Sometimes doing something is worse than doing nothing. – Meredith Grey Now, this is a true statement, although it is quite vague and, as of now, has little correlation to the post I’m writing. Let’s just say that it’s a stretch, but I will do my absolute best to make it tie in, somehow, to the topic at hand. But, we’ll get to that in a second. First, we must discuss baby names. Yes, baby names. Normally, being a TV website, the subject of baby names does not come up. I admit that this is at least partly regrettable; who doesn’t enjoy a good baby name discussion? Grey’s Anatomy, it turns out, is effecting the names being given to the newborns of this country. According to The Daily Bulletin, the name “Addison” (i.e. Dr. Addison Shepherd) is one of the biggest rising names in the US. Addison, a girl’s name, has jumped 57 spots in the previous year, now ranking as the 27th most popular female baby name. This is astonishing.
There is no other reason for this jump in popularity other than the name’s link to Grey’s Anatomy. The article freely admits this. Now, I can understand this phenomenon. A popular TV program brings a rare name to the forefront of the national consciousness and, in return, the masses take notice and decide to name their child something unique. However, though this name will ostensibly be risky and edgy, it isn’t, because the name has already succeeded on a national level. It’s, essentially, a cop out. So, I understand this, the naming of babies after TV characters. But, what baffles me here is that Addison on Grey’s Anatomy isn’t a particularly sympathetic character. I like her, but she is an adulterer and, for the most part, mentally unstable. Are these couples freely admitting that they’re naming their baby daughter after a TV character? Will they eventually show their daughter the character? Will they tell their daughter that she’s named after someone who slept with characters dubbed McDreamy and McSteamy? Is this any way to go about naming your daughter? I guess this just goes to show how absurdly popular Grey’s Anatomy is. Literally every female I know, besides my grandma, watches the show and loves it. Every guy I know who was roped into watching it, now likes it. But this doesn’t mean that couples should prove their love by naming their children after its characters. Which gets us back to the quote: Sometimes doing something is worse than doing nothing. Parents will always eventually regret naming their child based on cultural fads. There is no reason to try and make a splash with a name. Being unique is fine, but copping a formerly unique name that has suddenly entered the zeitgeist is not original, nor is it desirable. An example: Thanks to Michael Jordan, there are thousands of teenage boys with the first name Jordan. On my brother’s high school basketball team two years ago, three members of the starting five were named Jordan. True story. So, sometimes not making a splash (“doing nothing”) is preferable to trying to be cool. Even if Grey’s Anatomy is your favorite show. -Oscar Dahl, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
