I don’t know when this trend started, but people will write about a name and then say things like “tousled hair in the Norwegian sunshine, treehouses, loves peanut butter, sleeps with a ginger cat in a curated hammock”
When I first started at nameberry, I never read things like this. I left and came back and now I read this sort of thing all the time.
It reminds me of what some men would write to me on online dating sites. One guy wrote about our children’s roller skates in the front yard and all I could think is, this is our first email, really?
It’s definitely a thing more so lately than I’ve ever seen it before!
I think that it’s generally a way to envision a name on a real person, just for fun and for poetic creativity. I don’t typically read them as anything else. Idealized little characters for certain names that feel special.
These descriptions are about expressing an idea or feeling that the name evokes for that person. On the forums we already discuss ideas about names such as their style, sound and meaning. This is a form that explores feelings and imagery in greater detail.
I think it’s more common to see now because it’s a form of expression that resonates with a lot of current users.
For me it definitely does. Its sort of a poetic way of describing the kinds of things I would put on a moodboard for the name. Occasionally there are aspects of the description that wouldn’t translate well to pictures and that’s more just describing the person I can envision having the name. Usually its just fun creative expression but for a few names the in depth description/vision of the kind of person I can imagine with the name has made me love the name more.
I kind of like it? I think it’s just another way of communicating the “feeling” that can come with a name, the vibe it gives you.
Which might influence people’s name choices, e.g. my partner felt that [name_m]Sebastian[/name_m] felt pretentious, he could imagine the type of parents who might choose it being kinda uppity.
Similarly, when choosing names for my own kids, I knew I’d have a high chance of having a red head and was drawn to names that felt they’d suit a red head.
Tyler… makes me think of boys/teens who are kind of terrors maybe it’s because it’s similar to [name_m]Tyrone[/name_m] and there was a “Tyrone the terrible” picture book I read as a kid about a T-rex who was a bully.
Someone posted about [name_f]Daphne[/name_f] vs [name_f]Delphine[/name_f], and they do have quite different vibes to them?
[name_f]Do[/name_f] you find it too airy fairy or silly?
To me personally it means nothing, I already struggle with the use of emojis I think I know what people are trying to express, but I don’t have that kind of “relationship” with names and it just confuses me.
I think it also relates to the fact that I have no idea what people mean when they say “oh, she looks like a Josephine!” (just an example) or why I’m having trouble properly understanding the “rename me” threads. To me, a person shapes the name, and not the other way around.
Yes, in fact, you could say these descriptions are written mood boards. They’re trying to capture something that is difficult define in a single word or picture. They’re often trying to differentiate from other ideas about a name sometimes to small degrees. E.g. This name isn’t plain or common, to me it’s down to earth.
I think it originates in the idea of making a ‘moodboard’ for a name/combo - so that’s what I’m kind of thinking when people ask for imagery of a name, like, what images would I use if I was asked to make one.
Alternatively, I might comment if people want to know what sort of person I envision someone with the name to be like - I try to think ‘if I named a character this, how would I write them/describe them etc’
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve played the “rename me” games and posted long winded descriptions of a name in my day… but I do it to write a little, to have fun with imagery, to create a little character! I don’t know that it has any merit (for me) in the realness of naming. Quite similar to you, I don’t find that anyone “looks like a” name or that emojis ever fit the vibe of a name just so… It’s mostly just creating a cute painting for a name.
I do this to a point. [name_f]Geneva[/name_f] to me has dark hair, light skin, is Swiss, skis, and has vitality. [name_f]Eunice[/name_f] works in a library and needs a new cardigan. [name_f]Sylvie[/name_f] is [name_u]French[/name_u] and chic. [name_u]Joan[/name_u] is competent. [name_f]Heidi[/name_f] is a kid. [name_f]Agatha[/name_f] is an old lady.
So I do “see” names, but not to the extent of diving into swimming pools in [name_u]Maine[/name_u], playing checkers in the rain, and eating egg sandwiches with dill.
I’m guilty but I’m not a creepy man on a dating site
Sounds kind of like the debate between people with aphantasia vs people who can picture things in their minds.
It’s about the vibes~ dude
What pops into someone elses mind when they hear your child’s potential name.
I don’t see it as much different than saying a name is classic and proper, or unprofessional and childish.
It’s like a description of a moodboard.
I hadn’t thought about others not feeling the same, perhaps we could implement more wording in posts asking for or against different types of comments.
I agree that names don’t color people, it’s the other way around. However, for me this means that:
I couldn’t describe a name like [name_f]Sarah[/name_f], because I’ve met too many. All were different.
I couldn’t describe a name like [name_m]Cosmo[/name_m], because I’ve never met one.
I could describe some common names by their age range, gender, and sometimes socioeconomic status.
I could never describe a name by talking about how they take their tea or that they like to blow soap bubbles. That would always be based off of only one person, which is unfair.
Some names simply read as bully names to me, because I’ve met too many bullies by that name. Sadly, kind people don’t seem to color their names nearly as much as mean people do. The work of 10 kind [name_m]Julias[/name_m] can easily be erased by just one nasty [name_f]Julia[/name_f].
I see what you mean. When I picture names, I tend to think more in terms of age, nationality, ethnicity or socio-economic status rather than chocolate croissants and ballet shoes. I think some people enjoy writing those elaborate descriptions as a creative writing exercise. And more power to them, if they find enjoyment in it! But I personally just don’t think that way about names.
I definitely do this and have for years now. It is like a written out moodboard, which is a lot easier than finding the pictures (they’re never quite what’s in my head).
Additionally, for me, I can like or appreciate any name. But if that’s all it is then I’ll write “Saskia” and immediately move on. It’s when the name feels real and I can picture myself with a child bearing that name, our life with the aesthetic or not so aesthetic- things whether it be red roses in a vase or just eating peanut butter crackers at the kitchen island. That ability to picture the name can take a name from like to love.
If I actually used the name and my kid was nothing like the character in my mind - I would not be disappointed in any way, I’m not overly attached to the description. But, where I am in life right now, it’s all fuzzy and hard to grasp on to because kids are still at a TBD time for me. So anything that makes that happy future seem closer is fun for me. And anything that makes the name more than sounds or letters on a screen does just that.
maybe it’s because it’s similar to [name_m]Tyrone[/name_m] and there was a “Tyrone the terrible” picture book I read as a kid about a T-rex who was a bully.
It’s mostly just creating a cute painting for a name.
