Anyone care to put a positive spin on the name DIRCE for me? I believe it’s pronounced “Dear-see.”
Looks like she was a nymph who had twins from an adulterous affair with [name]Zeus[/name] (or a rape?) and ended up gored to death by a bull… Yikes! Still, I think the name has a nice sound, and the option of nn Dear.
I’ve thought of using my grandmother’s nickname “Dear” as a daughter’s middle name, but I worry that it’s too twee.
I’m not a fan of [name]Dierdre[/name].
Last name is close to Garnet.
Current girl list:
[name]Xenia[/name] Dear/ [name]Xenia[/name] [name]Ginger[/name] ([name]Xenia[/name] for my mother, [name]Alexandra[/name]. Not in love with her full name, but the X, yes.)
[name]Ginger[/name] [name]Margaret[/name] ([name]Margaret[/name] for my aunt [name]Margaret[/name])
[name]Acacia[/name]…?
[name]Celia[/name] Dear
Dirce…?? Dirce [name]Alice[/name]? Dirce [name]Acacia[/name]?
Is Dirce too harsh? Is the story behind it prohibitively disturbing?
All opinions and suggestions welcome. Thanks!
I’d be more concerned with pronunciation, because I thought it was like dice with and r added in or like deer with an s added on, if that makes sense?
It’s not well known like [name]Circe[/name], so I see pronunciation being a problem more so than the story since not very many people know about mythology and those that do, don’t really know the obscure ones… Personally, I wouldn’t use it and I think it would overall work better in the middle spot: [name]Xenia[/name] Dirce, [name]Acacia[/name] Dirce, [name]Alice[/name] Dirce, [name]Ginger[/name] Dirce
You could always go with a name that means dear like:
[name]Carina[/name]
[name]Cher[/name]
[name]Kara[/name]/[name]Cara[/name]
[name]Cheri[/name]
[name]Cherise[/name]
[name]Darlene[/name]
Thanks Catlover.
You’re probably right about the pronunciation - good point! I don’t think that’s a deal-breaker for me though.
For some reason, I dislike Dirce in the middle spot. I’d probably just go straight to Dear if I were going to use a middle name to honor my granny.
None of those “dear” names excite me, but thanks for trying!
Actually [name]Darlene[/name] is kind of lovely. I love [name]Marlene[/name]… as in [name]Dietrich[/name]. But I do think of [name]Roseanne[/name]'s daughter.
Yeah…I think it’s honestly too much. Plus, my first instinct was to pronounce it as “dirty” just with an ss sound instead of a t, I would think that would be annoying. I don’t think it’s a good name for the first spot, and like you said if Dear is going in the middle, just use Dear.
I think Dear is beautiful by itself! I think Dirce’s connotation might be a bit too negative, where Dear is so much sweeter. [name]Xenia[/name] Dear and [name]Acacia[/name] Dear are so pretty!
Wow [name]Indira[/name]! My grandmother and the first female [name]Indian[/name] prime minister! I kind of love it, but I don’t have any special ties to [name]India[/name], so I’m not sure.
Anyone else have any Dear-like name ideas?
Yeah I figured [name]Indira[/name] might be a long shot - I do think it’s pretty though and I think since she was famous it could work on a non [name]Indian[/name]? The Sanskrit meaning of beauty if a culturally universal one.
I did a NB supersearch for girls names containing “dir” since that seems like it would be more frequent than “dear”. You can run the same for all - there were 16 - but the two that were best to my ear:
Thanks Jesba. Not having much luck with the supersearch. I will put [name]Indira[/name] on my long list for further consideration. I’m intrigued by the Irish name Dearbhla (“duhr-vlah”) though it’s kind of crazy.
Aderyn / [name]Deryn[/name] (welsh variant, meaning ‘bird’)
[name]Federica[/name]
Sikh names: Davinder, Jasminder, Tajinder
[name]Deirdre[/name] (you don’t like [name]Dierdre[/name] or [name]Deirdre[/name] or both?)
[name]Nadira[/name] (Arabic name meaning precious, rare-- it actually means ‘dear’ in addition to having the sound)
[name]Sadira[/name] (arabic for star)
Thanks [name]Blade[/name]. None of these names are calling to me, but I really like Davinder as a boy’s middle name. It’s so fiery!
My husband is home, and we’ve edited the girl’s list down to 5, which feels manageable. He thinks Dear only goes with [name]Celia[/name], of all our first names. Also added Key as a middle, my best friend’s middle name, and [name]James[/name] after our close friend. Dirce is OUT! Any votes?
[name]Xenia[/name] [name]Ginger[/name]
[name]Ginger[/name] [name]Margaret[/name]
[name]Ginger[/name] [name]James[/name]
[name]Celia[/name] Dear
[name]Acacia[/name] Key
Greek person to the rescue on pronunciation and history Dirce is a Greek name pronounced deer-kee. It means double or sometimes pine fruit depending.
She was originally the wife of [name]King[/name] Lykos of Thebes who, as punishment for mistreating her niece Antiope, was tied to a wild bull and destroyed. [name]Dionysos[/name] then transformed her into the spring on account of her having been a devoted follower.
Personally, I find the sound of the name harsh.
Other Dear sounding names:
[name]Adira[/name] – strong, powerful
[name]Indira[/name] – beauty, splendor
[name]Jadira[/name] – deserves great touch
Jandira – a goddess
[name]Nadira[/name] – rare, dear, delicate
[name]Qadira[/name] – able
[name]Sadira[/name] – lotus tree
Does that help?
[name]EDIT[/name] – [name]Just[/name] saw you don’t want it anymore. But at least I clear the pronunciation and history up. From your choices so far I like [name]Xenia[/name] [name]Ginger[/name], or [name]Xenia[/name] Dear if you’d still consider that one.
Wow thanks Dantea for such a thorough reply! The pronunciation “Dear-Key” kind of makes me like it more bc it contains my grandmother’s name and my best friend’s (Key)… But for pure musicality, I think I’m over it. A bit like turkey, or dorky. Not sure how it would go over on the playground.
Yes, in theory I’m interested in Dear-like names that can be nicknamed Dear, but none so far are exciting me.
I kind of agree with my husband that Dear as a middle is best with [name]Celia[/name], because it’s the sweetest, gentlest of our names. [name]Xenia[/name] and Dear are from different worlds, [name]Xenia[/name] being kind of ancient and modern at the same time, and Dear being quaint and old-fashioned. [name]Ginger[/name] Dear is like ginger beer. [name]Acacia[/name] Dear is not quite right. [name]Celia[/name] is lovely, but so are our other first names, if I do say so myself! Looks like I will just have to give birth to triplet girls or something, because I don’t know how I’ll decide!
[name]Delia[/name] (DEAR-lia) and [name]Indira[/name] I think are the more appropriate names which deliver the nm “Dear”. But if you stretch it a little a bit, there’s also [name]Adair[/name], Deshira, [name]Dahlia[/name], [name]Frederica[/name], [name]Lavender[/name] & [name]Delilah[/name].
Dear backwards ([name]Raed[/name]) brings to mind [name]Radley[/name], [name]Read[/name] or [name]Mairead[/name].
Thanks Minisia. I do love [name]Dahlia[/name]. A favorite in fact, but it feels like a big stretch from Dear. I will keep it on the back burner.
You reminded me that I love the name [name]Darla[/name], like [name]Darla[/name] from The [name]Little[/name] Rascals. Unfortunately, it’s extremely rhymey with our last name.
I think [name]Celia[/name] Dear is lovely. [name]Acacia[/name] Key is similar in sound to singer [name]Alicia[/name] [name]Keys[/name]. I don’t like the name [name]Ginger[/name] at all. In some countries, it is used as a derogatory term for a “red-haired child” and I’ve read stories about these children being bullied for the colour of their hair with the word “ginger”. Have you considered [name]Xenia[/name] Key or [name]Xenia[/name] [name]Margaret[/name]?
[name]Celia[/name] Dear is my favorite, second would be [name]Xenia[/name] [name]Ginger[/name]. [name]Acacia[/name] Dear would also be cute, but [name]Acacia[/name] Key just reminds me of [name]Alicia[/name] [name]Keys[/name]
Thanks for the [name]Alicia[/name] [name]Keys[/name] association. Good call! I guess [name]Acacia[/name] Dear might work, but I think between the “shah” and the “ear” it could get kind of grating. I stand by [name]Ginger[/name], despite its negative connotations. I like [name]Xenia[/name] Key, but it might be a little… cold. I find [name]Acacia[/name] and [name]Ginger[/name] to be very warm, [name]Celia[/name] and [name]Xenia[/name] to be kind of on the chilly side. So that’s part of my concern with [name]Celia[/name] Dear. It may be the most beautiful, but the least fun.
Dirce is a Greek name pronounced deer-kee. It means double or sometimes pine fruit depending.