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US father names son 'Version 2.0'

A proud US father and self-confessed engineering "geek" has named his son after a computer software term. Jon Blake Cusack, from Holland, Michigan, told local newspapers the US practice of adding "Junior" or "II" after a boy's name was too common.

So, when his son was born last week, he decided on the name Jon Blake Cusack 2.0, as if he were a software upgrade. Mr Cusack admitted that it took months to persuade his wife, Jamie, to accept the idea.

'Cool'

Mrs Cusack said she asked several friends if they approved of the name. All the men, she said, felt the name was "cool". However her women friends were less impressed. "I think the women will end up liking it," she said.

Mr Cusack told the Holland Sentinel newspaper he got the idea from a film called The Legend of 1900, in which an abandoned baby is given the name 1900 to celebrate the year of its birth. "I thought that if they can do it, why can't we?" he told the paper. "Besides, I had picked out the theme of the baby's room."

After little Jon Version 2.0 was born, Mr Cusack even sent a celebratory e-mail to family and friends designed to look as though he and his wife had created new software. "I wrote... stuff like 'there's a lot of new features from Version 1.0 [Mr Cusack himself] with additional features from Jamie'," he said.

And he is already planning for his son's future. "If he has a child, he could name it 3.0," he said. "The first [1.0] would have major revisions, then we have 2.0 and 3.0."

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Link to story.

Given the extent of his obsession it's a wonder found the time (or a like-minded partner with which) to have children at all!
 

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Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 02-02-2004, 12:02 PM:
 
I can't wait for their next child, Jon Blake Cusack Version 2.1

While Version 2.1 will be improved and faster than ever, he will most certainly have lots of bugs in him.
 

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Posted by Bob Maar (Member # 763) on 02-02-2004, 12:26 PM:
 
I think this father should rethink his choice. This boy will have a tough time growing up.
 

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Posted by Gerard S. Cohen (Member # 994) on 02-02-2004, 02:00 PM:
 
Like the boy in the Johnny Cash song,
"A Boy Named Sue?"
 

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Posted by Michael Schaffer (Member # 1204) on 02-02-2004, 02:29 PM:
 
The name is still Jon, isn`t it? So that`s not too bad. But the version 2.0 is ridiculous. It will just give the kid a lot more to write and he will probably have to explain it every single time he gives his name. Or maybe it will have become commonplace by the time he has grown up. Then the parents can feel like "pioneers".
My parents didn`t give me and my brother middle names because they thought we would have to write less when filling out paperwork. I am still grateful to them for that, because I absolutely hate filling out paperwork.
 

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Posted by Dominic Espinosa (Member # 2122) on 02-02-2004, 03:26 PM:
 
My parents decided to make it fun for me.
I'm Dominic Joaquin Leal-Espinosa...Yeah, buddy!
Altho, I say if parents can't figure out a clever name then don't bother. I have at least 3 cousins with the middle name Marie...Hooray for 2.0. Let's just hope he doesn't end up being malware masquerading as the latest and greatest
 

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Posted by David Favel (Member # 1125) on 02-02-2004, 06:02 PM:
 
quote
My parents didn`t give me and my brother middle names because they thought we would have to write less when filling out paperwork. I am still grateful to them for that, because I absolutely hate filling out paperwork.

How did you know when they were really angry with you?
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-02-2004, 06:19 PM:
 

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How did you know when they were really angry with you?

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David, that's soooo true!

...and Mike, I think many here can think of a "good" middle name fer ya.

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 02-03-2004, 02:28 PM:
 
In regards to middle names - the 'tradition' with the Babbidge men I'm related to, has been to give the son the father's first name as a middle name. My father is Paul Howard, my grandpa is Howard Forest, my great-grandpa is Forest Hubert, and so on and so forth.

For many generations they were only sons of only sons. However, I have two brothers. Courtney Paul, and Desmond R. My mother would have liked to have given Desmond the name Roland for his middle name, which was her father's name, but he made her promise to never name a child after him (he did not like his name)! The 'L.' you see to the left is for "Leigh". I also have a sister, Delilah Emerson.
The pediatrician my parents brought all of us to see for check-ups complimented my folks on the unique nature of our names.
 

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Posted by Dave Williams (Member # 299) on 02-03-2004, 02:51 PM:
 
As soon as four years old I refused to be called David, and insisted that I be called Dave, because my teachers could not pronounce it correctly. You would think that in Napa California, with all those Italians running around, that someone would get how to pronounce my name! It's pronounced Da-veed, not Day-vid.

When you are four, you get testy about those things. I could care less now, there isn't anyone left alive that pronounces it Da-veed anymore anyway, so who the hell cares.

I would have loved to have a moniker like 2.0. Just imagine the jokes that could be made about that!

Thank god my parents thought long and hard enough to make sure I had a name that was difficult to make fun of.

Ciao

Dave
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-03-2004, 03:58 PM:
 
In my family we also have a naming convention but it's not as formal as Garcia's.

Men in my family are simply named so that their initials are "R.W.S". My father's name was Richard Wallace, My brother's name is Ryan Wayne and I am Randall Walter. I also have a half-brother named, "Richard Thomas". Since he's a half-brother he is only subject to half the rule.

I also have a couple of relatives whose names are their initials. I have one cousin named, Christopher Joseph Snow. He goes by "C.J. Snow". I have an uncle, "J.W. Snow".

I see no reason people couldn't simply be given letters instead of names, a la "B.J. Honeycut" from the TV show "M*A*S*H" I once gave my cat letters instead of a name. It was named (lettered) "K.C.". People always used to ask me, "What does 'K.C.' stand for?" They'd guess things like, "Killer Cat", "Krazy Cat" and even one Deadhead swore that must mean, "K.C. Jones". I had a lot of fun trying to explain that he didn't have a name... Only letters.

There are a lot of good "letter-names" if you think about it: J.B., J.P, J.W., K.D., K.G., M.E., O.J., P.T., T.J., and the list goes on.

Naming a kid, "2.0" is kind of lame. I'm reminded of little Richie Petri, the kid on the old "Dick Van Dyke" TV show, whose middle name was "Rosebud" because his parents couldn't decide on which relative to name him after. At least Richie was only fictional! I agree that naming a kid, "2.0" will make him a laughing stock for the rest of his life... Or at least until he turn 18 years old and can change his name without his parents' permission.
 

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Posted by Phil Hill (Member # 371) on 02-03-2004, 04:59 PM:
 
I'm a P.J., even though I don't wear any...

>>> Phil
 

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Posted by Bobby Henderson (Member # 840) on 02-03-2004, 07:57 PM:
 
When John Blake Cusack takes a dump does he say he going to go one-point-o or two-point-o?

That poor kid is going to get his ass kicked a lot. "Hey, version shit! Gimmie yer lunch money!"
 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-04-2004, 08:16 AM:
 
He's either going to get his ass kicked or he'll turn into one tough mother f*cker!
 

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Posted by Bill Enos (Member # 440) on 02-04-2004, 10:06 PM:
 
By the time this kid gets to school having a computer term as part of his name will be very cool. I remember a while back seeing where some people gave their kids numbers for names. At least they would not run out of names. Hey 473, it's time for bed.

There was a guy in my unit in the Army who had an initial that stood for nothing as a first name--as R. James Smith. After many problems explaining the situation he added only in parenthesis after the R. As R.(only) James. Shortly afterward his new Army given first name was Ronly, figuring trying to correct it was going to be an exercise in futility, he gave up and started using Ronly.
 

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Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 02-04-2004, 10:19 PM:
 
*thwacks mr R.W.S.*

Garcia is not my name!


 

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Posted by Randy Stankey (Member # 64) on 02-04-2004, 10:25 PM:
 
Damn!! I really thought I got it right that time! Hard as I try, sometimes I don't catch those little dyslexic screw-ups!

I really THOUGHT I typed GRAcia. No offence intended. Sorry.
 

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Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 02-04-2004, 10:33 PM:
 
I'm not offended - it just reminded me of my first day in kindergarten!

When taking attendance, the teacher said 'Garcia Babbidge', and I did not reply. After getting through the whole list, she noticed that I had not anwered to any of the names, so she asked me who I was. When I told her, she said that she had already called my name. My prompt reply was 'No, you said Garcia, and that's not my name.'

She & I butted heads on a few other points throughout the year. She tried to get me to write with my right hand - nope, I'm a lefty, through and through. I commented on how ridiculous it was that she had us go look for leprechaun clothes on St. Patrick's Day, because I *knew* that they couldn't be real, and even **if** they were, they wouldn't be running nekkid with a foot of snow on the ground!

Funny, you'd think an educator would be more appreciative of a child that's an independent thinker...
 

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Posted by William Hooper (Member # 71) on 02-05-2004, 12:01 AM:
 

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Funny, you'd think an educator would be more appreciative of a child that's an independent thinker...

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Just a thinker was enough. You were a threat.
 

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Posted by Gracia L. Babbidge (Member # 582) on 02-05-2004, 08:21 AM:
 
Me? A threat?

Sweet!
 

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Posted by Daniel Wright (Member # 1983) on 02-05-2004, 08:42 AM:
 
John Wayne's real name was

..... Marion Michael Morrison

No wonder he was so tough


 

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Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 02-05-2004, 01:02 PM:
 
I had a maths teacher in high school called Mr. Nartsey. He lived up to the name and, I suspect, enjoyed it.
 

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