Opinions on Thelonious Valentine

Boy Names
1

The combo [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] came to me yesterday and I must say I’m still swooning.

I love the message behind the meanings. I would interpret this combo as “one who sows and reaps health and strength.”

I know DH and I both like the nn [name_u]Theo[/name_u] quite a bit, but I’ve also been thinking of [name_m]Lionni[/name_m] because of my husband’s love of [name_m]Leo[/name_m] [name_m]Lionni[/name_m] the children’s author and also as a nod to his grandmother [name_f]Eleanor[/name_f].

[name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] would signal my dad’s love of jazz, and [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] my mom’s love of [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m], and [name_u]Valentine[/name_u]'s meaning of strength and health reminding me of [name_f]Valerie[/name_f], for [name_f]Jane[/name_f] Goodall, my mother’s idol. [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] is a name I have never been particularly drawn to but for some reason, right here, right now, in this combination, it is singing.

Could [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] be an honor name for [name_m]David[/name_m]? My father-in-law is [name_m]David[/name_m], and I would personally very much like to honor him, but the issue is that my estranged biological father’s middle name was [name_m]David[/name_m] so the names that sound very [name_m]David[/name_m] have never sat right with me. I kind of think [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] could be a great subtle way to honor the [name_m]David[/name_m] I want to honor, with the prominent V and [name_m]David[/name_m]'s meaning of “beloved” being woven through the modern imagery of [name_u]Valentine[/name_u].

I know that the “honor” connections here don’t particularly scream out their importance, but I really love this combo.

What do you think? Looking for all sorts of opinions!

2

Personally, I think it’s a very big name to carry. A nickname would be of paramount importance! But you do seem to have some good options. I love the meaning of the two names together, and I agree, [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] sings! I’ve never been a big fan of [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] on a man/boy/male person - though strangely enough [name_m]Valentin[/name_m] seems much more masculine! - but I do like it here. The sounds also work together in a very harmonius way, and I like that the honouring is very subtle but (as usual!) carefully thought out.

[name_m]Thelonius[/name_m] is growing on me already - I think it would take a lot of getting used to, but it’s a great name. Recently I’ve been appreciating more ‘normal’ names like [name_u]Finn[/name_u], [name_m]Humphrey[/name_m], [name_u]Robin[/name_u], [name_m]Alistair[/name_m], [name_u]Francis[/name_u], and [name_m]Nicholas[/name_m], so I do have to add that right at this moment my more unusual loves ([name_m]Leonidas[/name_m], [name_m]Altair[/name_m], [name_m]Evander[/name_m], [name_m]Cornelius[/name_m], [name_m]Marcellus[/name_m], [name_m]Eliezer[/name_m] / [name_m]Eleazar[/name_m], [name_m]Tiberius[/name_m], [name_m]Justinian[/name_m], etc.) are lurking outside in the cold.

3

Personally, this name is way over the top.

4

Sorry, but I think it’s ridiculous. [name_m]Way[/name_m] too much.

5

In 2017 it’s just too much. I’d tone down the first or middle.

6

I agree with the others about it being too much.

7

I think [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] is really cool! But I agree that the combo with [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] is over the top.

8

That is quite a name! [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] seems to have lots of meaning to you, and that’s so wonderful in a name :slight_smile: I adore the name [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] and it does sound like music together. I totally understand why people are saying it’s too much, because it is a LOT. But here’s the thing, 99% of people he meets won’t know his middle name. I fretted over my baby’s middle name before he was born and now people in our family forget what it is! The middle name is more for the parents and the child than anything else. Give him the name you love!

9

OMG IT’S AMAZING!! :smiley: [name_m]How[/name_m] gorgeous! yes, it’s big and bold, but really who cares. Why be stuck with [name_m]Matt[/name_m] as a name, when it could be this. It is 2017, and people name their kids all sorts and weird and wonderful things - I think this is a winner. It’s beautiful. I love [name_u]Theo[/name_u]!

10

@morning_glory and @mt_mama and @mummacat92, I’m glad you think it’s melodious, too, if a but out there. Thanks for the more detailed responses, though.

I feel like my choices are so often far from the norm, so sometimes when I hear “out there” or “bit much,” I feel like I wish I could have more specific feedback, because so far all I know is that my naming style isn’t normal, but there’s a spectrum of how far “out there” is “out there.”

I would love to hear some alternatives if you think it’s too over the top. I think I can never decide to fully tone down my taste, but I would love to hear some [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] combinations that might meet more widespread approval. Something along the same lines as/feels true to some of the other combos I love.

We had considered [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] [name_u]James[/name_u] and [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] [name_m]Julian[/name_m] but neither is as stunning to me at the moment. For those who think [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] is a bit much, what would you prefer with [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m]?

11

I don’t think there’s a “normal” naming style at all, everyone has different tastes.

I guess I find Thelonious Valentine very grand for a regular person. Most of us are incredibly ordinary - it doesn’t mean names have to be ordinary, but once you get into the territory of names that invoke royal/ancient/fantastical images it puts me off. Hard to explain. Obviously no offence, but our kids could wind up working at a grocery store. Or a gas station. Or in a bank. Regular, boring, ordinary jobs with a regular, ordinary, life. Not everyone’s kids get to be the next Mozart. So I personally try to find names that would suit a wide variety of personalities, lifestyles, and humans. The opposite of when people say a name is too babyish I guess. That’s what I mean by “too much.”

It’s not a bad name though. Definitely agree with you on the melodious feel. And in no way do I think you need to change your style, everyone has their own.

12

Cool. Not exactly my style, but nice combo. First time I heard [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] I was watching a show called The 100 (it’s awesome btw). I remember a conversation between he and another character, and this character said something about the name [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] having two possible meanings: one is “follower” of something and the other is “king/leader” (something like that) and this character asks [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] which fate is his - of a follower or of a ruler? Pretty cool. His full name is [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] Jaha and he’s called either Theolonius or Jaha - I don’t know which one is more interesting!!!

When I hear a really unusual name in the streets and don’t really care if you’re a waiter or the king of the world, you have a cool name, I may comment on it and that’s it. Afterall, who cares? And [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] could blend in easily if he uses the nickname [name_u]Theo[/name_u].

[name_u]Valentine[/name_u] is a name that I like, but not that much, you know? It’s like something is missing. I have been playing with honor names and [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] honors my bro, so [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] is slowly growing on me.

About [name_u]Valentine[/name_u] honoring [name_m]David[/name_m], I can’t see it, sorry. Maybe [name_m]David[/name_m] has a usable middle? Or a favorite name for a son that never came? I think [name_m]Taavi[/name_m] is a variation of [name_m]David[/name_m], but I’m not sure.

13

Both are good names, neither is too out there or unusual but I really dislike them together for some reason. Maybe a shorter middle name, or something that isn’t a word. When I was younger there was a name I liked and the internet was not nice to me about it so I want to be clear that the name is fine, even a character in a show I love carries it, just not with [name_u]Valentine[/name_u]. In my opinion, maybe [name_m]Just[/name_m] a short middle, single syllable.

14

My sons middle name is [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m]. I really wanted it as the first and to use [name_u]Theo[/name_u] for short however husband felt it was too long and not approachable. If you really love [name_u]Valentine[/name_u]/ [name_m]Valentino[/name_m] use it as the middle I don’t love the 2 names together but it’s not awful.

15

In theory, I think its amazing. It would be wonderful for a fictional character.

For a child, I think its awful, just way too much. But I also think this about Chrysanthemum. One of my main issues with Thelonious and Chrysanthemum is that I am dyslexic, and I actually find them quite difficult to look at, which possibly sounds a bit strange.

I do think Valentine is lovely and perfectly usable on a child.

16

The more I think about this name, the more I like it. Especially with your reasons for liking the name and with the nickname “[name_u]Theo[/name_u],” which grounds it and would give your child a name that “fits in” more. Nicknames, I think, are a great way to give your child options beyond just a middle name. I plan to use names/nicknames interchangeably for my own kids.

I think what people mean when they say something is too “out there” is A) they’ve no familiarity with a name in real life, so they can’t imagine a real person wearing it, B) it seems like a “character name,” something that’s interesting in a fictional setting but is too cumbersome in reality, C) they don’t think people in general are interesting enough to carry a “big” name, a sentiment I think is sad, and/or D) they think the child will be teased. A note on D: names used for real children are becoming increasingly varied, and kids think it’s normal, knowing nothing else. I’m in my early twenties, and I never knew someone who was teased about their name, excepting last names. I think most name teasing comes from adults, who grew up with less variety in their peers’ names. When I discuss names with family and friends, those a generation older than me are far more critical, my peers are generally accepting, and my middle-school-aged siblings find them fascinating.

Also, I think [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] works well with [name_f]Chrysanthemum[/name_f] as a potential sister. I find that people tend to be more critical of unusual boys’ names, but that’s stupid.

17

My thoughts exactly. When you mentioned the grocery store, I just pictured a person with a name tag that reads “[name_m]Thelonius[/name_m]” and it felt like it was a scene taken from a movie: another person seeing this middle-aged man bagging items, some old song playing on a broken radio, everything just seems very slow and weary. The person looking at the name tag, [name_m]Thelonius[/name_m] noticing and saying “yes, my parents had big dreams for me. Not everything works out in life”.

I think there are names that are grand, and then there are names that are too grand without a royal title.
I do think [name_u]Theo[/name_u] makes it more approachable but not enough to make it non-ridiculous seeming in situations like the above.

18

Haha, my husband just happens to work in a grocery store, where he, as @opheliaflora daydreamt, he wears a nametag and interacts with customers. We love our ordinary lifestyle, but there are extraordinary parts to everyone’s circumstances and adventures, and I know my husband definitely wishes he didn’t have such a regular, boring, ordinary name, but not that he had a more adventurous or exciting life because there is plenty to be excited about in the mundane. We definitely don’t aspire in any particular manner to spawn the next [name_m]Mozart[/name_m], though we will obviously do our best to nurture whatever kinds of talents and idiosyncrasies our children expose to us, but I just really love names that feel big. Thank you both for coming back to clarify, though. It’s a helpful perspective! I just don’t think my childrens’ names define their circumstances. I can see that “[name_m]Napoleon[/name_m] Dynamite” style imagery feel for [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] in the grocery store, but my husband also works with many people with much more unique names than his own.

[name_m]David[/name_m] doesn’t have a middle name, unfortunately for me. [name_m]David[/name_m] is his English name, given to him at birth. His name is Chinese, meaning “dragon hero.” I have considered Pendragon, “dragon chief,” but that’s even more “out there” than [name_u]Valentine[/name_u]. I also consider [name_m]Solomon[/name_m], as a descendent of [name_m]King[/name_m] [name_m]David[/name_m], though DH doesn’t like that much as he thinks it comes off as religious. DH doesn’t like [name_m]Taavi[/name_m], but that was a good suggestion! As far as I can tell, [name_m]David[/name_m] didn’t care much what his children were named (in English or Chinese)… hence my husband’s ordinary, boring, classic name. They were also very much looking to assimilate to US culture at the time that my husband was born in the early 80s.

@dinosaursroar, our last name is one syllable, and I can sometimes get my husband to consider some one syllable options, but in general, he really doesn’t like short names. I’ll see if I can come up with any that we might like better than [name_u]James[/name_u].

@mcinkat, congrats on your little bundle (come join us in the momberry forum post for those expecting [name_u]July[/name_u]-[name_f]September[/name_f] babies)! I agree with your 4 main reasons why a name might come off as “out there” and also ascribe to the attitude that those reasons alone aren’t enough to dissuade me from an out-there name. [name_m]Thelonious[/name_m] is staying on our potential list for now, with or without [name_u]Valentine[/name_u].

19

I quite like it, and having seen your other posts/names around, it seems to be your style. It makes me think of a dashing detective in some novel, but not in a bad way. While I would never see the [name_m]David[/name_m]/[name_u]Valentine[/name_u] connection without the explanation, what’s important is that you see the connection and it means something to you.

20

Btw, I didn’t mean to make working in a grocery store sound negative (only a scene like you often see it in movies came to mind) that same name tag could be attached to anyone’s shirt, a businnes man, a lawyer, a doctor, etc. and, to me, it would feel just a bid too grand.
I also feel like someone with such a grand name will probably never use their full name anyway, so I think it’s a bit of a “waste” to not use another, more approachable first name that will actually be used but one that will always get shortened.