Active discussions

Help protect children from gaming harms.

Take our survey

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Baby names

Find baby name inspiration and advice on the Mumsnet Baby Names forum.

Original poster

'Serpent' - Do name meanings matter?

67 replies

MiniEdwards · 20/08/2019 15:20

I have fallen in love with a name, but the meaning of it isn't great... it
means 'serpent' Confused.

What do people think about choosing a baby name which doesn't mean something wonderful, glorious, and perfect etc!?

Does anyone in life really actually care what your name means?

Or would I be jinxing them from birth?!

OP posts:
Are your children’s vaccines up to date?
Set a reminder
New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Taxicus · 21/08/2019 10:00

Actually, I think to have the meaning snake tied to ones name is very powerful.

There is meaning and there is symbolism. Snake has the ability to change it’s skin literally the symbol for transformation, snake is the symbol of healing, this is transcultural. Instead of focusing on ‘meaning’ google ‘What does snake symbolise.’

If snake symbolises something negative to you then don’t use it.

Astronica · 21/08/2019 00:59

It wouldn't put me off a name Ioved.

Evilmorty · 21/08/2019 00:31

Is it Phineas? I like it regardless. Ophelia, no, because she is such a weak character.

MyNewBearTotoro · 21/08/2019 00:30

Is the name Belinda or Rosalind? ‘Linde’ means serpent in archaic German but I don’t think most people would know that or associate either name with a serpent.

I don’t think most people know or care what names mean so I wouldn’t worry about it.

Nocturnalpearl · 21/08/2019 00:25

My youngest is Claudia which means lame after a Roman emperor who was crippled. But he was apparently an awesome leader so I tKe no notice of how or why the name has ended up with its final meaning. It did worry me a bit when pregnant but then I soon realised I had no idea what the meaning was for either of my other children and I'm glad it didn't put me off.

rainbowBug · 21/08/2019 00:17

I think it's very important. Sooner or later they will be curious to learn more about their name and may be disappointed when they realise it's bad or nothing special.
I've travelled a lot and in many countries I was frequently asked about the meaning of my name and likewise told the meaning of the person's name.

MoaningMinnie1 · 20/08/2019 23:17

Linda is a nice name, it means cute, pretty.

Sexy90 · 20/08/2019 23:04

@june2007 it means pretty/lovely in Spanish! ‘¡Que linda!’ Means ‘how pretty!’. I think that’s a lovely name to have with a lovely translation

Mooncake87 · 20/08/2019 22:56

I don't think the meaning of a name matters at all.

june2007 · 20/08/2019 20:34

One of my middle names is Linda which apparently means snake or serpent. Yep it put me off the name.

MrsSlocombesPussy · 20/08/2019 20:33

Yes, I think it was a place name first, then a surname, and then a first name.

CheckingOutTheQuantocks · 20/08/2019 20:26

Beverley?

MrsSlocombesPussy · 20/08/2019 20:24

I'd prefer a pretty name which means serpent rather than mine which means beaver meadow!

WaitingInTheBushesOfLove · 20/08/2019 20:04

Wasn't there a thread not too long ago where a poster actually wanted to name their child serpent? Or was it something similar like? I thought you were that poster for a second, OP Grin

daisypond · 20/08/2019 19:43

It does mean serpentine. “the meaning of the name Ophelia is: Serpentine”. The “help” meaning is there as well, but so is serpentine.

Rachelover40 · 20/08/2019 19:37

'Ophelia' doesn't mean 'serpent'. I looked it up and found:

"Derived from Greek οφελος (ophelos) meaning "help". This name was probably created by the 15th-century poet Jacopo Sannazaro for a character in his poem 'Arcadia'. It was borrowed by Shakespeare for his play 'Hamlet' (1600), in which it belongs to Hamlet's lover who eventually goes insane and drowns herself. In spite of this, the name has been used since the 19th century."

OrangeSwoosh · 20/08/2019 19:14

@StockTakeFucks
Orange was she British out of curiosity?

Yes. And just of an age where her parents probably remembered hearing it somewhere and thinking it was a nice sounding name, long before Google was a thing.

Ethelswith · 20/08/2019 19:07

English is however a Germanic language, and the actual roots of the older -lind names and how they came to be used in Albion are definitely scaley!

CheckingOutTheQuantocks · 20/08/2019 18:46

StockTakeFucks I assume one of those black dogs with orange eyebrows turned up and their nanny died in mysterious circumstances.

Jamhandprints · 20/08/2019 18:40

Linda means lovely or pretty in Spanish, so if depends what language you are talking about.

daisypond · 20/08/2019 18:34

I assume it might be Ophelia. It’s not a name I like - but because of the Shakespeare character, not its meaning. As pp said, names like Mary, Claudia and Cecily are common names, despite their meaning.

FrancisCrawford · 20/08/2019 18:33

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

StockTakeFucks · 20/08/2019 18:25

A relative of mine chose a name meaning devil in another language, she was advised not to be she didn't listen

And? What happened?

Did the kill their pet goat and open a portal to the underworld?

TheCraicDealer · 20/08/2019 18:21

Meh, wouldn't bother me. We're going for Claudia which means "lame" in Latin. Even though I did Latin at school for four years I only knew of the origin because any time it was mentioned on a baby name thread here someone would say "means lame, no thanks".

Meanings also don't seem to have worried all the parents that called their baby girl Amelia- that was really popular for a while.

ChrisPrattsFace · 20/08/2019 18:17

A name we like means ‘foreigner’ ... and we are both British.
It doesn’t mean anything to us... I don’t think people really read into them as much as you would think.