When naming your children did you choose the name just because you liked it or because of the meaning? Would you not use a name you liked if it had a horrible meaning? [name]Just[/name] wondered if any berries chose a name because of the meaning. To me it’s a bonus if my child has a nice meaning to their name, I chose them because me and OH adored them.
[name]Annaliese[/name] [name]Rosalie[/name] ([name]Noble[/name]&Promised of God, [name]Rose[/name] Garden)
[name]Eden[/name] [name]Iris[/name] (Place of paradise, [name]Rainbow[/name])
[name]Isobel[/name] [name]Claire[/name] (Promised of God, [name]Bright[/name]&Famous)
[name]Feel[/name] free to post the meanings of yours or your childrens names.
Probably because of the name. The meaning doesn’t mean much to me, but it is nice to have a name with a meaning you/your child will like. @irelandrose- I am not recieving any answers/comments on my posts. Would you please comment/help me out? My thread is called ‘Help Please!’
Meaning is important in our family… Like, the meaning is more important to my in-laws than whether the name flows with our last name. So, we took that into consideration when naming. I had to cross off some favorites due to lousy meanings, but it also helped narrow down the list. I really didn’t want to name my kid something that meant blind, weak or dog!
Meaning is important to me, if a name has a horrible meaning I probably wouldn’t use it. I’ve taken a few names off my list just because of the meaning. I tend to worry more about meaning with my girl names also for some reason.
For example:
[name]Leta[/name] [name]Evangeline[/name] [name]Fleur[/name] – [name]Glad[/name]; joyful, bearer of good news, flower.
[name]Iris[/name] [name]Juliet[/name] [name]Fay[/name] – [name]Rainbow[/name], youthful, fairy.
[name]Archer[/name] [name]Benjamin[/name] [name]Sage[/name] – bowman, son of the right hand, wise healthy.
[name]Viggo[/name] [name]Alexander[/name] [name]Grey[/name] – war, defending warrior, color.
As you can see my girl names have a lot more meaning, it bother’s me a little that [name]Viggo[/name] means war but I love [name]Viggo[/name] so much right now it doesn’t bother me much.
I think the meaning of a name - both literal and personal - is very important. I put a whole lot of thought into the meanings of names. Some examples from my list:
[name]George[/name] means “farmer” or “earth worker.” This does not necessarily mean I want my son to be a farmer, although the ability to self-sustain is something I want for my son. My family has been farming for generations upon generations. Farming is an occupation which requires a high level of diligence and discipline. Diligence and discipline are traits one should strive for whether you are a farmer or not.
[name]Edward[/name] means “rich guard” or “blessed guard.” I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 16:13 which says “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.” Other translations of the Bible say “be on your guard,” “be watchful,” “be on the alert,” etc. instead of “watch ye.” Regardless, the message remains the same. My primary reason for loving [name]Edward[/name], however, is that Edwards is my grandmother’s maiden name. [name]Edward[/name] would certainly be in honor of that branch of my family.
Overall, do I think parents should discard a name they love because of the literal meaning? Absolutely not. I am all about names having meaning, though - whether literal or personal. A name chosen just because it “sounds good” or because the parents want to be perceived as cutting edge and hip is a pity to me.
[name]Arden[/name] is my favorite name, and has been for the past decade. It’s basic “meaning” is along the lines of “high,” or “valley of the eagle,” but it has so many other beautiful meanings to me:
– reminds me of the word ardent, meaning passionate/devoted/enthusiastic
– the [name]Forest[/name] of [name]Arden[/name] in [name]Shakespeare[/name]'s “As You Like It”
– [name]Elizabeth[/name] [name]Arden[/name] and cosmetics, beauty, and femininity
I love to have names that mean something lovely, but I wouldn’t rule out a name if we really liked it.
[name]Both[/name] DP and I like [name]Cormac[/name] but one of the supposed meanings is ‘son of defilement’ which isn’t particularly nice. But it’s so hard for us to find names we agree on that I feel I can’t rule it out just on that basis.
The meaning was very important to us, as important as the overall sound and feeling of the name. We only considered names that had meanings that we liked and there were definitely names that we passed over because the meanings didn’t work for us, even though we liked the feel/sound of the name.
The meaning is important to me too but if I love a name I won’t let a bad meaning stop me. You could always make a bad meaning a good meaning. For example. [name]Cecily[/name] means blind, but paired with [name]Carys[/name] means blind love.
I don’t have children yet but my first daughter will be [name]Clara[/name] [name]Iris[/name] which means clear bright rainbow.
If the meaning’s important to you then of course consider it. On the other hand. my sister and I both ended up with names that now, looking at the meanings (just googled them), are exactly our polar opposites. Yet the names suit us both very well.
I’m a little put off the meaning thing from personal experience: There was a boy I was in primary school with who’s name is [name]Ryan[/name]. He knew from a very young age that his name meant “little king” (was rather vocal about this fact) and I don’t know that it really served him well. He was also labelled as gifted early on, but turned out rather lazy because he seemed to think his abilities and greatness were innate and thus less effort was required. Whether related or not, the association has left a bad taste in my mouth. I actually feel rather sorry for him as an adult.
I never really put much stock into meanings when thinking of names. Probably because my name is [name]Jennifer[/name] and the meaning is “white wave”, which always sounded made up and fairly meaningless to me. I am pregnant with my first child right now and sure, it would be cute to have names with great meanings, but I would never throw out my favorite name because of the meaning.
Our favorite boy and girl names so far have fairly humorous meanings, but I love the names:
Boy- [name]Jude[/name] [name]Ronan[/name] - means ‘[name]Praise[/name]’ and ‘[name]Baby[/name] seal’
Girl- [name]Autumn[/name] [name]Cecily[/name] - means ‘the Fall season’ and ‘Blind’
So “praising a baby seal” and “falling blind” is what we’re potentially naming our kid and that is just fine with us!
Yes I would not use a name if it hd a horrible meaning. For example, I love the name [name]Eden[/name], beautiful short to the point but it means “place of pleasure”, that’s not something I want on my little girl.
I do take family meaning into account as well. If it has family significance then I’ll use it if it has an okay meaning.
With looking for exact meaning (just from my own name obsessed memory so I may be off a little… lol…)
[name]Sebastian[/name] [name]Elihu[/name] - Venerable, God is God
[name]Bronwen[/name] [name]Eliza[/name] - Fair breast/soul, God is my oath
[name]Linus[/name] [name]Ezra[/name] [name]Graham[/name] - Flaxen haired (great since he turned out to be a natural blond!), helper, from the grey stone house
[name]Violet[/name] [name]Leona[/name] - Purple, [name]Lion[/name] (DH and I always joke that her first tattoo will be of a purple lion)
[name]Felix[/name] [name]Emmanuel[/name] - [name]Happy[/name], God is with us
All the first names were chosen because we liked them and also for meaning sort of…[name]Linus[/name]'s probably the least, we just loved the first name [name]Linus[/name] and both grew up watching/reading Peanuts and had that comic strip as a happy memory in our childhood.
I know there are names out there with meanings that are in no way flattering ([name]Cameron[/name] or [name]Claudia[/name] anyone?) but people obviously look past that and choose them anyway. All of their middle names were chosen for meaning. Vio kind of got a “real thing” out of it (a purple lion) which is neat.
I think being named for no reason other than my parents just liked these names (which is fine, but I always wanted a little bit of a story behind it, even a small one like they knew somebody with my name and she was nice etc) I love that the kids have meanings behind all their middle names (the girls are twists on the family names [name]Elizabeth[/name] and [name]Leonard[/name], the boys for the meanings) so that is a gift that they can have, knowing we thought about them each individually etc.
