The United States Social Security Administration has revealed the top baby names for 2007, and much of the list is unsurprisingly banal. The top three boy names are Jacob, Michael, and Ethan; the top three girl names are Emily, Isabella, and Emma. Nothing to see here, move along.
But most surprising -- and something that made me pause and say "What the f**k, why?" -- was that the name "Raiden" actually made the list. Surely it was only number 931, but the fact that it's even on there at all is a real head-scratcher, and makes me question the sanity of some American parents.
According to Wikipedia, "raiden" is Japanese for "thunder and lighting," which is a pretty frightening name for a child in itself. But let us not forget the popular Mortal Kombat character. Or the Raiden in Metal Gear. Or Fatal Fury. Or the several side-scrolling shooters. The list goes on.
But I'm not one to judge -- my wife (seriously) wants to name our potential future son Lincoln so that we can call him "Link" for short. I put a stop to that thinking real quick. But the question remains -- is anyone here named Raiden? Or have you or are you thinking about naming your son after a videogame or a character in a videogame?
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My family got a Cockatiel when I was like 7 or 8 and I named it Link. It turned out to be a girl though...
Yeah, I plan on naming one of my kids Vega, actually. No joke.
My family has a history of odd names though, in order of seniority:
Rafat, Jaser, Munir, Seraj, Thayer (thaaaats me), Sarah (??), Gabriel, Farris, Xavier (named after the good ol' professor), and Hanna (Hahn-uh, not hannah montana)
I am thinking about naming my daughter Talim and well Vincent isn't to out of there.
But crazy names are fun!
Oh, good. Then it won't be so weird when I name my child "FATALITY". All caps and everything.
I'm naming my son SR388, what then!
I love the name Vincent. Wife shot it down. I always grew up wanting to name my son Cecil, but she shot that down as well. =(
MaxVest Jr. May the screen name live on.
My friends son is named Raiden, but as a proud member of Raider Nation, not some video game character
Jayson, its time for a divorce man.
Name your kid Kratos.
because Big Trouble in Little China is a classic movie and people want their children's name to be associated with a character from that film!
My friend's little brother is named Raiden or Rayden. Mormons too, go figure.
I want to name my son Andrew Ryan.
Whats classier than being named after the medium's favorite megalomaniac?
Unless....you named your kid Kefka.
Link / Lincoln is no good because if the kid thinks Link is stupid, he has to go by Lincoln.
Name a kid Orion, it's awesome, and he can just be Ryan to his friends if he doesn't like having a Greek god as a namesake. It's a stealth awesome name.
I named my daughter Kairi.
I AM RAIDEN.
NVGR, but I'd want to name my children (if a boy) Bertrand and (if a girl) Socrates (think of the nick-names! ["Sock"]).
No idea what i'd name a girl, but i think Jaden is a nice boy name.
My nephew's name is Lincoln and people call him Link all the time. I don't think my sister had zelda in mind when naming him.
My child will named Octavius Xavier.
Yeah, the kids will call him octopus, but who will be laughing when he sacks Carthage?
Just don't name your child Sagat!
I'm going to name my kid Quote so that when he dies he can say "unquote".
Screw that, I'm naming my kid Janier Samit Chad Chester Sterling Anthony. Or Colette Lauren Rio Hollie if it's a girl.
Hmmm, Chad Chester has quite a ring to it!
Chad Chester sounds like the name of a sketch comedy regular.
If, in some godforsaken unforseen future, I have a son, I could totally consider naming him Raiden.
Or fucking Zeus. No one messes with a kid named Zeus.
I would name my kid Bridget, girl or boy. *tear* I'm such a responsible person.
Ill name mine after my hero: Niero
What about Anon? or Wario? or Banjo?
Oh, come on...Lincoln Chester is an awesome name! Think about it: he could be called “Link Chest” for short!
Your wife sounds pretty damn awesome, Nick. Although I'd go with Linkovitch, so I could reference video games and Pauly Shore movies with one name.
I suggested Aeris for a girl's name when I was under the mistaken impression that it is a real name and not something made up by Squaresoft. Wife loved it too until a little research revealed it to be...something made up by Squaresoft.
I like your choice DJDuffy,
In Scottish culture, for females mind you, Bridget means goddess. A good choice indeed.
I would NOT name my child raiden... Sub-Zero yeah but not Raiden. Male names: Aram (My great grand father)
Females (Much preferred): Bridget, Alice, Olivia, Shayna
Trinity? 72?
These fuckers don't deserve children.
I want to name a male child Pacman or a female child Mrs. Pacman.
I know a guy named Lincoln, though I am the only person who refers to him as Link. He never really had any problems, so I wouldn't entirely dismiss the name. Also, I had a photography teacher who named his newborn Zenobius, and was going to call him Zeno for short (not sure on the spelling; might have used an x). Most people thought is sounded cool.
Ha cant say I know any raidens. But I do know a link. If I had a soon I would name him Boy and have his middle name ardee. Then I would force him to become a chef.
My sister's friend just named her kid Raiden. I had thought it was an isolated case of weirdness, but in retrospect it makes more sense that she was just blindly following some stupid fad.
I'm gonna name my kid Spinning Pile Driver.
This generation will leave its marks...silly marks, that is. I'm not looking forward to 2027s UN Secretary General Masterchief Michaels, US President LevelUp Smith, Pope Luigi XVII, and Academy Award winner PS8haznogaems Bukowski.
I'm hoping for twins, so they can be named Ding and Grats
I had a student named Gannon a few years ago. I taught second grade though, so none of the other kids were old enough to realize that it was a weird name. I bet he gets hell now.
Gonna name my kids Rash Zits and Pimple
I shall have twins. One will be Gordon, the other will be Freeman.
My daughter's name is Livia Reign, which will probably be a video-game-name soon at the rate they're thinking up these things. But nothing tops my friend Amber's kid - her son's name is, no shit, "Skeletor." And they call him Tory for short.
Ding and Grats, ROFL.
That's awesome imma name mah kid licoln to .Hey it would be worth it .
& my daughter.......nariko or jade .
Now i just gotta find the other main ingrediant of this baby making thing .
I don't plan to have a child but if I ever did, I'd call it Big Boss, regardless of its gender.
There are two sets of (unrelated) twins around here called both Benson and Hedges and Porsche and Carrera. It spurned calls for the government to somehow regulate naming rights on your children (of course it never took off).
Benson and Hedges is a British tobacco company if they don't sell them in the states.
I ain't gonna lie. If I ever have daughters, I'd name them Pearl Valkyrie and Ruby Morrigan. At least the game names are the middle names though.
I'd name my son Kain and my daugter the pillar guardian? haha. Kain though i'd seriously consider. Maybe Raziel.
I'm an LOK nut. I can't help it...
If my child is a girl I'm going to name her A Barrel Roll. She will be a slut and lots of people will do her.
Im going to name my kid Jack Solid...
yeah im a nerd
You are lucky that you have kind of english last names, It would me weird to meet a "Lincoln Estela" or "Aeris Estela" Being Estela my last name (it's spanish =0= i hate being latin american)
If i ever have a girl, i'm goin to name her Luna Samus.. it sounds grear on spanish..
If i have a boy (hope not) i will name him Iriquois Plitskin
It's time to put goro on the map!
My woman convinced me that we wouldn't have to move to China where we could drown a daughter by agreeing to name it Samus Aran Zimmerman. She rules.
I met a kid at football who was named Raiden. I asked if he was joking and he told me to ask his parents, so I did. They said they loved Raiden in Mortal Kombat and it would be fitting to a child they loved so much.
Nice kid, sucked at football though.
I knew a white guy in high school named Ronin.....I'm still jealous to this day. 'Master-less Samurai' has to be the coolest name on the planet.
I'm naming my son Toon Lincoln, so I can call him Toon Link for short.
@ Ascythopicism;
He is more likely to be called 'Crates'.
i'm gona name my kid jack thompson and raise him to be gamings biggest advocate EVAR!
Tibias Reaper is what i am going to name my son. If i have a daughter i will just sell her.
We named our daughter Talulla. I call her Lulu. Totally not planned. I'm waiting for her to begin using her dolls to cast spells. She does throw them at her brother...
And when she was born, I was playing FF3 in the hospital...well, after she was born. The missus would've killed me if I whipped out the ol' DS while she wass pushing the baby out.
"Okay, breathe...breathe...aw, crap! I was poisoned!"
Robin Williams named his daughter Zelda, and it really is after the princess.
EXCUUUUUUSE ME PRINCESS.
Definitely have plans to name my first born son Richter after Richter Belmont from Castlevania. I figure he can skate by with a pretty normal life being called Rick. Daughter will be Naomi (all "I moan" jokes aside), after the arcade hardware that basically was the Dreamcast. I at least had an ex that was on board with it. lol
Wait wait wait! You've all missed something here. Nick: Why did you read through 900+ names from last year's top baby names?
The wife and I had settled on Sef, cuz we thought it would be a boy. When we found out it was a girl...All kinds of names from games were thrown out there. Ivy(the wife's favorite soul calibur fighter) was the front runner. Then we were watching the matrix in HD, because when HD died we could afford the set... anyway, there was this chick who was hot and a badass...We welcomed Trinity to the world and in our hearts in Dec.
Oh, and bleep....(looking straight into the eyes)the check's in the mail.
@toeking good point.
@everyone who was going to name there kid lincoln.. just so you can call your kid link... just name him link? :]
I'm sure Raiden was used as people name in some culture or other before it was used in video games. It's a cool sounding name anyway, so I dont see what the big deal is. The kids are not necessarily being named after the video game characters, but after thunder and lightning. Better than naming your kid Wednesday, Thursday, or Seven.
How come no one is making fun of the names, "Jacob, Ethan, Emily, Isabella, and Emma"? I rarely EVER meet anyone named those names. Maybe a couple Jacobs and Emilys, and one Isabella, but come on!
What? Is everyone here white or something?