If a name has a relatively unknown meaning, would you really care?
Now this means I’m excluding things like oh I dunno, noun names with direct meanings or names with negative connotations ( a la [name_m]Adolph[/name_m])
But like, I’ve heard people like just normal names and people say “oh that means ____. [name_m]How[/name_m] could you do that to your child?”
Frankly, my daughters name is [name_f]Mabel[/name_f] [name_f]Eloise[/name_f]. If I came to find out that one of those names meant “scunk” or “ugly lady”,I wouldn’t care in the least. Name meanings have so little bearing on my decision making.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you take them into consideration?
I’m talking real people names, not for authors who are going for metaphors or something.
I do look at name meanings but unless it’s something really bad like “ugly” or “bad-breath” then I wouldn’t mind. It doesn’t come up in conversation very often. Although, all kids go through that phase where they want to look up everything about their names and every kid Googles themselves at least once. So I would make sure what they Google doesn’t upset them. Most of my names have nice meanings so I don’t have much of a problem with that though.
I don’t mind the meaning. My DH does, and it has knocked a lot of great names out of the running. [name_f]Cecilia[/name_f], means patron saint of the blind and he won’t consider it. I have to laugh b/c every now and then he will ask me, “what does [name_f]Lilah[/name_f]/[name_f]Camille[/name_f]'s name mean” and then I make fun of him.
We chose a name for our daughter that has what some people may think is a less than superb meaning (I’ve heard it mocked here.) But it’s all in how you look at it. [name_m]How[/name_m] many people are going to know the meaning? I don’t believe it will determine the course of her life. She will make the name what it is, not the other way around.
For me the sound matters more than the meaning but a great meaning can give a really nice touch to a name. I’ve never been a fan of my own name, and the meaning isn’t exactly spectacular either but that’s what mattered to me the least of all, I’ve always thought my name didn’t sound cool enough. Also, since I’ve seen meanings of names on the internet that are simply not correct so you may live under the impression you named your child Brave Handsome [name_m]Knight[/name_m] or something while in reality that’s all based on false information.
Well I think if its a positive meaning, it would definitely be better but I wouldn’t really hate a name for the meaning.
However, some kids might mind if they somehow managed to search for their name meanings online.
For example, when I look up “[name_u]Shannon[/name_u]” on Nameberry, I was kinda disappointed that it meant old and wise especially when I’m neither both lol
Being a word person, you’d think I’d notice, but I don’t.
I look at how it looks on paper, how it sounds, what nicknames might come out of it, what it evokes, how it makes me feel, how it would feel to be named that.
While I’m big on meanings, given a sole great meaning could make me fall in love with a name (for instance, this is how [name_m]Ronan[/name_m] grew on me), it wouldn’t bother me much if a name the sound/look/image of which I loved had an unpleasant meaning. Therefore, I think a nice meaning of a name is more of a lovely bonus than a requirement to me.
It has little impact on me when choosing a name. I pick names that sound nice to me, and have positive associations for me personally. I love the names [name_f]Marah[/name_f] and [name_f]Mia[/name_f]. I also have family members named [name_f]Mary[/name_f]/[name_u]Marion[/name_u]/Maria. When I hear [name_f]Marah[/name_f] or [name_f]Mia[/name_f] I think of my relatives who are very dear to me and not that the name means bitter.
@shannonlim- My name is [name_u]Shannon[/name_u] as well. I love the meaning! My dad told me a story when I was little about a wise owl named [name_u]Shannon[/name_u], that’s probably why I love the meaning so much. I read a variation where it meant wise owl as well. But you’re right, some kids might get upset that there name means something they aren’t fond of. If my kids do I plan on telling them how much the name meant to me, and that trumps the written meaning of the name.
I don’t care too much what the name means so long as it’s not something terrible (like dog butt, or something). All kids want to look up the name meaning so I don’t want it to be something totally terrible or embarrassing. I think if it has a cool meaning that adds to it, but if it’s a meaning that doesn’t wow me, it’s- not really a problem.
I’m another who doesn’t care hugely about meanings, but I will veto names with “negative” (in my opinion) meanings. What the name means to me, and connotations others may have are more important to me.
And yet, while I wouldn’t choose the name [name_u]Cameron[/name_u] for my child because I understand it means “crooked nose” - I certainly don’t tend to look at other Camerons and wonder about their noses, lol!
I use to not care about meanings, but now I do. I’ve taken names I love off of my list because of their meanings (Ex: [name_u]Cameron[/name_u] means crooked nose). I want the names I choose for my kids to have some significance to me and the meanings are a big part of that. I would feel bad if I had two kids, one with a positive meaning and one with a negative one. If the meanings are boring then that doesn’t bother me too much.
I don’t really care about meanings. I don’t even know the meanings of most of the names on my list. The sound and appearance of a name are much more important to me. Although I one of my names has a really nice meaning it does make me like it even more. I love [name_f]Cecilia[/name_f]/[name_f]Celia[/name_f] and I don’t mind that it means patron saint of the blind.
The meaning matters to me. Culturally my family doesn’t pick names with negative meanings and the meanings of names are very important to them and to me. Personally, I’m uncomfortable with picking [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] - even though I love the name - because it means bald, hairless. I don’t judge others for using [name_m]Calvin[/name_m], it’s a lovely name. But I cannot knowingly name my kid something with a negative (in my opinion) meaning.
I picture my kid looking up the meaning of his name online. It matters to him because it’s his name. It was picked especially for him by his parents, one of whom is a name nerd (me). Kids at school were sharing the meaning of all their names. (For example: My name means ‘victory for the people.’ My name means ‘blessed gift.’ My name is my mommy’s favorite flower.) Then [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] comes up to me: “Mommy did you know my name means [name_m]BALD[/name_m]?!” Then I say yes. Then he says: “You knew my name meant [name_m]BALD[/name_m] and you gave me that name ANYWAY???” Then I have to explain it doesn’t matter and hope he can be cool with the fact that I did that. [name_u]Lucky[/name_u] for me, I love a lot of names. So it’s easy for me to let go of [name_m]Calvin[/name_m] because there are so many names I can love that have neutral or good meanings. It just matters to me that my kid knows I intentionally gave him a name with a good meaning.
I rarely, if ever, look up the meanings of my favourite names. I will occasionally if curiosity gets the better of me, but I couldn’t care less what it means. There are certain things I won’t do though. For example, I loved the combo [name_f]Anna[/name_f] [name_f]Grace[/name_f] but soon realised it basically means ‘grace grace’ and thought it was a little silly so scrapped it as a combo. I shouldn’t have let it get to me but it did! Oh well, I’ve found a better pairing for them both.
I do care about meanings, but it’s from the angle of someone who is very interested in linguistics and history. I find it rather silly to discount a fine name like [name_u]Cameron[/name_u] because it means “crooked nose.” What’s so terrible about a crooked nose? [name_f]Do[/name_f] people really feel that their son will be horribly traumatized for having a name meaning “crooked nose?” [name_u]Cameron[/name_u] may have originated as a nickname for someone with a crooked nose, but it has a fascinating history outside of its origin. One needs only to read a history of the Scottish Clan [name_u]Cameron[/name_u] to see that. I feel that why a parent chooses a name is more important than the name’s literal meaning. Was [name_u]Cameron[/name_u] your beloved grandmother’s maiden name? Was [name_u]Cameron[/name_u] the name of a favorite mentor? Has it simply been your favorite name since you were four? Any such reason far outweighs “crooked nose,” I should think.
@OP: Mabel comes from the Latin Amabilis meaning “lovable,” and Eloise is from the Old French Héloïse which is likely derived from the Germanic Helewidis. Helewidis is composed of the elements heil meaning “hale, healthy” and wid meaning “wide.” You said you don’t care about meaning, but I do think it’s nice to know where your child’s name came from. (And also that neither of your choices has a negative meaning. :p)
Meaning of names is important to me. Growing up wasn’t easy for me and knowing that my mom choose my name for it’s sound as well as it’s meaning always gave me strength and a guiding light. It helps that my name means wise, colorful little fish who is the defender/helper of people - alright not in that order, but the overall picture/image remains.
I like names that aren’t necessarily easy or positive in the meaning department but I defiantly plan on putting them with other names that have meanings that work well and harmonize to a positive outcome.
For example: I think [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] is a wonderful name, the meaning is nice though the myth sort of gets to me. She feels to victimized - therefore I’d probably choose a name that intrinsically means strength or has an association to strength of character. Does that make sense?
I mean lets be realistic if my DH lets me use my top names I’ll be naming our daughters after a biblical witch/medium, a deathly siren and a disney princess… lol… but I do expect they’ll have middle names that have meanings such as joy, wisdom, strength etc as well.