Caelum - I love it. What do you think?

Never heard of “Caelum” before as a boy’s name until reading a novel by [name]Wally[/name] Lamb - “The Hour I First Believed”.

I think it’s an awesome name and does not seem to be used at all. It has the sound of [name]Caleb[/name], with to me a better sound and meaning. Sounds a bit familiar - think [name]Callum[/name], [name]Callen[/name], [name]Cale[/name], and [name]Cayden[/name].

It means “of the heavens” in Latin, but it seems to be a name that would go well with Celtic, English and biblical sib sets. And that wonderful meaning!

Your thoughts?

I don’t think it has the sound of [name]Caleb[/name] at all, unless I have been pronouncing it wrong. My high school astronomy teacher always said it with a soft “c” and a long “e” sound (like seelum). I always assumed that was correct since it comes from the same root word as celestial.

The word also has two meanings. It can also mean “chisel”, hence the Caelum constellation called “the chisel”.

It’s really cool, and I want to like it. I just really dislike names that end in -um. It’s unattractive to me, particularly when they start with “c”

I never took Latin and would have assumed it was [name]KAY[/name]-lum. I tend to think that’s how most people would initially pronounce it. I think it’s really cool with the [name]KAY[/name]- sound. The SEE- sound is actually awesome too but would always be butchered.

I like it and would pronounce it like alzora (I’m not sure if that’s correct but that’s how I’d pronounce it). I like the meaning, the sound of the full name, and the nn [name]Cael[/name] (which is a name in and of itself).

From what I was able to find online, it’s supposed to be pronounced see-lum (a few websites also listed kye-lum) so despite how it looks, it doesn’t have the same beginning sound of any of the [name]Ca[/name]- names. I would just go with [name]Callum[/name], since there’s better known anyway and has the pronunciation that I think you’re going for.

I’d pronounce it [name]Kay[/name]-lum, but I don’t like it, I find it a bit chavvy sounding to be honest, like someone’s trying to revamp [name]Callum[/name] to be different. [name]Callum[/name] isn’t said the same way, the [name]Cal[/name]- there is like in [name]Calvin[/name], while Caelum’s start is like [name]Caleb[/name].

We normally use the medieval pronunciation of Latin nowadays, meaning Caelum should be SEE-lum. It is [name]KY[/name]-lum in classical Latin, though. ([name]Just[/name] like [name]Caesar[/name] is SEE-sar in medieval Latin, but [name]KY[/name]-sar in classical Latin.) :wink:

I like it, but the pronunciation will be way to confusing …

I’d say K-[name]Lum[/name]. [name]Just[/name] because of all the “[name]Aiden[/name]” names that start with [name]Cae[/name], [name]Kae[/name], [name]Jae[/name], etc. I think most people who don’t look up the meaning/language would pronounce it the same/similar.

I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]LOVE[/name] [name]LOVE[/name] this name! It was number one on our own list for quite awhile (though now sits at number 3 or 4). In classic Latin (I’ve been told) it’s pronounced [name]KYE[/name]-lum, though most people would probably immediately pronounce it as [name]KAY[/name]-lum (which makes it sound somewhat feminine). In some circles it’s also pronounced SEE-lum (like how we pronounce [name]Ceasar[/name]), and the constellation in the southern sky is oftentimes pronounced this way (though it’s not the original Latin pronunciation).
It’s a name that’d have to be corrected a lot, but that’s not something I think is a big deal. I had to correct people saying my name when I was growing up, but just the first (and maybe second) time people hear it, then they know it from then on out, and it was never something that bothered me at all. And the meaning = awesome. It has two meanings as far as I understand, one is as you say, ‘heaven’ or ‘sky’ (I’ve read that the English word ‘sky’ actually originates from the [name]Cae[/name] (pronounced [name]KYE[/name]) from this name, and the other is ‘a chisel; engraving tool’.
I really love this name a lot. It’s definitely not for everyone. When I was asking questions about it in various forums it got overwhelmingly negative responses (apart from a few people who loved it), but that hasn’t taken away it’s awesomeness from my mind.

The ancient Romans who spoke Latin as their household tongue would have said “[name]KYE[/name]-lum”

Once Latin devolved into Italian, and the [name]Roman[/name] Church continued to dominate the Western [name]Christian[/name] world, Latin took a distinctly Italianate turn. The medievalists-- and those who still genuinely speak Latin today, not just in Church-- would say CHAI-lum.

Nowadays in church, you’ll hear a soft S- seh-lum, most frequently, in the chants.

Incidentally it’s a second declension noun. CAELUM is the nominative case, meaning “heaven” (which would be used at the subject of a sentence, like “heaven is real.”) [name]CAELI[/name] is the genitive, meaning “of the heavens.”

All told-- lovely thought, but far too confusing and too easily mispronounced to be wearable outside the Vatican, imo.

[name]LOVE[/name] IT - my boy is called Kahlen. think ur spelling is nice aswel

I went to school with a boy named Kalem - pronounced kay-lum. I like the pronounciation but the spelling you have chosen seems confusing with the variations…

I actually know of someone who has a son with this name. I only know her online so I’ve never heard her pronounce it but my guess was always kay-lum. I’m actually glad you posted this because I always wondered where she might have gotten the name from!

I actually prefer [name]Callum[/name], just because it’s a little more straightforward. Caelum is nice, but I think people unfamiliar with the name might think it’s made up and/or an odd spelling of [name]Callum[/name] or something else. [name]Just[/name] a thought.

I actually have a son named Caelum. He is named for the constellation, but we use the pronunciation of “kay-lum”. I have another son named [name_u]Orion[/name_u], and that is the one that actually gets mispronounced more often!