[name_f]My[/name_f] husband wants to use the name Cynewulf for a boy. When I hear the name I see it as being earthy, archaic, strong, and bold. An outdoors boy, one who fishes in ponds, climbs trees and enjoys hunting, level headed, fearless ALL boys- boy. I like that he could go by wulf/[name_m]Wolf[/name_m] and or even Cyne. It is pronounced kine (as in Kind) -[name_m]Wolf[/name_m] (like the animal wolf). [name_f]My[/name_f] biggest concern is that perhaps it isn’t as well established as [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m], with [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] puck(the chef) [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] [name_m]Amadeus[/name_m] [name_m]Mozart[/name_m] (the Musician).
Cynewulf is handsome, strong, powerful, and brave. I agree with earthy and outdoorsy- it sounds like an ancient warrior or huntsman who lives off the land. [name_m]Wulf[/name_m]/[name_m]Wolf[/name_m] is definitely a workable nickname. You’ll get mixed reactions, I can see people not knowing what to make of it, but I’d be really excited to meet a Cynewulf. Especially if you have English/Norse heritage. Pronunciation/spelling could be tricky though.
I love it! I wouldn’t worry about it not being as established as [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] (one of my top three). Wolfie is such a great nn too- it certainly fits in with the imagery you have in mind. I wouldn’t worry about pronunciation: it is fairly obvious, you might get a few people who think it is Synewolf or something like that, but it won’t take them long to learn.
I think there would probably be pronunciation problems, but there usually is with any names so that’s pretty minor. I like the name Cynewulf (I actually prefer it to [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m]). It has a nice touch of masculinity and nature.
[name_f]My[/name_f] instinct was to pronounce it with a soft C. I think you’ll have to be prepared to deal with the likelihood that only an Anglo-[name_m]Saxon[/name_m] scholar will pronounce it correctly off-pat. Other than that, it’s a fine name.
It looks like something out of the Anglo-[name_m]Saxon[/name_m] Chronicles. I do think it’s very cool. However, I would personally never use it in a million years. There are a lot of obvious pronunciation/spelling/familiarity issues. ‘Perhaps’ it isn’t as well established as [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] is a wild understatement, you are certainly not worrying over nothing. Generally speaking this is not a name in current usage, it’s a relic from Anglo-[name_m]Saxon[/name_m] times. People will forever be doing a double-take at his name, raising eyebrows, commenting, won’t know how to spell it, won’t know how to say it. But then some people enjoy having that sort of name I hear, so it’s really a matter of taste. I knew someone with the middle name Beowulf and most people thought that was cool, but then it was his middle name rather than his first name, and Beowulf is a thousand times more recognisable than Cynewulf.
Incidentally, I’m pretty sure it’s properly pronounced kin-uh-wolf, not kine-wolf. There are usually no silent letters in Old English.
Cynewulf is best as a middle name, in my opinion. The only people who are even going to recognize Cynewulf as something other than a random combination of letters are people who are either extremely knowledgeable about ancient names and/or historians who specialize in the Dark Ages. And perhaps the occasional high fantasy guru.
Well if she drops the “e” then the pronunciation would be correct according some in-accurate babysites. [name_m]Even[/name_m], Cyneburg on many random baby sites, quote it as Kyne-burg as in the German tongue. So I can see the innocent mistake. The y acts like an elongated ‘e’ as in [name_m]Keen[/name_m]-wulf or [name_m]Keen[/name_m]-uh-wolf. It is a name that I have been fascinated with since I verbally heard it, then I researched it, and my goodness there are more spellings than what you can shale a stick at. You could say Kin and still be accurate according the verbal pronunciation sites.
I also agree with southern.maple. The name isn’t bad, but it could create a lot of problems for the kid with pronunciation and the such. Plus, it’s a lot for the kid to carry. What if he grows up a bookworm who is shy and would prefer to stay inside? I’d keep it was a middle, or just use the name [name_m]Wolf[/name_m] by itself.
When I was a kid, my parents had a friend called [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m]. He was a big, tall guy, and it was the 80’s, so he had big hair too! I thought he had the coolest, yet strangest name I’d ever heard! I immediately thought “[name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] = pack of wolves”. [name_f]My[/name_f] childhood imagination saw this guy morphing into a wolf (Twilight style). [name_m]Even[/name_m] though [name_m]Wolfgang[/name_m] is a popular name, and I was introduced to it at a young age, it still sounds strange to me.
This is the first time I heard it, but its very cool. It definitely sounds masculine and earthy. The downside is of course the spelling and pronounciation.
After doing some research, and asking some etymologists, the proper way to say the name: it is Kin-uh-wulf. The alternative spelling and pronunciation is Kin-wulf/Cynwulf, where you are just dropping the ‘e’… There is a [name_m]Christian[/name_m] [name_f]Poet[/name_f] from the 9th century that would be a well notable figure connected to the spelling Cynewulf. So I do not think that I would change the spelling. I rather like the connection and the archaic spellings. People often have trouble saying many of the common more familiar names today. I think my biggest concern is the fact that many people do not say their w’s with a w phonetic but more of an r as in Rulf/[name_m]Rolf[/name_m]. I think that will drive me crazy! :rolleyes:
I think so too! People should be able to catch on fairly easily. [name_f]My[/name_f] father was named [name_u]Robin[/name_u], the pet form of [name_m]Robert[/name_m], but after a few corrections, people finally understood that his name was [name_u]Robin[/name_u] not [name_m]Robert[/name_m].