Many of us GenX adults have fascinations with our childhood television and/or movie heroes. We played with our toys or confidently walked out of our bedroom appearing steadfast as a character; with or without the cape and cowl. Yet, as adults when we were preparing to welcome our children into the world, were we so captivated by our characters to the point of adding the character's name to the baby "name list"? Would you have been able to recommend to your spouse to name your expectant newborn after a character's name from the 1980s?
Many of you know, especially if you listen to the Memory Jogger podcasts, that my favorite 1980s television show is the Dukes of Hazzard. The truth is, however, I would rank the Dukes of Hazzard, Knight Rider, and Airwolf all as my number one television shows. I even wrote an article entitled "How Would You Write it?" on Rediscover Old School (which is the latest addition to the Rediscover Media family of sites) in which my U.S. Air Force roommate Ryan and I had come up with a movie idea to rescue St. John Hawke utilizing the A-Team, MacGyver, Knight Rider, and Airwolf.
Back to the primary topic of discussion... As my wife and I learned of the news that we were expecting baby number one, with the subsequent confirmation that it would be a boy, I believe that we were in the third or fourth month before we finally said, "we'd better come up with a name or at least put a list together." Promptly, I said Stringfellow Hawke!
Note that this conversation was at night as we were preparing to go to sleep so I could not see my wife's facial expression. Instead, she began to explain (lecture) to me how much our son would be bullied by the name. I attempted to argue my point that I was attempting to give our firstborn a truly unique and uncommon name. I even included the reason my sister, my late brother (who died shortly after birth), and I were named rare names compared to the common Matthews, Josephs, Johns, etc. Still, the case was arbitrarily closed.
Throughout the entire four sons that my wife and I have welcomed to this earth, I have attempted to name each one of them Stringfellow Hawke. And like clockwork, I keep being met with the same, emphatic and boisterous "no!" However, I was able to sneak in '80s character names as part of their full name. My two older sons are endowed with Dominic, yes named after Dominic Santini from Airwolf (however my wife will tell you that her reason is after a doll name from her youth), and Alexander, named after Alex Sector from Mobile Armored Strike Kommand (M.A.S.K.). Sorry Doug, I could not pull off Bruce, Matt, Floyd or Boris...I had enough battles with Stringfellow.
Why do I bring this character name up? Several years ago while I was serving in the U.S. Air Force, I was newly assigned to a unit as the Flight Chief (Superintendent) and as I am reviewing the list of the Airmen in which I would oversee, I came across Cheetara. When I met with my new Airmen, I had to ask if she was named after the Thundercats character and she, regrettably, confirmed. She was not too thrilled about the name, however she noted that her mother was a big fan of the Thundercats cartoon. Wow! I wasn't the only person attempting to name my children after favorite television or movie characters!
What about you, fellow GenX parents? Have you named your child or children after favorite 1980s characters
0 Comments