I have a few questions that have been roaming around in my head for a while now. Here they are…
What is the big deal with [name_f]Delilah[/name_f]? I know that in the Bible, [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] betrayed [name_m]Samson[/name_m], and it sort of has a inappropriate meaning. But, really, I love this name. No one is going to bully your child for this. If no one else is going to use this name, well, that’s just good for me-- my child is not likely to have to be called [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] R, or [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] M.
[name_m]How[/name_m] do you pronounce these names-- [name_u]Halcyon[/name_u] and [name_f]Imogen[/name_f]? I think [name_u]Halcyon[/name_u] is pronounced [name_m]Hal[/name_m]- see- on, but I’m not sure. And, [name_f]Imogen[/name_f], is it Ih- mo- gene? Or I- mo- jen?
About [name_f]Imogen[/name_f], am I the only one who isn’t in love with this name? I feel like I’m the only person who isn’t falling on their knees and bowing to [name_f]Imogen[/name_f]. I personally think it’s just not a pretty name. Anyone agree?
[name_f]Delilah[/name_f] to me has no negative connotations, but I am certainly not religious. I have had a student named [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] while was never bullied, but as it is always discussed kids don’t usually bully other kids for their name.
I pronounce [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] as Ih-muh-jin (looks weird!) and I fell in love with this name back when Down to You came out (Julia Stiles character). Actually had it on my name list when I was in school. I’ve gotten over it since then, and I’m glad with all of the attention it’s been getting lately.
I love [name_f]Delilah[/name_f]. My only, only issue with it no nickname (I am [name_m]OTO[/name_m] that longer names should have a nickname option.)
I think [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] is cute but I don’t love it. Also, it will always make me think of the bad little girl in The Best [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] Pageant [name_u]Ever[/name_u].
I agree on Imgoen. I have no idea how to pronounce it! Maybe if I could figure out how to pronounce it but so far no luck. It just doesn’t look appealing to me either. Makes me cringe but I don’t really know why, it just does. I really don’t mean any offense to anyone though it’s just Imho. Also I don’t know how to pronounce [name_u]Halcyon[/name_u] either. And I just had to look 3 times to spell it right…
I don’t have a problem with [name_f]Delilah[/name_f]. Sounds pretty.
Okay. I’m going to try very hard not to rant here, because, well, it’s obvious to me why I wouldn’t use [name_f]Delilah[/name_f], but maybe not to someone else. A [name_m]Christian[/name_m] (or probably more appropriately, a very devout [name_m]Christian[/name_m] who reads her Bible every day and attends church every weekend and wants to live out her faith in a very real way) is going to see [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] very differently from someone who isn’t necessarily a believer. [name_m]Even[/name_m] someone who believes in God, but only attends church a couple times a year as opposed to a devout [name_m]Christian[/name_m] is going to see [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] differently. Some Christians don’t even know who [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] is, but I definitely do. I’ve read the story dozens of times. I know what she’s known for. She was a harlot. A prostitute. Why would I want to name my daughter after a prostitute? Especially one who will be brought up in sermons that my daughter will hear, and all her friends will hear, and all her friends’ parents will hear, and all her church teachers will hear, and they’ll all be wondering the same thing: “[name_f]Delilah[/name_f] was a prostitute. We all know this. Out of the thousands of names out there–and even the hundreds of names in the Bible, why did so-and-so pick [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] for her daughter?!” There’s a [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] in my church. She’s in her eighties. She’s told me herself that she can’t comprehend why her mom named her [name_f]Delilah[/name_f]. She hasn’t really had a bad reaction to it, that I’ve seen, anyway, but I’ve only been around her 20 years, so I wouldn’t really know what her childhood was like. People hesitate to use [name_f]Charlotte[/name_f] sometimes because it has the word “harlot” in it–how is [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] any different? And it’s not simply that she was a prostitute. [name_m]Samson[/name_m] was a pretty dumb man to begin with, but [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] used him and betrayed him, to bring down God’s people. In the eyes of a [name_m]Christian[/name_m] (at least to me. I figured this was how all Christians saw [name_f]Delilah[/name_f]), [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] was a prostitute and a liar and an enemy of God and His people. No matter how pretty [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] sounds, I wouldn’t use it, because I wouldn’t want people to even entertain the idea that she is the kind of woman I would want my daughter to look up to. Of course, someone who isn’t a [name_m]Christian[/name_m] (or even a devout [name_m]Christian[/name_m]) will see it very differently. But ah, well. That’s why I would never have a [name_f]Delilah[/name_f]. And why I can’t even conceive why someone would find the name appealing in the slightest. But that’s just me.
[name_m]HAL[/name_m]-syon. I don’t think the second syllable is as emphasized as hal-see-on. It’s more like when people say cor-DEEL-ya or jool-ya instead of cor-dee-lee-ah or joo-lee-ah. kwim? And [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] is imm-ah-jen/imm-oh-jen. Imm-ah-jeen/imm-oh-jeen would be [name_f]Imogene[/name_f].
Meh. I don’t [name_f]LOVE[/name_f] [name_f]Imogen[/name_f], but I can see the appeal. It’s Shakespearean. It has the ADORABLE nn of [name_f]Immy[/name_f] (plus [name_f]Gen[/name_f] and [name_f]Ginny[/name_f]!). It’s feminine, without being frilly. I think it, along with other non-frilly-but-totally-feminine names like [name_f]Lillian[/name_f], [name_f]Catherine[/name_f], and [name_f]Audrey[/name_f], are a great option for parents who don’t want sickeningly sweet (or even girly), but still want a legitimate girls’ name.
The Best [name_u]Christmas[/name_u] Pageant [name_u]Ever[/name_u] is why I adore [name_f]Imogen[/name_f]! Not that I’d use it, but I love it when other people do! BTW, you are pronouncing halcyon correctly.
[name_f]Delilah[/name_f] will only be looked on as bad by religious people; if you or the people in your area are religious, maybe not the best choice, but if not, I think it’s fine.
[name_u]Halcyon[/name_u] is pronounced hal-see-on, and [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] is pronounced ih-mo-jen.
I [name_f]Love[/name_f] [name_f]Delilah[/name_f], too. Bible stories are just stories told from the political/cultural perspective of those in power. The ancient Israelites raped plundered and pillaged as much as any other group–and they wrote about that, too, in the Bible. The preachers just don’t tend to focus on those passages. I spent countless hours in my family’s fundamentalist, evangelical church, but once I’d memorized all the sermons, I actually started to read the Bible (and not just the parts they tell you to read). If you take an objective perspective and read it as literature, you start to admire the women who stood up for themselves in a culture prone to murder or enslavement for much less. Of course [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] was characterized as a prostitute by the opposing culture, but that doesn’t mean she was one–just that she had enough power to anger the wrong people.
Regardless of how you feel about the Bible, you should re read that. There is no positive or honorable way to view [name_f]Delilah[/name_f]. I am a devout [name_m]Christian[/name_m] and would not use the name, but just because I don’t really care for it and had a reallllly mean teacher with the name. I do automatically think of the Bible [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] and would hesitate to use it even if I did like the name. That being said, I don’t think any child would have issues having the name or would be teased.
I also can not understand why anyone would like [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] even prn it emma jen. In the south, you only hear emma jean or ime a jean. [name_f]Emma[/name_f] jen sounds like xrays to me. If I met a really cool one, I might be swayed.
I don’t really like [name_f]Imogen[/name_f] either. I think it’s Ih-mo-jen. Then again, the only person I’ve met by this name was an elderly lady who didn’t exactly give a great impression of the name.
As for [name_f]Delilah[/name_f], unless your child is in a religious school, I can’t imagine a child being teased for that name. Objectively, I think it’s a beautiful name. Most people I know don’t attend church and would not have much of an idea why [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] is a bad name, although some of the older generation may have a residual idea of her being a harlot. I wouldn’t personally use it because I am a [name_m]Christian[/name_m] and I do attend church, so to me the name has a negative connotation. [name_f]Delilah[/name_f]'s story is one of a woman who used her feminine wiles to manipulate a (weak) man. Yes, [name_m]Samson[/name_m] was stupid and let himself be used; however, I want my future daughters to be encouraged to use their brains to get ahead rather than their sex appeal, so I wouldn’t want [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] to be an example or a model. If I was going to choose a biblical woman’s name to give my daughters an example, I’d use choose someone like [name_f]Abigail[/name_f] or [name_f]Deborah[/name_f] who were strong and rational in the face of men who were weak.
