What’s in a Name? So Much Sentiment, So Much Money

Choosing a baby’s name is a big responsibility for parents: A name can lead to playground taunting or it can command respect. It helps shape the way a child, and later adult, is perceived and treated. And while grandparents have long weighed in on the decision, some American in-laws are now offering an extra incentive to heed their advice: money.

Frank and Jennifer Hudock are a case in point. The Chicago area couple had, after much debate, decided to name their son Max. But Mr. Hudock’s grandparents wanted them to follow a family tradition by naming the baby Frank. So they offered the couple $10,000 to do so. Ms. Hudock was not going to be paid for several months after giving birth, because her employer offered no maternity leave, so the couple seriously considered the proposal.

A 35-year- old woman in Great Neck, New York, faced a similar quandary when her mother-in-law asked how much money it would take to persuade the couple to name their child after her side of the family. The woman, who asked that her name not be used because she did not want to upset her family, told The Times, “If I really believed I could have gotten her to pay for college, it really seems foolish of me not to put my discomfort aside.”

In the end, she and the Hudocks both stuck with the names they had wanted. That luxury of choice is something that members of some cultures living in the United States do not feel they have. Muslims, for one, are opting for “less Muslim-y” names — such as Aidan, Adam or Sarah — to spare their children the hardship of being stereotyped, the writer Wajahat Ali pointed out in The Times.

“Why burden your kid with a profile-worthy name in addition to the problem he will likely inherit because of his skin color, ethnicity and religion?” he wrote.

His own name has been mangled into “Whatchamacallit?” “Wajathe-Hut” and “Warbalot,” and as a child he was even called “Gandhi” — the speaker obviously not realizing that would be a compliment. In the spirit of the Mahatma, who was known for religious tolerance, Mr. Ali and his wife settled on Ibrahim, the Arabic pronunciation for Abraham, for their son.

“If a Wajahat can survive and thrive in America,” Mr. Ali wrote, “then why should we be afraid?”

An Indiana couple had other reasons for wanting to be called something different, but along a very long road they recognized the power of a name.

Eric Hites, for his part, has taken on the label Fat Guy Across America, the title of a blog he is writing to chronicle his effort to get into shape after reaching 257 kilos.

Inspired by the Proclaimers song “I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles),” he decided to ride a bicycle across the Unites States in the hopes that the trek of a little less than 5,000 kilometers would save both his life and his marriage. His wife, Angie, had left him last year, but he hoped to show her that he could change.

Four months into his quest, he found himself about 32 kilos lighter and in New York’s Times Square, taking selfies with tourists.

“I wasn’t expecting it whatsoever,” he told The Times.

He also found that his wife was back by his side. There is one catch, though: She is using her original last name, Atterbury, until he reaches the Pacific Ocean. Then, she has promised, she will again be a Hites.