[name]How[/name] do you feel about red headed children with names that are associated with the color red? Names like: [name]Ruby[/name], [name]Ginger[/name], [name]Scarlett[/name], [name]Rowan[/name], [name]Poppy[/name], [name]Rose[/name], [name]Garnet[/name], [name]Russel[/name], [name]Rufus[/name], [name]Sienna[/name], [name]Rory[/name]. [name]Do[/name] you think it is clever, tacky, or maybe you are indifferent? [name]Do[/name] you think it can increase teasing and bullying? Would you name a blonde, brunette or black haired child a name that specifically alludes to the color of their hair, for example [name]Blake[/name], [name]Flavia[/name] or [name]Ciara[/name]/[name]Keira[/name].
My hubby is a red head and was teased occasionally as a child and even as an adult about being a “ginger” or a “carrot top”. He always loved his hair color and it never bothered him, so it wasn’t much of an issue. We have always said that if we ever have a daughter (or a son) with red hair, we would name her (him) [name]Rowan[/name]. There is a little part of me that hesitates though. I worry that it might seem tacky to other people, or would increase the odds of her being teased. So far I feel that as long as the name is subtle it shouldn’t be an issue. [name]Scarlett[/name], [name]Rowan[/name] and [name]Sienna[/name] would be fine. [name]Ginger[/name], not so much.
Anyway, I am really curious to see what people think.
I think it’s cute. I also think that adults can come up with reasons to tease more than kids can. [name]How[/name] many classmates will really know the meaning of [name]Rowan[/name], and how many will care? I don’t think it will be an issue.
I don’t know if I’d ever use a name strictly for a hair color, especially because hair color often changes from what you see at birth. But if I loved the name [name]Scarlett[/name] and had a good shot at having a redhead, I wouldnt let that stop me from using it if that makes sense.
[name]Rowan[/name], [name]Russel[/name], [name]Sienna[/name], [name]Rory[/name]…none of those are obvious enough to warrant a second thought.
I agree that [name]Ginger[/name] is the one name on that list that could be rough.
I agree - I would use the name [name]Rowan[/name] whether or not my child was a redhead. I don’t think most people would associate [name]Rowan[/name] with red hair, unless they actually looked up the meaning.
My niece is a red-haired [name]Sienna[/name]. Neither of her parents have or had red hair and they weren’t expecting her to have red hair when they named her. She was blondeish at birth. People do comment on it a lot, and my sister says if she’d known her hair would turn red she would have thought hard about picking something else. But it does suit her.
As far as [name]Rowan[/name] goes, I wouldn’t worry, I don’t think most people would even know the meaning. I always assumed the name referred to the tree.
I think it’s an interesting question. I have red hair and as I was growing up I didn’t like my name. I always thought that the name [name]Autumn[/name] would fit me much better. In fact I loved it so much that I ended up using it for my own daughter. I always thought that it would be such a fabulous name for a little red haired girl. Now that I am thinking about a name for a second daughter I am really liking names like [name]Ruby[/name] and [name]Scarlett[/name]. I never really made the connection until now. I think it’s okay if you aren’t choosing the name just because you are expecting to have a red haired child. Like I said, I have red hair and my husband has brown hair. We currently have three children (not counting the one we are expecting now) and they all have what I call caramel colored hair. I have noticed that a lot of my friends where one has red hair and the other doesn’t have kids who don’t have red hair. So if you plan to use a name because you think it might be perfect for a redhead you might think it doesn’t fit if he ends up being a Blonde. I would recommend choosing a name because you love it then if it happens to work with how he looks it’s an extra bonus.
I always find it interesting how the genes for red hair get passed along. My hubby is a red head, I am a brunette and my son is super super blonde. I can’t wait to see what the next child’s hair color is gonna be. Blonde, red, brown, black? We have such a variety of hair color and eye color in our family.
I was thinking the same thing about [name]Rowan[/name] not being overly obvious and that people wouldn’t really be aware of the meaning.
I think some are more acceptable than others.
Good ones:
[name]Ruby[/name]
[name]Scarlett[/name]
[name]Rowan[/name]
[name]Poppy[/name]
[name]Rose[/name]
[name]Russel[/name]
[name]Rufus[/name]
[name]Sienna[/name]
[name]Rory[/name]
Not great:
[name]Ginger[/name]
[name]Garnet[/name]
I think ones that can potentially lead to teasing (ie [name]Ginger[/name]) should not be used. That being said, most people don’t know the meanings of names like [name]Rowan[/name], [name]Russel[/name], [name]Sienna[/name], etc. I think some “red head” names don’t necessarily have bad associations ([name]Scarlett[/name], [name]Rose[/name], [name]Ruby[/name]). I, personally, wouldn’t use hair color names for any other color than red. If I had a red head baby, she would definitely be a [name]Ruby[/name]. I think [name]Rowan[/name] would work well too!
I like the idea of a red-headed name theme if the names are a bit more veiled. Like [name]Rowan[/name].
Names like [name]Ginger[/name] and [name]Ruby[/name] (or anything that could remotely sound like Carrot-top) that are prone to pop up as nn for red-heads anyway would feel a little too on the nose for me.
I like [name]Strawberry[/name]'s suggestion of just finding a name that you love and not one that you only love for a red-head. I have a friend who was born with black hair, when she was two it suddenly decided it wanted to be white blond and now at 28 it’s naturally mousy brown. Another friend of mine was born a red-head and within a few months she was blond. I think naming your child after a physical attribute that it might or might not have forever could come back and bite you in the behind.
My daughter is named [name]Rowan[/name] and most people don’t even know it’s a tree, let alone that it means red headed. It’s still unknown enough to the general public. She’s not red haired by the way.
I have red hair and so does my husband. We don’t think it’s tacky at all to pick a name based on the very realistic possibility that our child will get red hair too. We named our son [name]Connor[/name] based on the fact that we were envisioning this little red haired, blue eyed Irish boy. And that is exactly how he came out!
That said, I am now expecting twin girls and we’re pretty sure one will be a [name]Ruby[/name]. I like [name]Ruby[/name] because it’s a precious jewel and it’s a sweet and pretty name, but I happen to like the fact that it’s a red gemstone and I think it would suit a little redhead nicely.
I probably won’t go with an obvious red name for the other twin though. It might be too much to have a [name]Ruby[/name] and a [name]Scarlett[/name]. lol!
[name]Rowan[/name] is wonderful though and not an obvious red hair connection. I do have a friend who picked that name for her son, hoping he’d inherit his father’s red hair. Of course he didn’t. lol
We almost picked [name]Autumn[/name] too…thinking again it would suit a red head. I can’t help but try to pick a name that suits the imagine I have of a redheaded girl…it’s just impossible.
I have red hair and am hoping that baby girl number two has some red in her hair! ([name]Lucia[/name] is very blonde but was born with very dark hair).
If she comes out with bright red hair like my little sister did I am sure it will have some impact on the name we choose. Though [name]Rowan[/name] is the only one I might choose with a red meaning. Others from our list just feel like they might fit a redhead more than some.
Some of the names on my list I can picture on a red head even though they don’t mean red. For example: [name]Cassia[/name] (kind of alludes to red with its link to cinnamon), [name]Autumn[/name], [name]Elowen[/name], [name]Gwendolen[/name] and [name]Freya[/name].
My SO is also a red-head so I understnad what you mean. I love the name [name]Rowan[/name] and I would use it.
I’ve also known many other red-headed girls named [name]Scarlett[/name], [name]Autumn[/name] and [name]Rosie[/name].
(Sadly, my SO has always been teased by people shortening his name ([name]Aaron[/name]) to [name]Ron[/name] because of his hair color. )
I might end up using it whether we have a red head or not. Sigh… too many great names to choose from.
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