We really love [name_f]Violet[/name_f], but occasionally others will make the comment of it sounding too similar to violent…
Our last name is unfortunate at times especially with certain names that sound like “other words”. Bad ones are things like [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] (love this, but oh feel ya), [name_f]Anya[/name_f] (on ya), it’s hard to explain without giving our last name away but hopefully you get the point. I get these aren’t necessarily negative connotations in a regular scenario but with ours they are… Think like “joke names”, [name_m]Ben[/name_m] [name_m]Dover[/name_m], etc.
Then there are things that don’t sound similar but are close, like I often hear the [name_f]Margot[/name_f] is one letter from maggot. [name_u]Or[/name_u] others like [name_f]Odette[/name_f] (oh, debt), [name_u]Sloan[/name_u] (slowin’), etc.
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you think this is based on region or accent? Are you someone who personally can easily have a name ruined by these kind of things? (one in particular, how much do you really hear violent in Violet?) Does it keep you from picking “the one”?
Absolutely don’t hear violent in [name_f]Violet[/name_f] myself, and I think a lot of these do depend on accent and region. Eg in [name_f]British[/name_f] [name_f]English[/name_f] the ‘oh feel ya’ thing isn’t really a problem because the i is clearer, oh-fee-lee-ah. On the other hand, in this country Harlow/Arlo can sound like someone saying ‘hello’ in a cockney accent
However I do sympathise with the surname issue. Mine turns all sorts of popular nicknames into unfortunate adjectives. It’s incredibly frustrating, but any names that fall into this trap I just put them in a separate list and only consider them as middles.
I do think regional accents come into play a bit as do regional slang terms. Like [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f], I can hear ‘i feel ya’ but the ‘o’ is strong enough/distinct enough in my accent I wouldnt worry about it. Where as [name_f]Sunniva[/name_f] I coukd never use because it sounds too much like ‘son of a’ no matter how I say it.
As for VioIet . Generally I think [name_f]Violet[/name_f] is popular enough that even though someone may hear ‘violent’ they are going to know it is not violent.
As a sister of a Violet, I want to touch on this a little. I have read this comment so many times here on Nameberry, but my sister has never heard this (outside of me being a very know-it-all older sister, telling her about the words I knew because I read the dictionary before bed when I was little!). No one ever, ever associates her with “violent.” In part, yes, because she was by far the most peaceful little child in any of our family or friend gatherings. In equal part, perhaps, that “violet” is already a word! I’d associate it with dainty purple flowers long before “violent.” That’s my two cents!
100% yes. Everyone hears things differently, says things differently, has different cultural and personal associations with different names and sounds… it’s all so subjective that it definitely doesn’t keep me from loving a name. If someone told me they didn’t like the name Josephine because it sounded like “Joe’s huffing,” or Florence because it sounded like “floor rinse,” or George because it sounded like “storage” or “forge” (trying to use my faves as examples!)… I wouldn’t mind the least.
I totally agree with this! I don’t hear “Oh feel ya” at all, as I pronounce Ophelia as four syllables… plus, the Shakespeare association is so strong for me that I think of that character first!
Occasionally this happens to me, but whether it ruins the name depends on how much I liked the name in the first place, I think.
And yeah, accent/region influences this a lot. [name_f]Anya[/name_f] is ‘an-yuh’ to me, for example, so not too similar to ‘on yah’.
I know [name_f]Sarai[/name_f] sounds a bit like psoriasis but for some reason it doesn’t bother me. Same with [name_m]Isidore[/name_m] ‘is a door’. And yet [name_f]Raelyn[/name_f] ‘railing’ and 'Fallon ‘fallen’ do
This got in my head a lot when I was thinking about choosing a name for an actual child, way more than at other times in my life/when interacting with real people, where it usually wouldn’t bother me… I couldn’t commit to a name like [name_u]Amos[/name_u], for ex., because it might sound like “anus.” But I think it’s such a sweet, charming name, and would be excited to meet an [name_u]Amos[/name_u]! I’ve never thought of the word “Violent” when interacting with a “Violet.”
I also worried about names like [name_u]Lyle[/name_u] sounding like Liar, and about names that started with Bs being associated with B letter grades Gah the anxiety!
A big one for me is [name_f]Aurelia[/name_f]. I had it on my list until my SO told me it sounds like “I’ll rail ya” and I can’t unhear it since. I also saw a story on Reddit where someone named her baby [name_f]Elizabeth[/name_f] (nn Liz) [name_f]Anya[/name_f] and didn’t notice until later when someone pointed it out that she basically named her kid “lasanga.” I do think most of them depend on accent, but I personally wouldn’t pick a name if it reminded me of a joke or pun. But in high school I had a friend named [name_f]Amanda[/name_f] [name_u]Lynn[/name_u] because her parents thought it was funny that it sounded like “a mandolin.” So I guess some people do pick names like that on purpose, but I just personally wouldn’t do it.
So interesting to hear! I slide a W between the No and Elle sounds, so I don’t hear it the same way, but as a nanny to a Noelle, I found your comment fun to read!
Yes. I can’t pronounce Tierney without it sounding like tyranny, Zayden ends up like Satan and Zephyrine ends up a bit to close to suffering
[/quote] Absolutely. I find very few other people who have the same experience with the names above.
But I completely understand the struggles with Violet and Ophelia, even though I like those names regardless.
I am one of the [name_f]Violet[/name_f] → violent people, and it’s unfortunately made the name unusable for me! Personally, it’s not the sound, but the fact that I nearly always misread it as Violent when I see it!
I worry about [name_f]Poppy[/name_f] and poopy but I work with LO and they associate [name_f]Poppy[/name_f] and the trolls movie. I also really love the name so I get past that quickly. I think kids would think of “you’re turning violet, violet” from charlie and the chocolate factory first. As for adults… who knows
I think it really depends on how much you love the name!
Family of 8 kids: all T names, first and middle names create a phrase that reflects what their mom was going through during their pregnancy
[name_f]Taryn[/name_f] [name_m]Free[/name_m] (Tearing free…of her family’s ways)
Tearza [name_f]Joy[/name_f] (Tears of joy)
Trustyn [name_f]Trinity[/name_f] (Trust in Trinity; “Trust in the [name_m]Lord[/name_m] with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding” Proverbs 3:5)
[name_f]Tessa[/name_f] [name_f]Faith[/name_f] (Test of faith)
Takyn [name_m]Courage[/name_m] (Taking Courage)
Tomiah [name_f]Hope[/name_f] (To my hope)
Truyn [name_m]Strong[/name_m]? (True and Strong) I can’t remember the middle on this one
Gah the anxiety!
I slide a W between the No and Elle sounds, so I don’t hear it the same way, but as a nanny to a Noelle, I found your comment fun to read!