I just found this as the title of a [name]Louis[/name] L’Amour novel, “Bendigo [name]Shafter[/name].” I haven’t read it yet, I just picked it up long enough to see that Bendigo [name]Shafter[/name] helped build a Western settlement and that he and his brothers were named by their father, a Bible-reading man. Bendigo has to be a corruption of Abed-nego (from the story of Shadrach, [name]Meshach[/name] and Abed-nego in the fiery furnace.) What do you think? I was really taken with it, but I don’t know as I like the name’s origin. I love the story, but it always annoys me when a preacher or teacher says “Abendego” instead of “Abed-nego.” It happens often! Abed-nego is hard to say. But Bendigo is pretty cool. [name]Do[/name] you think it could work in the “real world”? Only if you were a [name]Louis[/name] L’Amour fan?
I’ve also posted this in Talk About Names.
I actually kind of like it! It yields the nn [name]Ben[/name] which is quite lovely, and it sort of reminds me of “I am Enigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die!” haha. It also sort of reminds me of the Italian [name]Benedetto[/name] (which I think I prefer). Shadrach, Meschach, and Abed-Nego (really? I have never heard a preacher say Abendego, haha. Maybe just a difference in denominations and such!) is such a great reference… it would be so lovely to grow up with such a hero/figure to look up to!
It is a bit out-there, though! Maybe it’s better suited as a MN? I think something like [name]Joseph[/name] Bendigo would be pretty cool, although you might be pretty tied to [name]Joseph[/name] [name]Nicodemus[/name]. 
Thanks for the comments, [name]Ash[/name]. I like the nickname [name]Ben[/name], and Bendigo has an similar sound and energy to [name]Indigo[/name] and [name]Inigo[/name]/Enigo…And I like [name]Joseph[/name] Bendigo! That does sound awfully cool. I’m fond of [name]Joseph[/name] [name]Nicodemus[/name], but I’m open to playing around with my combos, especially as I haven’t met my (hopefully) future [name]Joseph[/name]'s father yet
I think Bendigo has the strength to stand alone, though–right now, if I did use it, my inclination would be to stick with it as a first name. I’ll keep it around…any other thoughts?
That’s a really interesting one. It’s the name of a large town here in Australia, and also the name of a bank. For those reasons I’d probably find it unusable here, but since you’re in the US you won’t have those connections.
I have to say it’s growing on me the more I think about it – I’d just never considered it for a name before! It definitely fits right in with names like [name]Indigo[/name], but with a classic nickname to fall back on.
It definitely has a lot of cool factor going on, with the nn [name]Ben[/name] and similarity to [name]Indigo[/name]! I kind of can get behind the sound.
Two reservations for the sake of full disclosure:
- I’d be somewhat hesitant about teasing potential with the word “bend” in a name. : /
- I am a Spanish-as-a-2nd-language speaker, and looking at this immediately invokes “mendigo”, the word for beggar. If you live in an area with a lot of Spanish speakers, I wonder if they would have the same reaction?
I don’t think either of these reservations is the worst, but just things to keep in mind.
I wonder if you would like [name]Bennett[/name] [name]Indigo[/name] or [name]Benjamin[/name] [name]Indigo[/name] to tie into the feel of Bendigo while being a bit more familiar. I like both those combos a lot, [name]Bennett[/name] has better flow with [name]Indigo[/name] but I think [name]Benjamin[/name] is still OK.
Good luck!
Thanks for the comments, oldsienna and jesba. I think I’ll keep Bendigo on my list and see what happens! I’ll keep the [name]Indigo[/name] combos in mind, too. Thanks again.
I love that it ends in that -o and that [name]Ben[/name] is a possible nickname, but Bendigo reminds me too much of the Wendigo monster, so it has a real scary story/cannibalism vibe that ruins it for me.
@goodhope–I had to Google the Wendigo monster, and when I did I saw what you meant! That’s something to take into account if I ever seriously consider using the name. That sort of happened to my folks when they named my brother [name]Barnabas[/name]. My grandma gasped, “You mean, like the vampire?” My dad thought the reference to the vampire [name]Barnabas[/name] [name]Collins[/name] was too obscure to be a problem, and really, it hasn’t been. And now, guess what? Vampire names are cool! (And [name]Barnabas[/name] [name]Collins[/name] is one handsome name!)
I’m not into the monsters-are-cool thing, though, so thanks for the heads-up.