I have noticed that when certain names appear on the Nameberry ticker tape, I get a thrill, a frisson, of pure pleasure.
I have noticed that this does not happen when a name I like or even love pops up; it happens with just a handful (or two or three handfuls) of names.
The names that thrill me for some strange reason?
[name_f]Eluned[/name_f], [name_m]Fenton[/name_m], [name_m]Moody[/name_m], [name_m]Spurgeon[/name_m], [name_m]Everard[/name_m] and the like.
I hasten to say that only one of these would I consider for a child ([name_m]Fenton[/name_m], after [name_m]Fenton[/name_m] [name_m]Hardy[/name_m]).
I am curious to know if others have certain names which trigger such a response.
In my case, I have identified the odd pull of these names: I am a reader and [name_f]Eluned[/name_f] comes from the first [name_f]Dorothy[/name_f] L. [name_m]Sayers[/name_m] [name_f]Harriet[/name_f] [name_m]Vane[/name_m] novel (a feisty and independent friend of [name_f]Harriet[/name_f]'s), [name_m]Moody[/name_m] [name_m]Spurgeon[/name_m] is a kindly though gangly village mate of [name_f]Anne[/name_f] of [name_u]Green[/name_u] Gables, and [name_m]Everard[/name_m] Bone is the pompous but somehow appealing anthropologist from [name_f]Barbara[/name_f] Pym’s Excellent Women.
Discovering that there is an audience (however small) for these literary names comforts me.
I get a thrill whenever I see a name that I have never considered before. And I don’t mean made-up names or creative spellings.
There are only a certain number of names in the world that I find ‘useable’ and of these, a rather small number that I love. Because the world of names is not infinite (again exluding made-up names/creative spellings), I feel that after a few years of researching names you could easily exhaust every useable option. So I’m excited when I find something that hasn’t registered before, it’s as if a new door opens. [name_f]Hope[/name_f] that makes sense, I was kind of typing as thoughts came to mind!
As young name fanatics, we find a bazillion names, but as the years progress, we fear we have found them all.
I recently discovered [name_f]Garland[/name_f] as a female name on Nameberry and felt pleased. It has a [name_f]Louisa[/name_f] [name_f]May[/name_f] [name_u]Alcott[/name_u] feeling to me.
And I only just realized that [name_m]Currier[/name_m] and [name_m]Ives[/name_m] could be given as first names, which gave me a comforting, Thanksgiving feeling.
I actually like the idea of [name_f]Garland[/name_f] for a boy! I would probably never use it, but it makes me think of names such as [name_m]Armand[/name_m] / [name_m]Cleveland[/name_m] / [name_m]Roland[/name_m] etc
I love discovering unusual names of female historical figures (sometimes ancient ancestors)…[name_f]Novella[/name_f], [name_f]Lucrezia[/name_f], [name_f]Cressida[/name_f], [name_f]Isolda[/name_f], [name_u]Alix[/name_u], and Diadama of late.
THe ones on the ticker that make me happy right now are [name_f]Linnea[/name_f], [name_f]Elodie[/name_f], [name_m]Mack[/name_m], [name_f]Genevieve[/name_f], [name_f]Gemma[/name_f]
Since I discovered [name_f]Kerensa[/name_f] through this website, the sound of it always get me excited. [name_f]Linnea[/name_f], [name_f]Thea[/name_f], and [name_f]Celestia[/name_f] elicit similar reactions. For boys, [name_m]Horatio[/name_m] excites me with its gusto, as does [name_m]Barnaby[/name_m].
Lesser known or used Shakespearean names that pop up always give me a thrill. As an actress that trained in [name_m]Shakespeare[/name_m], I love many of the names, but wouldn’t use all of them myself because of possible nn, or other reasons. I do have a handful on my short list for fn and mn though.
[name_f]Pandora[/name_f] is the name that always gives me a thrill because I rarely hear positive things when I talk about the name [name_m]IRL[/name_m]!