I feel sorry for these losers' kids.
-Dan
Posted on 05/19/2005 10:07:32 PM PDT by beaversmom
Everybody has done it: Put on their best deep Darth Vader voice and said, "Psssggssttt, Luke, I am your father."
But Ron Purvis, a Frankfort father of two, wanted to be able to do it for real. So, 10 years ago, little Luke Purvis came into the world, shouldering his father's hopes that he would embody all the fundamentally good qualities of his celluloid namesake -- Star Wars hero Luke Skywalker.
Luke Purvis even tried to wield The Force when another Purvis boy was born. Anakin, he told his parents, we need to call him Anakin. Fearing that Anakin would be shortened to "Annie," surely a fate worse than being a boy named Sue, mom Pam Purvis vetoed the suggestion. Luke, however, still coos "Hello, Anakin" to his 6-month-old brother, Christopher.
Lots of Star Wars fans like Ron Purvis, known for their intense loyalty to the science-fiction saga, have named their children after their favorite characters, contributing to a slew of Lukes, a spattering of Leias and, yes, the rare but wondrous Anakin.
The latest installment of the franchise, Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith, opens today.
Pop culture has long had an impact on what we call our children. It's a good chance if your name is Kunta or Kizzie, you were born between 1977 (when the television miniseries Roots came out) and 1980 (when both names fell off the list of the top 1,000 baby names collected by the Social Security Administration).
If you doubt the influence movies, television and celebrities have on naming, hang out at the senior center and see how many ladies of a certain age answer to Shirley -- as in Shirley Temple. Shirley was the second-most-popular name for girls in 1935, the year after she set sail on the Good Ship Lollipop in the movie Bright Eyes. It had dropped to 984th in 2004.
Sometimes the names can even chart a career. Demi, as in actress Demi Moore, hit the culture of baby names in 1991, the year after her film Ghost was released. It went off the SSA list in 1998 with the advent of G.I. Jane, thought by many to be the demise of Moore's career as a top-paid actress.
Pop phenomenon
Pam Satran, who has written eight books about the subject, said in some cases baby names signal a significant cultural shift. The spike in Kunta and Kizzie, she said, started a trend in African-Americans searching for names that reflected their cultural roots.
But a constant has been popular culture.
"Pop culture has become a bigger and bigger influence as pop culture has become a bigger and bigger thing," Satran said, pointing out the number of magazines and TV shows, even entire cable channels, devoted to pop culture and celebrities.
The SSA list shows the fickleness of parents. Scarlett, for example, was very popular between 1939, when Gone With the Wind was released, and 1944. Rhett, however, didn't catch on until the re-release of the movie in 1955. Scarlett lost her luster until 1992, when the Gone With the Wind book sequel was published.
From Star Wars, Luke, a biblical name and a perennial top favorite, is currently the 42nd most-popular name. Leia peaked between 1977 and 1980 -- the years Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back were released -- and had a resurgence as Lea in the 1990s.
"Maverick" had a short heyday in 1958 and 1959, at the time when James Garner was on a TV show of the same name. The name came back in 1994, when the movie starring Mel Gibson was released. "Forrest" peaked in 1994, the year of the film Forrest Gump. "Fiona" has risen steadily since the film Shrek debuted in 2001. (The name Shrek, alas, did not make the list.)
A choice of passion
There is no real science to predicting what name will catch on. It appears to be all about passion.
Kent Grannis, a high school teacher in Fleming County and committed Star Wars fan, always knew if he had a girl he wanted to name her after the saga's heroine Princess Leia. It took a little convincing to get his wife on board. "I couldn't believe I talked her into it, but she agreed," he said.
Daughter Leia, 14 months, knows the Star Wars music when she hears it and will do a little dance, Grannis said. But, then again, she also boogies to the music of Benny Hill and the University of Kentucky fight song.
He's not sure he can convince his wife to go as far as naming a son Anakin, but he does have permission to name their next dog Chewbacca.
There can be a downside to tying a name to an outside event. For example, Satran said, the next big trend is naming children after video game characters. But, say you name your child Ash, from the Pokemon game. That would be dandy while he is in elementary school. But the association with a kids' game would wear thin by the time he is in middle school, she said.
Still, pop culture will undoubtedly continue to influence parents. In addition to video games, rap stars are becoming increasingly popular sources of inspiration, she said.
So, just imagine, at sometime in the future there could be a kindergarten class filled with little Marios, Zeldas and handful of boys named 50 Cent.
WHERE DOES YOUR NAME RANK?
To check out popular baby names, go to www.ssa.gov/OACT/babynames. The most popular names for 2004 were Jacob and Emily. Reach Mary Meehan at (859) 231-3261 or 1-800-950-6397, Ext. 3261, or mmeehan1@herald-leader.com.
Ick, the Star Wars geeks are breeding.
ping
-Dan
The Jedi mind trick works well on fat, drunk chicks.
In a related incident, I've got a long time friend who's a Star Trek nut, and his last name sounds like "Riker." Yup, he's got a son named "William T." (I may be wrong about the middle initial... I can't remember the exact one from the series, but it's the same!)
Mark
I named my son after the apostle Luke. I named my daughter Leia after the Virgin Mary's second cousin. Yeah, that's it....
If it did, they wouldn't be fat..."You don't need to eat that bucket of KFC..."
Whatever happened to "a boy named Sue"?
"So, which one of these buttons calls your parents to come pick you up?"
I've done medical transcription most of my working life, and when doing such specialties as pediatrics, the names of the kids definitely reflect the pop culture of the time when they were born.
I'd like to introduce my son... Jar-Jar... :-)
I read that prior to Peter Pan, there was NOBODY named Wendy.
At least you didn't name him Jabba....
We don't know--he might have a brother.
Ick.......?
Surely, with a comment like that, the force will shrink your brain.
May the Sith haunt you in your dreams.
LVM
What's next? Viper?
William Thomas Riker to be precise. I wish I could name my son Jean-Luc, but even as big a fan as I am couldn't do that.
Administrator, please assist, I think a Star Wars freak just tried to give me cooties or something.
Judy is a once widely used name that has gone out of fashion as Judy Garland has been forgotten.
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