[name_m]Just[/name_m] curious about how people feel about [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f]. It is definitely a favorite fantasy name, but could it ever be acceptable on a modern little girl?
Well, as it is my favourite girl name and I simply adore it, I have to say yes.
I think it’s absolutely beautiful and doesn’t at all belong in the GP category. I think as soon as someone meets an [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f], they’ll get a new, better association with the name than they had before (if they had one).
If I could ever use it on a child in the future, I would in a heartbeat.
The “bullying-factor” (which people talk about quite a lot) isn’t really that big either as people who know who “[name_f]Ophelia[/name_f]” is, are usually out of the “teasing-stage” and if not, they’re idiots and would bully the kid no matter which name they have.
I think it’s a very pretty name. Unfortunately the negative association with the play (which doesn’t worry me when it comes to bullying, but with my child not liking that association when they grow older), and the potential teasing of ‘I-feel-ya’ makes me hesitate. It’s one of those names I would love to see on someone else’s child but would never give to my own.
I just think of a girl bullied until she goes mad and kills herself. I feel the same about most of the girl names from Shakespeare’s tragedies. It’s a pretty name, but I like Odelia better, which is almost the exact same name. It means “I will praise the Lord” or “wealth”.
I also like these similar names:
Ophelie
Ophira – gold
Odelette – song
Honestly, [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] sounds like an old lady name. Not good for a modern girl at all.
Beautiful name! [name_m]Rich[/name_m], rounded, voluptuous vowels! Literary allusion! I like it!
– [name_f]Nephele[/name_f]
I like [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f]! I would give her the nickname Opie. There’s a young girl with a fashion blog and her name is [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] [name_m]Horton[/name_m]. The name fits her pretty well and works as a modern name.
I am wholeheartedly in the [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] camp. Far from just being another [name_f]Juliet[/name_f] who killed herself over a lost love, [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] has resilience, tenacity, and power all her own. She played a subtle and dangerous game with those flowers of hers…on the surface she was just a crazy girl flinging around bouquets of weeds, but with the symbolism of those flowers, she was accusing the king and queen of treachery and adultery in front of the whole court. She’s a different kind of heroine, fragile but brave and defiant in her own way…her story resonates deeply with me.
The name itself is soft and ethereal and beautiful, like mermaid hair and white chiffon, all gossamer and wreaths of fog. I love how insubstantial and romantic it is. Is it modern? No. But there’s an elusive timeless quality to the name. It could work on anyone.
Agree with Sessha. It’s beautiful, and I’ve always had a fondness for the character. And just because someone has a mental illness it doesn’t mean she’s weak…
It’s shooting up the charts in [name_f]England[/name_f], I believe it’s ranked just below #400. I hear the name quite often, and I don’t see it as old lady at all. It’s beautiful, haunting and dramatic.
It sounds beautiful, but I can’t stand the character at all. I’ve only read the play once and admit there’s a lot I don’t get, but I hate how [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] listens to her father and Laertes whatever they say and doesn’t stand up for herself, [name_m]Hamlet[/name_m] or their relationship.
That being said, I love the idea of naming a child after a beloved character.
That’s exactly what keeps the name off my short list.
I just picture a 13-year old boy making some kind of joke like “[name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] boobies”…mostly because there’s a character on a show i watch whose middle name is [name_f]Ophelia[/name_f] and a guy in the show makes that joke to her several times.
Character aside, it’s beautiful - I love nicknames [name_f]Effie[/name_f] and Helie (only slightly related nicknames to the main name are my speciality, sorry!) And as for being an old lady name, in [name_f]England[/name_f] at least, as @ottilie mentioned, it’s getting quite popular. I personally know several, all of whom are thirty or below - hardly ‘old’ by anyone’s standards, haha!
I definitely say yes!!
I think it’s beautiful. It’s one of my favourites. It’s been rather popular in [name_u]London[/name_u] for some time now which vaguely puts me off, but I still think it’s absolutely gorgeous.
The fact that it’s a Shakespearean reference makes it inherently good regardless of how ‘‘negative’’ the character is herself - she’s actually nothing more than a victim of tragic circumstances, actually; I find it interesting how female characters in tragedy are stigmatized in something as small as names.
Am I the only one who doesn’t hear I-feel-ya even remotely? Haha. OH-fee-lee-ah is very far from it to me.