[name]Do[/name] your favorite names conjure certain sights, smells, sounds, tastes, and textures in your head? What type of imagery are you most attracted to? There’s almost always a correlation between the names we love and the things we value, and I’m interested to know what you think the imagery you associate with your favorite names says about you. Or, if you’re someone who doesn’t “get” name imagery, what do you think your favorite names say about you?
Any takers?
[name]Every[/name] name has a color (often more than one mixed together) and texture to me, and some of them have a shape. For example [name]Catherine[/name] is a dusty, pale pink - think a pale dusty-rose color with the texture of powdered makeup. [name]Lydia[/name] is similar: white and pale grey with a dusty, cratered texture, like I imagine standing on the surface of the moon would look and feel. On the other hand [name]Henry[/name] is bright turquoise blue with veins of navy, smooth but a bit crackled, and shape as though you’re standing under a dome.
As far as imagery I think @ottilie’s description of how she sees names or wants a name to look is absolutely beautiful, but I don’t get much like that, just the colors. And my personal ‘favorite’ colors don’t necessarily correspond to my favorite names. Ex: my favorite colors are grey and chartreuse, and the name [name]Ailsa[/name] combines both those two colors, but I don’t love it. It’s okay, but wouldn’t make my list. (Might have something to do with the fact that it, like [name]Albert[/name], has a warty, gourd-like texture)
Sometimes I wonder if I’m not more oriented towards auras than I am towards the colors of the names themselves, because two people with the same name sometimes have different colors. Ex: my uncle [name]Steven[/name] I see as very dark hunter green/black, painted velvet texture, whereas my ex-fiance who was also a [name]Stephen[/name] had a more smooth, warm, honey/light brown color - I don’t think the spelling of the name has much to do with it, since individual letters aren’t colored to me. I had another ex, [name]Christopher[/name], whose name was a deep burgundy-violet like the skin of a ripe plum, but I’ve met other Christophers who weren’t the same color.
I don’t know that it really affects my preferences for what names I like, since no matter what color they tend to have the same basic features: shorter (one or two syllables), vintage-sounding names with spunky nicknames. There are exceptions, of course ([name]Barnaby[/name] and [name]Leona[/name] are both 3-syllable names) but none of the colors match. I tend to think of the colors/textures as just a “bonus” dimension to the name rather than a deal-breaker, although if I thought a name’s color/texture was really hideous I’d probably hesitate to use it.
Sorry for the novel, HTH!
Edited for privacy.
Yes, I do. I’ve never tried to hide that! I get certain feelings from names, a setting, a smell, a taste. I don’t expect everyone to understand or see things the way I do; I’m slightly insane and I’ve got synesthesia, so I know it might seem absurd. It’s got everything to do with who I am as a person, and the names I am most attracted to are the ones that makes the most sense to me, that gives me visions of how I think my little ones will be. I grew up as a little explorer; playing [name]Robin[/name] Hood and [name]King[/name] [name]Arthur[/name] in the garden and in the forest, mermaids in the ocean, hiking in the mountains (preferably with a tail, so we could play huldre, a scary Norwegian forest nymph), dancing on cliffs. I’m a nature girl. If the names I love doesn’t feel naturesque to me, off they go. [name]Oriana[/name] and [name]Roxana[/name], two names I love dearly, both gives me images of lace, velvet, rubies and emeralds, jasmine teas and boudoirs, they smell like heavy perfume and taste like expensive chocolate; all things I love, but they’re indoor names. I can’t give my children indoor names. It might seem totally ridiculous (I know), but as I said, I’m crazy. My favourite kind of imagery is nature, wild untamed nature. Some are stormy ocean scenes, some ancient forests, some wild midnight gardens, lakes in the forest, long dewy grass, seasides at twilight, snowy icy mountain scenes. Mysteries, magic and faerie. They smell and taste like the salty ocean, roses, honey and rain. All kinds, but all nature. Scattered with nymphs and sorceresses, knights and hunters.
I also see names in colours, so it can be quite tricky. I need to match the feeling and colour I get from a name with two others, and they need not to crash and at the same time have a very special meaning to me. So a naming process can be quite frustrating…
What I think my favourite names say about me? Behind my back? Probably that I’m a nut. No, I think it says it all. I hope? When I was little, my parents used to call me “little hulder” (again, those scary wood nymphs, they are beautiful women with tails who lure men with their song and they’re never seen again, kind of like woodland sirens maybe?), because they said I have an ethereal quality (sounds self involved, but I’m not trying to be special here). This has always been a blessing and a curse though, I’m bipolar and that’s definitely in my nature and plays in on how I see things.
However, when I meet someone (or get to know someone) the imagery and colour can change. Which is why naming my child after people I know (or knew) can be very tricky. Worked out with my grandfather as he was woodsy.
@ottilie: For what it’s worth, I don’t think it’s crazy at all. I think the way you see names is incredibly beautiful. The things I see in my head aren’t as vivid as the things you see, for sure. Regardless, I do get something for all five senses from my favorite names. Like you, I’ve got this type of imagery criteria in my head. If I can’t get a certain smell or certain sight from a name, it generally doesn’t stay on my list for long.
@charlieandperry1: I’m also very traditional and I don’t adapt well to change. I’m pretty sure that’s why I favor classic/traditional/vintage names, although I do have a few wildcards on my list. Most of my list comes from my family tree or the Bible though, and yeah, that says a lot about me.
@greyer: The texture thing is interesting. For me the name itself doesn’t have a texture, it just brings to mind things that do. Like Benjamin conjures the feel of old, worn leather and sanded wood. If that makes sense.
I always imagine my name, [name]Kathryn[/name], as a yellow colour with green vines wrapped around it. [name]Cassandra[/name] makes me think of purples and blues, [name]William[/name] of the sea. [name]James[/name] is orange to my mind and makes me think of canvas shorts (no idea why!). Some associations are more explanable: [name]Nemo[/name] reminds me of yellow and metal, similar to [name]Captain[/name] [name]Nemo[/name]'s ship; [name]Axel[/name] to earthy browns and lava reds as in [name]Journey[/name] to the Centre of the [name]Earth[/name]. [name]Sirius[/name] reminds me of stars and big black dogs!
Absolutely. I have this thing called synesthesia which causes letters/numbers to have colors and textures. Written down in letter/number form they have colors.
I am 14 now, and was very very quiet as a child (heck, I still am a child). I always thought people saw things the way I did and only until recently did I realize that letters and numbers and words are just plain black to people. I have a very hard time comprehending this because I don’t see anything as just “black”. This sounds stupid but sometimes the reason I like people is because of the color/texture of their name. I would like a [name]Jenna[/name] (slimy, lime green) more than an [name]Alexandra[/name] (boring brown, with a wallpaper like texture/appearance.). Some names have better personalities than others ([name]Camille[/name] is a very nice, lady like girl with nice manners; but [name]Caroline[/name] is a snob and somewhat of a kleptomaniac (In no way am i saying that kleptomaniacs aren’t nice people. They can’t help it). I guess this is why I like nature names. No, I love nature names. Names like [name]Skye[/name], [name]Rowan[/name], [name]Lark[/name], and [name]Isle[/name] really excite me. More wordy names too though. [name]Amity[/name] is my favorite. It’s a nice mossy green with vines wrapped around it. Cool to the touch and moist. I seemed to be more attracted to cool colored names as apposed to warm colored names. Names with nice cool textures are also some of my faves ([name]Jenna[/name], [name]Amity[/name], [name]Skye[/name], [name]Brinley[/name]). I don’t know if this makes sense to you at all, most people find it hard to understand. My mother never has understood how I can dislike the name [name]Cameron[/name] because of the color. When looking for names I like, the color and texture play a big role. If i don’t like the color or texture, I’m not going to like the name.
For example, the number 8 is a deep midnight purple and is also shiny. But 8 is also a person. A dark mysterious man who is tall and lanky with a mustache.
[name]Skye[/name] makes me think of a misty mountain scene. Anything that would stimulate the creative senses, I think [name]Skye[/name]. That is why [name]Skye[/name] is one of my favorite names. The texture is dewy and cool (it appears cool)
I am not attracted to [name]Agatha[/name] because to me it is a very ugly brown with a texture like sawdust.
But @ottilie i understand 100%
Enough rambling. Sorry!!!
Nothing vivid. I grew up in a beach town so I want beachy names. Water baby names have to have a softness and carefree-ness, especially the boys which is why I tend to prefer names others consider “girly”. During the day the beach is airy, bright and bubbly ([name]Shea[/name], [name]Tallulah[/name], [name]Arden[/name]). At night it’s cool, sultry and spicy ([name]Jade[/name], [name]Fox[/name], [name]Blaise[/name]).
Oh yes! What a fun thread. Sights and sounds are the strongest for me. Sometimes color, but colors shift for me, it’s more shadowy. Rarely does a name have a scent or flavor, and if they do it’s usually a pretty bold scent or flavor. Usually chocolate or tobacco. But as I said, mainly sight and sound, usually in relation to the weather for some reason. I love a wide range of names, but the ones that are serious contenders for a child are all pretty similar. [name]Wild[/name], maybe? More in a woodland/mountain/sea/sky creature sort of way than a punk rock wild.
I grew up in a tiny town in Northern [name]California[/name], in a one bedroom cabin on 150 acres of wilderness that we had to walk to in the winter because the storms would wash the dirt road out. It was very remote, in a town that was already remote. I played in redwood groves and streams with my brother. We had no television and re-enacted scenes from books, usually fairy tales, mythology and fantasy. My mum rescued wild animals, and we usually had a fawn, a skunk, a bobcat, or some other injured or orphaned animal being nursed until they were ready to be released back into the wild.
I think the names I save for my children absolutely reflect my upbringing, and the fey stories we read and made up, as well as the nature around us. [name]Isabeau[/name] is by far my favorite name for a girl. When I hear [name]Isabeau[/name], I imagine a woman on a stallion so wild you only catch glimpses of it, thick ropes of dark hair bound in braids, wind, lots of wind, and the branches of trees scratching against each other. Gwydion is coastal, crashing waves, fog, a voice casting spells on a cliff, the waves rising higher and higher, air, birds with sharp talons. Berengaria is strength, a warrior in a field, a flash of a wicked smile visible as lightning strikes, the “shrrrrrr” sound of a sword being drawn from its sheath. [name]Desmond[/name] is music, sweet and shy, hair falling in eyes, sunshine and warmth, long slender fingers plucking the strings of a lute, flowers in full bloom, rabbits cautiously moving towards the music, because how can you resist [name]Desmond[/name]'s joyful music? You can’t.
[name]Even[/name] nature and words names have an imagery that’s usually inspired by their literal definition, but certainly not the whole of the imagery. [name]Snow[/name] is white, crisp and silent, dark eyes watching from a forest, she’s serious, almost sorrowful, and moves carefully through the trees. [name]Sparrow[/name] is her opposite. He’s laughter and carelessness, he tumbles and smiles and leaps beneath a night sky.
Think dragons, unicorns, bards, archers, treasure, quests, sorcery and mermaids. [name]Imagination[/name] is probably the thing I value most in myself, and in the people I choose to surround myself with.
I’m a synesthete too! I mainly get colours, textures & personalities. Sometimes they have a sound, or they remind me of a sound. Sometimes names are mouthwatering.
Eg. When I hear the name [name]Juliet[/name] get called, I think of a petite girl with big brown eyes and brown hair playing a violin, a girl laughing and running through a field, a girl singing a funny song. When I see it written down I have a quiet girl who has very long hair who sits by her attic room’s window and writes.
I love having synesthesia, without it life would be so boring.
Oh wow i never heard of synesthesia before, i wish i had it it sounds so much more colourful.
Im really curious to see what you guys with synesthesia (if you don’t mind me asking) feel or see with a name like [name]Freya[/name] and [name]March[/name]? (yes im shamelessly asking about my top names) i think id find names even more interesting if they had colour and texture.
i think synesthesia would make reading so very different to my experience.
A lot of names remind me of colours. For example:
[name]Altalune[/name] - Pastel blue
[name]Amadeus[/name] - Pastel yellow
Aradia - Dark pink
[name]Loki[/name] - Dark green
[name]Nephele[/name] - Purple
[name]Phineas[/name] - [name]Orange[/name]
Tecumseh - [name]Light[/name] green
I don’t have synesthesia, but am a poet, so all my fave names have an imagery to them.
Lumi - a crisp crystalline snowy day
[name]Azure[/name] - despite being a word name meaning blue skies, to me it suggests spices, rich velvets, desert landscapes
Runa - carved stone and rough wool
[name]Tamsin[/name] - fairy tales and dark forests
[name]Isidor[/name] - knights and medieval gallentry
[name]Luca[/name] - sunshine and long Italian meals amidst the grapevines
[name]Magnus[/name] - candlelight and dark water, long boats and sandy shores
[name]Cormac[/name] - a horse riding over moors, ruined castles
I think I prefer names that are clean. I can appreciate names that are heavier and more romantic, but when I think “I could name my kid that,” it’s usually a name that’s simple, smooth, no frills. I find names like [name]Santiago[/name] and [name]Georgiana[/name] fun and exciting and they are on the list, but my die-hard favorites are ones like [name]Dean[/name], [name]Clark[/name], [name]Jane[/name], [name]Adrian[/name].
I am positively boring in comparison to most of you. Yes names definitely have a “feel” to me. Since childhood, I have had my face in a book. So names, have picked up feel, meaning, history to me. For girls, I love dainty, sweet, historic names. For boys, I like a plethora of styles.
To me, names have a weight, and good names are balanced. I have favourite first names, but that has little to do with the weight thing, as I can only really gauge the weight when I know the first, middle, and preferably last name.
It is better for names to be slightly too light than slightly too heavy. My own name is too heavy, I have a heavy last name, and my first name isn’t light enough to compensate. This has annoyed me for a long time. Most of my relatives have more balanced names.
I love the fact that people have such strong imagery for names, I can invoke colours and imagery when asked to imagine but it doesn’t come naturally. I more get a feeling or impression based on people, characters, styles, eras, sounds and feelings accociated (in my mind/ experience) with that name, and also the names meaning (although I don’t think of meanings as strictly literal). And therefore meeting people can enhance or change that impression for me. I guess therefore my naming style is names that give an impression (for me) that match my values, beliefs etc.
however my children’s names are/ will be a compromise with my DH and so that effects which names get used [name]IRL[/name] too.
I wish I had synesthesia. Have from the moment I heard of it.
But alack the day, I do not. I do associate most names with certain colors, textures, and scenes, though.
[name]Oriana[/name] - Blueish-lavender mist, the part of a sunset that’s transitioning into dark night sky
[name]Aviva[/name] - [name]Bright[/name] blue and magenta flowers
[name]Susanna[/name] - Purple calico
[name]Pandora[/name] - A wave
[name]Emrys[/name] - A very dark forest, the smell of pine
[name]Ferdinand[/name] - [name]Shiny[/name], blue, slippery
[name]Kieran[/name] - A mossy cliff
[name]Julian[/name] - A squiggly line like a sound wave, royalness
Going through my list and doing this has made me realize that all my favorite names are cool colors. Hmmm. I suppose that makes sense, because I prefer cool colors in general.
This would make a great name game! Names most definitely give me impressions. From emotions to places, colors, and experiences I find all sorts of ways to experience them.
For example:
[name]Iantha[/name] is powder blue and lavender. She is of the spring and filled with joy.
[name]Ilaria[/name] is golden, a warm desert. She seems unattainable, light as a feather.
[name]Elowen[/name] is grounded. She is green and earthy. She walks firmly but in a breeze with purpose and strength.
[name]Avalon[/name] is open and beautiful. She is a prism reflecting color and light, clear and lucid.
[name]Ambrose[/name] is sweet. He is antiqued red. He holds the world but is gracious and kind.
[name]Emrys[/name] is connected to others. He lives in the trees and on the wind. He is a whisper in the night.
[name]Walter[/name] is mischievous but good natured. He is blue, bright blue, full of life though a little offbeat. He is the most out of place with my other names but still has vintage feel like most of the others.
Words, particularly names, feel like they have temperatures to me. It’s as close as I come to any kind of synesthesia. I tend to favor warm names for boys, cool names for girls, and I usually really dislike names that go to extremes…too hot ([name]Nolan[/name], [name]Zachary[/name]) or too icey cold ([name]Victoria[/name], [name]Persephone[/name]).
I always think it’s fun how different people’s name imagery can be. 