Several years ago, Melissa Heuschkel of Connecticut sold the right to name her fourth baby to online casino GoldenPalace.com. In exchange for about $15,000, she named her daughter “GoldenPalace.com” (nn Goldie).
If a stranger offered you double that — $30,000 — for the right to name your next child, what would you say?
Remember, this person would have free rein. The name could be Andrew, Gretel, Justice, YanniLiveAtTheAcropolis…anything at all. You’d never have to use the name, but it must appear on the birth certificate.
If you’d say yes: Why? (And, what would you do with the money?)
If you’d say no: Why not? (And, would you change your mind if the amount were higher?)
3 Comments
Hmmm…
$30,000 is a nice start to a college fund, and the child could legally changed his/her name at some point…
I would have to know what kind of name they were considering.
Now that’s interesting.
But no. No, a thousand times no. Let’s put it this way: we cloth diaper partially because there aren’t cartoon characters on bumGenius diapers. We do watch television, but try to limit TV tie-in toys, and never buy TV tie-in clothing, lunchboxes, etc. I’m worried about the impact of consumer culture on my kids. So even if I didn’t have strong opinions about a child’s name, the idea of making it a consumer product? No. Not for $500,000.
As it happens, this was a big joke a few years ago when I was expecting my son. The new football stadium in town was auctioning off naming rights, and I served on the Board of Directors of a nonprofit engaging in a similar exercise with a community center. But it was a *joke.* We really weren’t going to name our son Heinz.
No. $30,000 is chump change. I might consider it for a million, which could take care of the child pretty well, but even then, I don’t know. I don’t think ‘the woman who sold her child’s name’ is a good title, and it doesn’t seem to say much good that the first thing you do to your child is, essentially, to exploit them.