/he has a unique name. Yes, I have come across such unique names, one of my friend’s name is Pranayanki.

— Salima Tuladhar

There is a craze to be unique. People want something different yet beautiful. Just giving unique sounding names does not have any impact on the child’s individual development.

— Mona Chitrakar

I think the trend of giving children a very unique name is a reflection or a medium to express a parent’s ecstasy and unconditional love for their child. Although the trend is increasing because people seem to be running out of good genuine Nepali names and it also seems to be a result of the Western and Indian media on us. As far as development of a child’s character or individuality due to his/her unique name is concerned, I firmly believe it is possible. Every child has an inquisitive characteristic and so at one stage becomes keen to know the meaning of their name. If the name holds inspiration or stands for something

inspiring, the child will tend to work towards a positive direction to some extent and also the remarks s/he gets about his/her name can be very inspiring. As far as coming across unusual sounding names goes, I have a brother named Bulbul.

— Sameer Chhetri

The trend of giving children unique or odd sounding names has started in the Nepali society due to modernisation and imitating of foreign cultures. Most parents want their children to be different and special.

So they give their children unique names getting inspired from various things like actors and have named them Nicole, Adam, Jack and Christina or flowers like Jasmine, Rose and Lily and many other things from foreign countries. But giving them a different name will not help children to build their character and personality.

— Sandip Chaudhary

The trend of giving unique names has started so that one has a distinct identity in a crowd of people. Another reason might be that people will not forget such names. I don’t think giving such names will help in the development of a child’s character and individuality. We will need good skills and knowledge and not just unique names for that.

— Rabi Giri, Kathmandu

Giving a child a unique name makes him unique among people. But it certainly doesn’t help in his character development. Because development of character and personality of a child is shaped according to his surroundings or environment, not by names. This trend could come about in an attempt to be extraordinary. I have come across such many unique sounding names. One of my friends has a unique name ‘Meshawk’, who has an exemplary character.

— Dev Raj Adhikary

The tendency of providing unique name has come about because parents giving unique names help their children to stand out in society. I personally have come across many unique names. For instance names like ‘Tangsang’ and ‘Ingso’ comes from Limbu community and parents keep such names to preserve their indigenous identity. Considering that name is an important aspect of every person’s life, I disagree that having unique name enhance the development of a child’s character and individuality. I believe that child’s character depend upon nature, emphatically hereditary and individuality upon nurture.

— Soviet Tumbahangphe, Kathmandu

In my view, a child tends to do things and behave what his name stands for. In this case, a child’s personality will certainly boom to some extent. But it is seen in rarity. Yet, nobody will want to give unpleasant names to their kids as it will be tagged with them forever representing their stature.

— Bibhor, Nepalgunj

It is not too important to give a child a unique name with the hope that it will reflect his/her character, but it is important to give boys and girls suitable names according to their gender. Names which may be confusing and used for both boys and girls like Jyoti, Unati and more should be avoided. But these days people love to hear a new name and so will help a child if s/he is given a unique name.

— Abhinay Jayaswal

These unique names that people are giving their children have nothing to do with their character. As many times the case is that of in the Nepali saying, Jun goru ko singh chhaina, teskai naam Tikhe! So, the parents ought to support the growth of children in such a way

that they aspire to become what they are named as. I have also seen people naming their pets ridiculous names. For instance, once, a small kid asked me the name of my neighbour’s dog to which I replied, “Tiger”. Her outburst of laughter and her cry of “it’s a dog, silly” were perfectly explainable.

— Rhea Gurung,

Maharajgunj

It is quite true that the trend is to give children very unique sounding names. Parents want their children to have a unique name. They don’t want common names so they try to find something which no one has ever heard. No matter what the name means, they just want their children to be different from others. The other day I came across a child whose name was Poison. I found it completely insensible of his parents to give their child such a name. This type of name cannot make any positive effect in the child’s life, instead it can have some negative impact on the child’s growth.

— Alisha Shrestha

Very unique names does not mean odd sounding names. I have come across unique names and I believe it is not a trend. Such names are kept based on the person’s religion or caste and have beautiful meanings. Nowadays people of different ethnic groups have become more conscious and try keep their children’s name accordingly. But I feel that the trend of keeping names like Angel, Jessica, Monica is silly. It will not help the child in the development of the child’s character. I encourage people to keep their children’s names

from their own religion, caste, and so that they can proudly pronounce their unique names.

— T Limbu

People nowadays give very unique or odd names to their children because people are tired of common names. Some of the unique names I have heard are Loktantra Gurung (born at the time of revolution for democracy) and Dablu Ghale.

— Prakash Shrestha