While I’m not sure what everyone would think, I don’t think [name]Ivory[/name] would be racist since [name]Ebony[/name] was / is a popular name, and I don’t think many people have a problem with that. many popular names today mean ‘white ___’ like [name]Gwendolyn[/name] / [name]Bronwen[/name].
I like [name]Jude[/name] and [name]Ariana[/name] (yes, spelled with one N) but can’t use them because I’m Jewish and they have connotations that would be a problem.
I was thinking the same thing about [name]Homer[/name] and [name]Romeo[/name], though not [name]Juliet[/name] for some reason, maybe because I know a [name]Juliet[/name] who loves her name.
I like the sound of [name]John[/name] [name]Wilkes[/name]. I also like [name]Lincoln[/name]. Probably not a good pairing for brothers.
I [name]LOVE[/name] [name]LOVE[/name] [name]LOVE[/name] the name [name]Dixie[/name], but I think we all know that people would assume that I’m racist or that my child is racist ( at some point in her life), so alas, I must let this name go. But I’ve loved it since I was a little girl. Therefore, my horse is named [name]Dixie[/name]!
Mine is [name]Jaycee[/name]
I love [name]Jaycee[/name]. It’s not fair, if her name had been [name]Emma[/name] or [name]Olivia[/name] it wouldn’t have forbidden those names.
I love [name]Cecile[/name]/[name]Cecily[/name] and [name]Claudia[/name] but wouldn’t use them because I find their meanings offensive - “blind” and “lame”.
I actually love the name [name]Nixon[/name].
Maybe because ivory is most referential to elephant tusks (endangerment of the species) than the color, while ebony is a tree, or it could be the soap. That’s two good reasons not to love the name [name]Ivory[/name], but [name]Ebony[/name] is ok.
[name]True[/name] story - in 3rd grade, we had to make a collage or something about the meaning of our names, and my name means “pure” so it was my mom’s idea that I should use the [name]Ivory[/name] Soap ad as a major theme - 99 44/100% pure. And I did. [name]Just[/name] remembered that.
I was reading this thread because I remember about a month ago, passing a street near me called [name]Columbia[/name] street, which reminded me of [name]Columbine[/name] and how you can’t use it for a name, the connection just came to me that day. It would be such a pretty name too. [name]Columbia[/name] is not that pretty a name, it’s lumby, lumbery, and also a country in S. [name]America[/name] most often thought for coffee and illegal drug cartels. No offense to any Columbians. For a place name, it’s not the worst, but having a different imagery than people usually go for, like [name]Denver[/name] or [name]Paris[/name], it’s not likely to be chosen.
My main aversion - not really offense per se, are names that particularly reference one’s appearance in ways my child is not likely to look. I am tall, blonde, fair. I wouldn’t use names that mean little or dark, just for myself, because they’re not true or likely to be true. Also [name]Tina[/name], because it sounds teeny-tiny.
I have almost no issue with other names based on the (hidden) meaning. If a name means “lame,” like [name]Claudia[/name], or “from Ilium or [name]Troy[/name],” like [name]Iliana[/name], I would not have a problem choosing them, if I really liked them enough. These are not my favorites, but just off the top of my head examples.
Calling your kid [name]Benedict[/name] [name]Arnold[/name] in the U.S. would be something akin to calling him [name]Judas[/name] Iscariot (which is also a rather nice name, I think).
This made me laugh so hard, because it’s so true. xD;; Plus, I can sympathize: I think the name [name]Oswald[/name] is great, but the [name]Lee[/name] [name]Harvey[/name] association may be too much.
I love the name [name]Salem[/name], but I worry that [name]Salem[/name], MA being the site of so many witch trials has ruined the name beyond repair…but I figure its meaning and the fact that it’s also the cap. of Oregon means I can use it without feeling too weird.
I also like [name]Abel[/name], and am not bothered enough by the “[name]Cain[/name] and [name]Abel[/name]” association to abstain from using it. It sounds…Civil War [name]Era[/name]-ish to me. Ghostly…but solid. I like it.
[name]Charles[/name] [name]Manson[/name] sounds nice enough…until you remember that he was a enigmatic cult-leader who spent his time avoiding soap like the plague and brainwashing hippie kids into killing a bunch of innocent people in order to start a race war…
I love the name [name]Leia[/name], I just adore the spelling, the sound, but when I considered [name]Leah[/name] instead my parents reaction was “why would anyone name a daughter after a character who’s main claim to fame was that she was unloved”. I also love [name]Ariel[/name], especially for the meaning ‘[name]Lion[/name]/Lioness of God’ but the Disney associations taint it badly. My mom hated that movie when I was little because it encourage rebellion from parents, a sixteen year old in love and getting married, and a father who was offensively portrayed.
Interestingly enough I grew up in Hungary where [name]Attila[/name] (as in the Hun) is very popular
Also thought of my forbidden boys name, [name]Adolf[/name]. Obviously it will always be forbidden thanks to Hitler. It’s not fair!
When I was little I named a doll Latrine. I still think it’s a pretty name, but…
That’s not fair? I guess I take a different perspective…
I love [name]Columbine[/name] too. I love the flower! But I still feel so sad when I hear it. That was a terrible, awful day.
“Also thought of my forbidden boys name, [name]Adolf[/name]. Obviously it will always be forbidden thanks to Hitler. It’s not fair!”
I hear you. [name]Adolph[/name] is ruined, if not forever, at least for a very long time. I’m not huge on the name, but it’s too bad. I love [name]Adolphus[/name], and that is probably out too.
That’s not fair? I guess I take a different perspective…
I love [name]Columbine[/name] too. I love the flower! But I still feel so sad when I hear it. That was a terrible, awful day.[/quote]
I’d be interested to hear it…
When I said it wasn’t fair, I just mean I really like it as a name but obviously it would seem like a direct reference to her. I didn’t mean to offend anyone and I know what happened to her was awful and I completely understand that.
I also like the name [name]Jezebel[/name] but couldn’t use it. [name]Jezebel[/name] has a less famous but equally evil daughter named Athaliah. [name]Love[/name] Athaliah but she is just to evil of a name sake.
Heard a girl being summoned by her mother in a store, “Tyranny, come here please!” WOW.
She probably won’t have much of a love life! I doubt anyone in the US would vote for her to any office. Tyranny is just so wrong. It does sound nice if you don’t think of its meaning; I’ve gotten quite the odd look now and again for suggesting ‘impale’ sounds like it should be more pleasant than what it is (not for a name or anything).
Quite the opposite is when I really like something that would be so perfect of a name in the abstract meaning of it if it didn’t sound so awkward or cacophonous. I can’t think of one right now because I don’t write them down, but I come up with these every so often.
i love prudence, gertrude, hortense,& persephone
i could never use them as a FN though…
Are you sure it was Tyranny and not [name]Tierney[/name]? Tyranny seems way too mean to give to a child for me to think that someone really did it. On the other hand, [name]Tierney[/name] is really close and I do know a little girl with that name.
Also, I am surprised by how many people love [name]Columbine[/name]. And actually I would praise anyone who would be willing to use it. I actually went to [name]Columbine[/name] and was there during the events. Nothing would make me happier than to be able to associate the name with a lovely little girl. Of course, I do understand the hesitation as well.