Does the literal meaning of a name–positive or negative–factor into your final choice?
Only minimally. A family name will trump meaning, but a name I just like with no other attachment? Yeah, there’s where an unfortunate meaning will knock it out of contention.
And [name]Portia[/name]? I love her for her [name]Shakespeare[/name] connection but most people think porche & car before [name]Shakespeare[/name] when they hear it. That’s one that’s never going to be on my lists no matter what her meaning is. 
I don’t think I’d ever bestow a name because of its meaning, though I might refuse to use a name because of a bad or weird meaning. It was a bummer as a kid for me to find out that my name came from a name that meant “manly” - I love my name today, but I can still sympathize with any young [name]Cecilia[/name] or [name]Claudia[/name]. Far more important to me are cultural connotations, sort of like what [name]Lola[/name] is saying. I’d never use [name]Portia[/name] or [name]Mercedes[/name] because of the car sound; I’d never use [name]Scarlett[/name] because of the “letter” and the “woman” thing; etc. etc.
It isn’t that important, just an added bonus sometimes. [name]Andrea[/name] means strong or manly, but that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t use it for my daughter; I think it’s a lovely name. If a name had associations or a really bad meaning, I wouldn’t use it. And just because it has a nice meaning (think [name]Egbert[/name], “bright edge of a sword” and [name]Portia[/name], “pig”) but sounds bad, I still wouldn’t use it.
Yes, and no. [name]How[/name] much I like a name can be increased by a positive meaning, and likewise, decreased by a negative/uninspiring meaning. I won’t necessarily choose a name solely because of the meaning, but certainly am attracted to think about certain names more because of their meaning (eg [name]Carys[/name]).
Part of the reason I really dislike surnames as first names is because I find their meanings to be so dull - [name]Cooper[/name]- barrel-maker, [name]Ashley[/name] - ash wood, [name]Madison[/name] - son of [name]Maud[/name] - they’re uninspiring and so boring.
I’d say the meaning is pretty important, but still secondary to phonetic appeal. Mainly, I look at meaning as a reason NOT to use a name–so even though [name]Cameron[/name] is a family name and I like the way it sounds, I won’t consider using it (tangent story: it’s my dad’s mn, and he actually has a crooked nose). Associations with the name have a slightly higher status than the meaning, since meaning is often obscure, while associations are obvious. So [name]Afton[/name] is a GP of mine–even though it has a boring meaning, I associate with the [name]Robert[/name] [name]Burns[/name] poem and that’s pretty cool.
Unoriginal, I completely agree about the surname thing (especially -son names)! I might add that I have the exact same problem with using place names as given names, though I could understand choosing a place that was important to the family.
For me, meaning is very low on the list of reasons to consider or discard a name. My criteria, in order of importance, are: 1) I have to like the name. If I don’t like it, forget about it! 2) Mental association. No matter how popular a name is, if it brings to mind a negative mental image, I won’t use it. 3) [name]How[/name] well does it go with my surname? The rhythm of the names is part of this, as well as the sounds. 4) Popularity. Some names, I refuse to even touch, based solely on how common they are and how many little kids with that same name are going to be starting school together in a few years.
If a name is truly notorious purely because of its meaning, however, I’m not likely to consider it. [name]Jezebel[/name] comes to mind as an example. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. I know [name]Jocasta[/name] has a notorious meaning, but I like it all the same. I think meaning is a bit less important in the case of [name]Jocasta[/name], since it’s somewhat obscure – not everybody knows [name]Oedipus[/name]’ mom’s name, and I certainly didn’t till I was an adult! If I like a name, I like it; if I hate a name, I hate it; and meaning, in and of itself, won’t change my opinion.
Meanings of names are so important to me that I actually think about it before I think about the name itself. In a lot of cultures people believe the childs names gives them the attributes of the meaning of that name. I tend to agree, simply becasue words have the power to change and frame someones world. (This has been scientifically proven) So, I would chose a name that meant “sweet” over a name that means “bitter” or “joyfull” over a name that means “sorrow” or “sad”.
For Example I like the name [name]Katherine[/name] [name]Joy[/name], simply because it means “pure joy”.
So for me the criteria is as follows:
- What does it mean? What is the origin?
- What does the name remind me of? Famous people? A negative association?
- The actuall name itself (this includes pronunciation/spelling and possible nicknames)
- [name]How[/name] popular/Trendy is this name? In 5 years? In 10 years? In 25 years? Does the name age well?
- Would a child actually like to grow up with this name? Would they be teased about it in school? Would they be taken seriously as adults in the workplace?
- [name]Do[/name] I like any variations of the name? Are there any names my husband likes/wants to add, or take off the list?
Once I narrow down my list…
7. [name]Do[/name] I really like this name and its nick names to actually use it and say it for the rest of my life? What does husband rate the name? (On a scale of 1-10)
8. Does the first name sound good with my last name? Does a middle name come to mind immediately? (This is often the case for me.) What about family names as a middle name? [name]Do[/name] all three names flow easily together?
9. What would other people think of the name? Would it be too odd for the family to remember or say when they first hear it? Would teachers/bosses have a hard time saying it when they first see it?
10. A playground is a great place to try a name out. I ask opinions of both parents and kids (for teasing potential mostly), then I check websites and message boards to found out how popular it really is, instead of how popular I think it is. I almost always (except for a few) eliminate a first name if its in the top 100, but will use it as a possible middle name.
If a name passes my 10 criteria, it gets put on my “favorites” list. (Usually about 50-100 first/middle combo names at any given time) I check it every three months or so to see if I still really like the names on the list. If I don’t care for the name after three months I won’t use it. If the name can last over two years on my “favorites” list, then I add it to my “favorites of all time” list. Then I try really hard to convince DH he likes the names on my “all time” lists.
By the time I explain each name using my 10 criteria and why I really like the name he is usually laughing cause he knows what a name nut I really am. I figure he can pick whatever name he likes best on my “all time” list, so he gets final choice of usually 10 or 20 names. (I like them all so much the kid will be in kindergarden before I can pick just one) So far he has never hated any of the names enough not to use them, and we seem to have similar taste in names, so this system works for us.
Very much so! The meaning was hugely important to us.
The meaning of a name is somewhat important to me. If a name has a negative aspect, you can sometimes add a middle name to make the first name’s meaning more palatable. For example, I really like the name [name]Cecilia[/name], but it means blind. [name]Cecilia[/name] [name]Faith[/name] on the other hand sounds great! Blind faith.
My name has a positive meaning, faith.
This has actually caused me a lot of guilt when I feel as though I’m not living up to my faith, for which I was named.
So yeah, I’d say meanings can be very important and impact the child a lot. But of course this is all dependant on personality. I wouldn’t worry what other people think of meanings, what matters is the child. Could they be judged for the meaning? Could they feel embarrassed about the meaning? If the answer is yes, I would search for another name.
My favourite girls name is [name_f]Orla[/name_f] which means [name_u]Golden[/name_u] princess with the middle name [name_f]Emi[/name_f] which means beautiful.
My favourite boys name is [name_m]Will[/name_m] which means protector with the middle name [name_u]Hudson[/name_u] which means mind, love and spirit.
Name mea ing arent a deal breaker for me however I prefer to not have a biblical meaning or relation. None of the names have significant sentiment to me except [name_m]Will[/name_m] is similar to my maiden name.
I don’t think meaning is the biggest deal breaker, but I do love knowing the meanings and feeling out if the meaning would impact or might upset the child in any way should they be like their momma and google their name to find out it’s meaning. And it’s situational. Like, I [name_u]LOVE[/name_u] [name_u]Mason[/name_u]; the meaning doesn’t bother me whatsoever because above all else I love the way it sounds, but I do find the meaning lackluster and I’d feel for my little boy if say his siblings were named [name_f]Krystal[/name_f] [name_u]Lynn[/name_u] (“Sparkling” “[name_u]Lake[/name_u]”) and [name_f]Madeleine[/name_f] [name_f]Mae[/name_f] (“Magnificent” “[name_f]Pearl[/name_f]”) and [name_u]Evan[/name_u] [name_m]Nathaniel[/name_m] ("[name_m]Young[/name_m] warrior" “God has given”) and then his name is just “Artificer of stone”. You know?
For western names it’s somewhat important, I can’t hate the meaning, but the sound trumps meaning. I think the fact that with a lot of names most people don’t know their meaning until it’s looked it up contributes a lot to my feelings on this (of course noun names don’t count here).
For Japanese names it gets a lot more complicated for me, the meaning is still not as important as the sound in my opinion, but it does factor in a lot more than with Western names due to how they are written and how the language works. [name_m]Long[/name_m] explanation ahead.
Japanese names are written in kanji characters which is a logographic writing system adopted from [name_f]China[/name_f]. Each character/combination of characters is a symbol that represents the meaning of a word/concept rather than the sound of the word, ie 木 represents “tree” but it doesn’t tell you the pronunciation(s), you learn that separately.
Most kanji characters have multiple pronunciations, and conversely; a lot of sounds in the Japanese language can be represented by many different kanji.
With that in mind you can get quite creative with it, you can take a name that you like the sound of and find characters of various different meanings that make those sounds, combine them together, and say that is how the name is written.
Now, this is not popular with most people, it’s basically the “[name_f]Kaitlyn[/name_f]/KVIIIlyn” of Japan because, as I said before, the characters have many ways to be pronounced and some are more common than others so your creative writing of the name is not likely to be read correctly by others.
That being said, that still leaves quite a few generally accepted “spellings” of most Japanese names so if you like the sound of a name you do get a lot more freedom to choose the character combo that has the meaning you like best.
Meanings can deepen my love for a name, but I really dont think it’s a big factor, as the meaning of a name is just a novelty. The sound, spelling, nicknames and flow with surname are all more important to me.
ETA: While ideally I would avoid names with strongly religious meanings, Elliot is still my favourite boy name. It looks nice, is familiar but not too common, sounds lovely, and I love the nickname Otto. I’d live the name more if I loved the meaning, but currently there are no others boys names I love to a similar extent as Elliot, so I dont mind.
Name meanings matter to me somewhat. I probably wouldn’t choose a name if it had an unambiguously negative meaning – unless it had another possible origin.
But when it comes to innocuous meanings (like “red-haired” or “from [name_f]France[/name_f]” for example) I don’t mind at all, even though my child is unlikely to have red hair and we’re not [name_m]French[/name_m].
Overall, I place greater emphasis on sound, associations and family connections. A name could have an incredibly beautiful meaning but if I didn’t like the sound I wouldn’t choose it.