Pandora

Some one my sister knows had a little girl this week and named her [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]. What are your thoughts on the name? Would you use it?

For me I see it as very much not my style, borderline unusable due to the whole [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]'s box thing.

I like the name. [name_m]Don[/name_m]'t like the myth, but it’s just the story.

I know a little [name_f]Pandora[/name_f].

I sort of like the name… I see the appeal, anyway. The box thing puts me off a bit, but it’s more the word ‘pan’ that I don’t like, honestly. You know… [name_m]Pan[/name_m] Am, pan-[name_f]Africa[/name_f], pansexual, frying pan, and then it’s the name of a god, and [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]'s bracelets have been around forever. I’ve just got a lot of other associations with the sound/word.

Since the myth behind [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] is part of my religion, I’ve never liked it or considered the name usable.

Who would want to be named after a woman who was created solely as a punishment to a man because he tried to better people
s lives? She was given to man that did nothing wrong with the express job of opening a jar that contained tons of evil stuff (remember, [name_m]Zeus[/name_m] was punishing one person by punishing all of mankind) and she closed it at the end before hope could come out of the jar. Why would anyone want to name their daughter after someone who was created with the sole purpose of being a punishment, of dooming mankind? I’ve seen people on here say “But I don’t look at it that way! She was just curious and spunky and feisty etc” but she wasn’t. She was given a ton of curiosity from the gods and that was her whole life. She had no other anything. She was a construct like a clay gollum (spelled wrong).

I’m sorry, I just feel strongly about this name. :confused: Besides all that, there’s the jokes a teen age boy can make “[name_m]Man[/name_m] I’d like to open [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]'s box.” It’s too easy.

EDIT – I should mention I do know a little girl named Pandora (sister to Lucifer) and she gets a lot of remarks about her name (and plenty of them rude). I prefer Pandeia so much more. There are tons of dora names in Greek myth and a few Pan names.

Frankly, I really don’t like that [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] girl in the myth so I wouldn’t use it myself. It sounds lovely though.

I know an absolutely terrific girl named [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] and she gave me a high level of awesome/respect for those named [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]. I probably wouldn’t use it, but I love it when people do.

The myth has no significance to me, and I think [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] is such a fresh, lovely choice. I knew someone on a naming board way back when who ended up using the name [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] (if she wasn’t just a bored teenager, lol) and I’ve really liked it ever since.

Dantea, I’d flip that on you and ask why you would want to worship any god who would create evil. Not just to you, but everyone who worships a god. I’ve yet to hear any god story that doesn’t involve some pretty horrible things they did to humanity. I’m actually surprised you feel this strongly, since you named your daughter [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] and have [name_u]Loki[/name_u] on your list. There’s always more to the story, and I don’t quite get how you can argue there’s more to [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] and [name_u]Loki[/name_u]'s stories, but [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] was just an empty shell.

[name_f]Pandora[/name_f], whether you take it as a story or truth, may have been created with a predestined purpose, but I don’t think that ruins the name or the girl. I know the [name_f]Eve[/name_f] names get lots of love, and she did the same thing, except she did hers out of free will, not because she had no choice.

Personally, I’ll take life as I know it, suffering and all. Granted, it’s impossible to imagine a world without pain and suffering, but I do subscribe to the adage that there’s no light without darkness, and to truly understand joy, you must understand sorrow. [name_m]Kahlil[/name_m] Gibran says it best:

On [name_f]Joy[/name_f] and Sorrow

Your joy is your sorrow unmasked.
And the selfsame well from which your laughter rises was oftentimes filled with your tears.
And how else can it be?
The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain.
Is not the cup that holds your wine the very cup that was burned in the potter’s oven?
And is not the lute that soothes your spirit, the very wood that was hollowed with knives?
When you are joyous, look deep into your heart and you shall find it is only that which has given you sorrow that is giving you joy.
When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.

Some of you say, “[name_f]Joy[/name_f] is greater thar sorrow,” and others say, “Nay, sorrow is the greater.”
But I say unto you, they are inseparable.
Together they come, and when one sits, alone with you at your board, remember that the other is asleep upon your bed.

Verily you are suspended like scales between your sorrow and your joy.
Only when you are empty are you at standstill and balanced.
When the treasure-keeper lifts you to weigh his gold and his silver, needs must your joy or your sorrow rise or fall.

Certainly this isn’t the right place to talk about religion (you have my email, we can talk there :stuck_out_tongue: ) but I will say that [name_u]Cody[/name_u] is the one who worships [name_u]Loki[/name_u], not me, and that name is something is has argued a lot with me about. And [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] never caused evil nor was she created to cause evil, so it’s not really the same concept. And that was another [name_u]Cody[/name_u] choice. And I feel the same about [name_f]Eve[/name_f] as a name as I do about [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] >.>

Anyway, I still think there are better names out there with [name_m]Pan[/name_m] beginnings and -dora endings.

Well, it was rhetorical, so no worries. :slight_smile: My point with the other names, and the reason I was surprised you feel strongly against [name_f]Pandora[/name_f], was that [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] is quite controversial. As a namesake, most people imagine a girl who was kidnapped by her uncle, probably raped, and forced to spend eternity with him in the underworld, except when she gets to come up to visit her mama. There’s more to the story than that, but most people will sum it up like that, so I was surprised that with [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] all you see is an empty shell. For what it’s worth, I do not feel that way about [name_f]Persephone[/name_f], but I don’t feel that way about [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] either. Neither one really had much choice in their destinies.

Like I said above, we don’t know any way to live except with the evil around us, so it’s not possible to imagine life without it, but would we feel love or joy to the extent we do if we didn’t also understand what it is to lose a loved one or have our hearts crushed? I’m not sure we would. I’ll always take the bad along with the good, because it makes the good that much better. So if [name_f]Eve[/name_f] or [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] really did release evil or sin into the world, I guess in a weird way I’m grateful.

The curiosity is for sure one of the many things I love about [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]. I think curiosity is one of the qualities I admire most in mankind. I also just love the [name_f]ORA[/name_f] sound, and have several [name_f]ORA[/name_f] names I’m going to have to decide on when there’s an actual child to name.

Anyway, obviously I have a lot of things to say about [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]. Probably more than OP wanted to read. Oh well, I always write too much. :smiley:

I’ve always been [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] fan! I love nn Panda too :slight_smile:

Uh… am I the only one stunned that there are people who named their children [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] and [name_m]Lucifer[/name_m]?

First stunned and now laughing. People are crazy.

See, because this is my religion and I’m a priestess of it, I tend to know more about the stories than other people do :stuck_out_tongue: So when other people sum up [name_f]Persephone[/name_f] that way, I can say “Well actually, that was [name_m]Zeus[/name_m]’ fault too because Hades never kidnapped [name_f]Persephone[/name_f]. He came to [name_m]Zeus[/name_m] asking to be allowed to marry her and [name_m]Zeus[/name_m] agreed. So Hades wasn’t kidnapping her, he was taking her as a bride as was agreed upon by him and [name_m]Zeus[/name_m] the way a lot of girls were put into arranged marriages at the time.” So it looses some of the meanness that way.

But yes, the deep conversations about these Greek names are really interesting and I know the depth of a lot of the stories more than most people do so you should feel free to email me if you want to have a conversation :stuck_out_tongue:

My friend who named his son [name_m]Lucifer[/name_m] is a Luciferian and lives in a very non-[name_m]Christian[/name_m] part of the country. His opinion is that he should be allowed to honor his god the same way other people are allowed to honor theirs. Whether you believe it or not, [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] gets more remarks about her name than [name_m]Lucifer[/name_m] does about his.

[name_f]Love[/name_f] [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] and think it is gorgeous!

Interesting feedback. I didn’t expect such passionate answers! I feel a bit more educated about [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] now.

On a side note, I’m really nosey and want to know what little [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]'s middle name is but my sister didn’t know, lol.

I feel like [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] is equivalent to [name_f]Eve[/name_f]. They were both women who brought evil into the world (in myth). If [name_f]Eve[/name_f] is useable, so is [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]. I almost think using the name is justified by debunking these old stories of women being naturally bad.

This is more or less how I feel. I feel the same way about [name_f]Delilah[/name_f]; it’s a lovely name that I don’t let those kind of associations ruin for me. I really like [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] (enough to put it in my signature names) and the nn Panda and I think there are enough varying associations with it now (the jewellry, [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] radio) that some of the stigma is kind of lost. I, personally, always think of [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] Braithwaite from the [name_m]Adrian[/name_m] Mole books and [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] from the tv show Skins before the myth anyway, but that’s just me.

I actully feel the same way about [name_f]Eve[/name_f] as I do [name_f]Pandora[/name_f]. Although obviously many people accept [name_f]Eve[/name_f] as usable I just don’t get it. i wouldn’t use [name_f]Delilah[/name_f] either.

I wouldn’t use [name_f]Eve[/name_f], [name_f]Pandora[/name_f], [name_f]Lilith[/name_f], [name_f]Jezebel[/name_f] or [name_f]Delilah[/name_f].
Actually, I wouldn’t use [name_f]Cassandra[/name_f] either because she wasn’t believed.

I adore [name_f]Pandora[/name_f] and would use it in a heartbeat. I love Greek Mythology and understand the myths behind the names but it doesn’t stop me from loving the name. It’s fresh and quirky, and I stand by the fact that children can and will make fun of any name…