I’m not really a fan of either, but I do like [name]Isla[/name] better than Hartlyn.
I think you might be mistaken about the meaning of Hartlyn, btw. [name]Hart[/name] is a red stag. Heartlyn might have the meaning you liked, I’m not sure. But a heart is not the same as a hart. [name]Hart[/name] is also a surname. I’m not opposed to surname names, I quite like them in fact. But if the selling point in Hartlyn is the meaning, I think Hartlyn would mean something more along the lines of pretty stag. Or river stag? [name]Lyn[/name] means river or pretty.
I think [name]Isla[/name] is really nice. It can be really difficult to compromise with our SO sometimes, because we each obviously want to use our favorite name. You haven’t really commented on your SO’s opinion of Hartlyn. Is he completely opposed to it? Is it just “ok” to him like [name]Isla[/name] is to you? Would you be happy naming your daughter [name]Isla[/name] with Hartlyn as a middle name?
I just think [name]Isla[/name] is so beautiful.
I can tell that this is a touchy subject, but I feel like you’re still not quite understanding what people mean when they say the name sounds trendy or made-up. If a name is labeled as having American origins, you can generally count on it being “made-up”. This means it does not have ancient/classic origins, and therefore the root words will most likely not mean what some sites claim that it means. This is not necessarily a bad thing. If the fact that the name is a modern invention doesn’t bother you, then use the name. But if you’re looking for a name with a nice meaning, I suggest finding a name with some history.
The thing about trendy names… Sure, Hartlyn might be rare, but other modern inventions and smooshes are quite popular right now. So really there isn’t much uniqueness in naming your daughter one of these names. If it’s uniqueness you want, I suggest looking for classic names that are due for a comeback and have been out of the top name ranks for a while. You can visit the SSA site or look at the popularity charts on Nameberry.
If you like the look and sound of Hartlyn, and if you do not mind that it is a modern invention that will be considered by most people as a “trendy” name, then use it. You obviously love it.
[name]How[/name] could you have possibly interpreted @ashthedreamer’s thoughtful insight as snark? Given that accusation, combined with my tendency to lack sugar-coating, you’ll definitely think I’m a complete beeyotch no matter what I have to say, so I’ll just call it like I see it here.
She is absolutely right. It’s a made-up name because it is an “American” name. Think about it. We are a “made-up” nation. We have no real ancestry of our own (Native Americans, yes, but not us). Our culture is a mish-mashed, smooshed-together glob of influences from other parts of the world, with a hefty dose of our own misplaced sense of entitlement that got us into this country in the first place. [name]Just[/name] like the “American” names.
You are right that [name]Hart[/name] is not a girls’ name like [name]Grace[/name]. It’s an old (read: vintage), traditional male name, and also a surname. So actually, Hartlyn would be following several trends — use of a “vintage” name, a surname, a male’s name for a girl, and a -lyn suffix. Really doesn’t get much trendier than that.
The “meaning” you’re pulling up in google searches is equally made-up. Because the name is.
Also, we are all stating opinions here. That’s the whole point of this forum. You literally asked, “What do you think?” This is what we think, so if you really can’t handle honest opinions, posing a question like that on an online forum probably isn’t going to get you what you want.
To answer your question, [name]Isla[/name] is a great name.
I think you came expecting an echo chamber of support, and suggestions of ways to convince your husband to accept Hartlyn over [name]Isla[/name]. Instead you got opinions and analysis, most of them critical. It’s fairly obvious from your defensive attachment to the name that you adore it and really want to use it.
[name]Isla[/name] is not a river-- it comes from the word ‘isle,’ meaning of course ‘island.’ There is a beautiful island off the western coast of [name]Scotland[/name] called [name]Islay[/name], which is likely the origin.
Hartlyn, if you want to be very specific, means “deer lake.” [name]Hart[/name] = deer, stag, and lyn/lynn = lake in Welsh. [name]Hart[/name] is not a terribly common name element, but it is used in names like [name]Hartley[/name] (“deer meadow”). -lyn is a very common, popular girls’ name element which can be tacked on to almost anything to feminize it. Voila! Hartlyn is born.
Lastly, you strike me as a decently savvy person-- you can’t be serious about relying on google. I can google a thousand ways to make my penis bigger, or google [name]Obama[/name]'s devotion to Islam, or that injecting shark cartilage will cure your Stage 4 cancer. Anyone can create content and put it on the internet with no concern for fact-checking. If some random website says Hartlyn means something as obviously false and frankly insipid as “full of love and kindness,” well, that information is worth what you paid for it.
[name]Just[/name] like, at the end of the day, all the advice in this thread.
You obviously did not read the thread. She was being snarky because I told her that I would never pick some of her name choices for girls because they are already too over-used (in my opinion). To which she replied: “Well, I’m honored you like my taste in boys’ names. haha. Honestly, though…” and by also saying that she would “want something with more substance and history for my daughter”. [name]Both[/name] comments full of snark in my opinion.
This thread was my first ever post on Nameberry. I came on here to ask people’s opinions on Hartlyn and [name]Isla[/name] because I had stopped the idea of telling family and friends ideas for names after my mother-in-law begged me to tell her a few names I was considering. I told her that I would rather wait until she was born because people sometimes have rude reactions. She assured me she would not, to which my mentioning that I liked the name [name]Eloise[/name] was met with a very negative reaction.
I guess what I was hoping for on Nameberry was just a straight up “I like [name]Isla[/name] better” or “I like Hartlyn”. This is my first child and although, like a lot of girls and women do, I grew up having a running list of names that have changed throughout the years, I am not a name afficionado. I do not spend hours on the internet perusing for names and meanings of names. I have not compiled a well-honed list of names that live up to what some people would describe as full of history, substance and meaning. I am not knocking those that do, it’s just I have devoted my time to other things. I do think that a name is very important and should be thoughtfully considered. But to be honest, I feel a name that I just like because of how it sounds has been utterly ruined by name snobbery.
But hey, maybe I am just too sensitive. Maybe it is the hormones. Maybe it is the mountain of personal stress I am under due to family circumstances. In any case, I am not asking for any more opinions. From family, friends, on Nameberry or any other baby-naming site. I can just quietly go about my business looking for names and decide with my husband what we should name our precious baby girl.
That is all. Thank you to those who have kindly given their opinion. I appreciate it.
