[benfranklin]

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I always wince a little when people start talking about being "fun and creative" with their children's identities. Some people treat their children as fashion accessories and don't give any thought to the future repercussions of their actions on their children. Most kids don't want to stick out and be different -- they just want to fit in.

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I speak from personal experience in recommending that anything unusual in names be avoided. I was given the same first, middle and last name as my father, which was not all that unusual some years ago, and which many people still do. He was called by his first name, and I was called by my middle name. I was never comfortable with it as a child, and it continued to be an inconvenience as an adult. And that is nothing compared to weird first names and creatively different last names.

A conventional system of names is very important to a child. I know of women who kept their married names after a divorce so that they and their children would have the same name, much as they disliked the original bearer of the name. These things are very important to children, and can have a big effect on them.