Using one unusual name (with all others in the top 250)?

Girl Names
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Most of the names that I like are in a popularity range of between like 50 and 250 (e.g. [name]Erika[/name], [name]Keira[/name], [name]Piper[/name], [name]Wyatt[/name], [name]Owen[/name], [name]Bryce[/name], [name]Riley[/name]). But, there are two girl”s names that I really like that are very unpopular. [name]Neriah[/name] ” which is a real name (Hebrew, meaning ”light if God”), and ranks around 4000. The other is Talayna/ Talaina. Apparently it”s not a ”real name,” at least I can”t find it anywhere. But I didn”t make it up. Apparently it was going to be my cousin”s name but my aunt”s best friend named her daughter it first so she used something else. So I may have heard it mentioned in my family when I was younger. I don”t get the sense that they are ”made up names” when I see them, as much as I do with others, e.g. [name]Aliyah[/name] is pretty but seems completely made up to me - JMO.

As I”ve mentioned before, I”m primarily here to ”float names” and get opinions on the names I like. We”re planning but not TTC yet. I”m glad that we”re discussing names early as our tastes have changed a lot over the last year, and this way we can discuss names every now and then but its low pressure. I”m lucky though as my partner ‘seems’ very agreeable at the moment and we have similar tastes. He spent an hour trying to pick apart Talayna last night and he really likes it. We love the nickname potential ” [name]Tal[/name], [name]Tali[/name] ([name]Tah[/name]-lee), [name]Tally[/name], [name]Lani[/name] (Lah-nee), [name]Laney[/name] ([name]Lay[/name]-nee), [name]Lana[/name] (lah-na or lay-na), [name]Annie[/name] etc.

So, what do you think of Talayna? Does it feel made up? what spelling should I use? What meaning could I use, i.e. what name is it based on? Would you use a name you both loved that didn”t feel made up but was, even though your other names are in the top 250?

Thanks.

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I guess Talaina kind of sounds like a combo of [name]Talia[/name] and [name]Elaina[/name] to me, and while I think that [name]Talia[/name] and [name]Elaina[/name] are very pretty, I’m not a fan of Talaina. (I’m sorry!) :frowning:

To answer your question, I personally wouldn’t use an invented name (or one that sounded like one), but that’s just me. If you’re comfortable with Talaina though, that’s all that matters. From your list of names, I can best see Talaina with [name]Keira[/name] and [name]Neriah[/name]. (I’d personally spell Talaina without the y.)

As for [name]Aliyah[/name], it’s actually a Hebrew word (it means “ascent”) that refers to Jewish people immigrating to [name]Israel[/name]; it also refers to the honor of reading from the Torah.

I’m glad the name talks are going well for you so far! :slight_smile:

Good luck! :slight_smile:

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To add to the above, I Googled “Talaina,” and found that the phrase “oimoi talaina” is thought to mean something close to “[name]Alas[/name]! Woe is me!” ([name]Electra[/name] cries the line in Sophocles’ Greek Tragedy, [name]Electra[/name], and the article I found below suggests that it’s an invented word, or more accurately, an invented sound.)

I’m sure that “woe is me” isn’t the meaning you were hoping for, so I’m sorry. :frowning:

Here’s what I found on a site called gradesaver:

“…the presence in Greek drama of bursts of sound expressing strong emotion (like OIMOI or O TALAINA or PHEU PHEU) furnishes the translator with a very simple and intractable problem. It has generally assumed that they represent a somewhat formulaic body of ejaculatory utterance best rendered into English by some dead phrase like [name]Alas[/name]! or Woe is me! …it is not easy to decide what gives the screaming of [name]Electra[/name] its power. Sophocles has invented for her a language of lament that is like listening to an X-ray. [name]Electra[/name]'s cries are just bones of sound.”
It is worth bearing this in mind when you read phrases like ‘Woe is me!’, ‘[name]Alas[/name]!’ or ‘Ye Gods!’ in old-fashioned translations. A short exercise might serve to point up the difference between these tired, archaic phrases, and the actual Greek that Sophocles wrote. Here are a series of phonetic representations of the Greek, all cries that [name]Electra[/name] utters in the play. Have a go at reading them out loud, in a nice loud voice – and feel the difference.

a) AIAI

b) EE [name]IO[/name]

c) [name]IO[/name] GONAI

d) [name]IO[/name] MOI MOI

e) OIMOI MOI

f) TALAINA

g) OIMOI TALAINA

h) OTOTOTOTOTOI TO TOI

i) [name]IO[/name] MOI MOIM DYSTENOS"

And here’s this, from the [name]Barnes[/name] and [name]Noble[/name] site:

Publishers Weekly
[name]Every[/name] era needs the classics on its own terms, so Sophocles’ [name]Electra[/name], translated by [name]Anne[/name] [name]Carson[/name] (The Beauty of the Husband; Forecasts, Dec. 18, 2000), should prove very popular among newcomers and seasoned readers of the sublime dramatist’s brutal drama, as well as among [name]Carson[/name]'s many fans. While [name]Carson[/name] renders the book in her signature free verse, her major innovation is the phonetic preservation of [name]Electra[/name]'s “far from formulaic” screams: “OIMOI,” “O TALAINA” and “PHEU PHEU” among them. As [name]Carson[/name] writes in her excellent translator’s preface, they are not stock ejaculations like “[name]Alas[/name]!” or “Woe is me!,” but “bones of sound” emitted by the daughter who finds herself cheering her mother’s execution. Though [name]Oxford[/name]'s stock existentialist cover looks like something from the height of '50s abstract angst and the book’s paper is pulpy, expect strong sales. ( Apr.) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

I hope this helps!

Good luck!

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I was just looking that up. I wrote a long post about made up names but it got lost when sent, and kind of couldn’t get into the site for a while - I hope it didn’t cause others trouble. I thought I broke nameberry! :frowning:

I’m sad that Talaina is real but such a bad meaning. WRT that other thread and how much a name’s meaning counts in your decision, I would pass.
http://old.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/morphindex?lang=greek&lookup=ta%2Flaina&bytepos=57215&wordcount=1&embed=2&doc=[name]Perseus[/name]%3Atext%3A1999.01.0185

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My brother’s first girlfriend’s name was Talaina! She was a cutie (this was when they were in high school) and everyone liked her very much. I think she really liked her name, especially being part of a social group where the kids had very traditional names.

I say go for it if you love it!

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[name]Jill[/name] - I hope I didn”t cause any offence. I like the name [name]Aliyah[/name], it”s actually on my list. The reason I used it as an example is because I know it is a real name but it feels made up to me, whereas Talayna is made up but doesn”t feel made up, to me anyway (just to clarify, hopefully).

The only possible ”good connection” I could get out of what you all told me is: I”m born on a [name]Wednesday[/name] (the child ”full of woe” ” which is crappy, [name]Wednesday[/name] is the only ”bad day” in that poem). A lot of important things have happened to me on [name]Wednesday[/name]”s (we met and got together on [name]Wednesday[/name]”s). But, yeah, not the best meaning. That being said though, people still call their daughter”s [name]Claudia[/name] and it means ”lame.” I have trouble with it being a made up name and what that says about us, but he and his whole family are into unusual and unpopular names. It just doesn”t feel made up to me, and yet there are names I see and think ”oh that is totally made up” or ”how can that be in there but no Talayna/ Talaina.”

I”m relieved that I have time and am doing this relatively hormone free. If I had been pregnant when I read that I probably would have cried rather than laughed. Thanks for looking it up for me. All I could find was that it”s the name of a restaurant in [name]St[/name]. [name]Louis[/name], and they claim that Talayna is Yiddish for Italian (or something like that). And on another site (babiesonline), Talaina is listed as a South [name]African[/name] name meaning ”strong willed, emotional”

And thanks to amaryllis for making me smile, I’m glad it is liked somewhere else. There are people named it so it makes me wonder. Did we all separately invent the name? I never knew my cousin was supposed to be named that until after I mentioned it to my mum. And they live far away so I didn’t get it from them. I just wish I could remember when and how I came up with it.

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[name]Hi[/name] there! [name]Don[/name]'t worry…No offense was taken at all by me. (Because tone can’t be heard on the internet, I should have included some smiley faces, so I’m sorry about that.)

After seeing that the definition wasn’t on Nameberry, I simply thought I’d look it up (I knew the meaning at one point, but I wanted to check for sure) and share it with any curious readers. I totally understand (and agree) that [name]Aliyah[/name] has a “made up” sound and look, even though it’s not made up. :slight_smile:

If you’re comfortable using Talaina, that’s great! On the bright side, the South [name]African[/name] meaning is really positive. :slight_smile: I’d personally go with that meaning, most definitely.

Another thought could be to use the name [name]Wednesday[/name] (although it’s associated with [name]Wednesday[/name] Addams) as a first or middle name.

Good luck! :slight_smile:

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[name]Jill[/name],

Thanks. Sorry if I seem a little touchy. I don’t tend to post online very often and I am really nervous about offending someone. I visited nameberry for about a month before I got the guts to post. I’ve read a lot of the posts and I have to say I’ve come to have a lot of respect for a lot of these women so I don’t want to appear disrespectful. It’s weird because I will never meet these people and I’ve never even really spoken directly to anyone. It feels a bit like coming to a new school and the groups are already established - I feel so awkward writing on other people’s posts, like I’m butting in. It is hard to read tone on the net. I wasn’t sure if you were offended but I wanted to make sure, because when re-reading my post I realised I hadn’t made myself very clear. It is better to fix possible misunderstandings, rather than offend someone. I’ve appreciated how honest people are on this site but also respectful at the same time, which is not something you find often on forums. I’m just a very nervous newcomer :slight_smile: