Saturday, February 11, 2012

[alkgvhwc] Usual unusual name

What would the world be like if people usually had unique given names?  Perhaps the onus on the parents to select a name that hasn't ever been used.  Never name after someone else, as is the custom in China but not the U.S.

Names could be a way into gradually introduce new phonetic sounds into a language (inspired during researching 128-bit squares).

Names might become harder to remember, with no familiar mental structures to hang them on.

Last names might become less relevant: no more need to distinguish which "John".

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