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Baby names

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

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Original poster

Girls name, after someone who is admired or did something special/memorable IYSWIM

81 replies

mollysawally · 10/06/2008 17:08

Planning 2nd child. First DD has a family name.

If we have another girl I would like her to be named after someone who did something special or someone who who is admired for her achievements.

Any ideas?

OP posts:

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jette · 15/06/2008 11:14

I always wondered if I could shoe-horn "Phoolan" into my daughters name without my partner noticing.. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoolan_Devi

blueshoes · 11/06/2008 13:06

Thank you molly. If you choose Irena (no pressure of course), her memory and courage will continue to live on.

lottiejenkins · 11/06/2008 12:21

Frances Dominica
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sister_Frances_Dominica_Ritchie

A shining example of good!

Umlellala · 11/06/2008 12:17

Oh, I am so excited and glad you like it!

We have family names as middle names for our dd and for ds-to-be. There are no rules for naming your children, our ds-to-be is likely to have a very unusual name with no history and story behind it, it's just that we like it (Sky/Skyler).

Original poster

mollysawally · 11/06/2008 11:48

BLUESHOES - Irena is a name we will add to the list now I've read your post. A very brave lady who many owe their lives to.

ATHENA - Read my earlier post to you. My mum's middle name is my dd first name. If we have a boy then he will also have a family name. But then the family names run out and if we have a girl, I want her to have a name which is just as important and full of meaning. A name she can be proud of. Like MsDeamoner said how nice will it be to say to her that I named her after someone strong and brave who fought for right, a powerful message indeed.

UMLELLALA- What a fantastic quote by Virginia Wolfe. Aphra will also be added to our list.

MARTINBISHOP - I really like Rosa and could include Rosalind Franklin within that.

Thanks to everyone on this thread my list has gone from very small to very long in just one day.

I'll post back and let you know which one we choose - although how we'll make a decision I'm not sure.

Thanks again.

OP posts:

LadyThompson · 11/06/2008 10:59

Molly, you asked about Doris and Nancy.

Doris May Lessing - winner of the 2007 Nobel Prize for Literature, the oldest Nobel Laureate for Literature and only the 7th woman to win a Nobel ever. A writer with a prodigious output covering a number of genres, who is politically driven (lived in Zimbabwe for many years and speaks out against Mugabe even now, which is brave at the age of 89) and doughty campaigner against apartheid. Amazing lady, and though we are used to thinking of Doris as a fuddy duddy name (it was popular in the 20s) it's actually quite pretty when you think about it.

Nancy Astor - first woman MP!

Umlellala · 11/06/2008 08:52

Yup, it's 'affra' - well, as far as we know. I came across her doing my drama degree (restoration playwright) and thought 'wow'. Be prepared for loads of 'oh, what an unusual name' though. I used to explain it in a pithy sentence, and now just smile and go, yeah. Lots of people think it is to do with Africa or Aphrodite but you occasionally meet someone who says 'oh, after Aphra Behn?'.

I think it is the ideal femnist name myself (although am biased of course), as Virgina Woolf said:
"All women together, ought to let flowers fall upon the grave of Aphra Behn... for it was she who earned them the right to speak their minds."

AtheneNoctua · 11/06/2008 08:51

Why don't you do a bit of family research and look into both yours and your DH's family history? Surely there will be something you admire in someone.

Sorry if this is an unwelcome comment, but I always thinks it's a bit odd when people name their kids after people they don't even know, like an atress of a politician. I think it's much nicer to have a name that means something about who I am and where I come from. For example, my middle name is my mum's mum's middle name. It's about where I come from. And it's meaningful to me.

Original poster

mollysawally · 11/06/2008 00:00

UMLELLALA- Sorry, I've only just read your link, with so many suggestions its taking me a while to read up on all of them. Aphra sounds like one of the first ever feminists which makes her ideal. Definitely a strong independent woman who lived her life her own way.

How do you pronounce her name, is it how you read it

OP posts:

serin · 10/06/2008 22:54

Therese (of Lisieux)

Teresa (mother)

blueshoes · 10/06/2008 22:38

Seriously Irena (Sendler), the female Schindler

Umlellala · 10/06/2008 22:35

That's interesting, MartianBishop. Never knew about Rosalind Franklin...

Looks like Rosa (well, Rosa Kerry Jade) is the clear winner here!!

blueshoes · 10/06/2008 22:30

not forgetting kerry (katona)

MaloryBoden · 10/06/2008 22:23

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

RosaLuxembourg · 10/06/2008 22:22

Definitely Rosa.

TheFallenMadonna · 10/06/2008 22:19

Or Maria, which was her actual first name...

TheFallenMadonna · 10/06/2008 22:18

Marie, for Marie Curie, winner of two Nobel prizes. Also mother of another Nobel laureate. And of course, wife of another, but we are bigging up the women here

Original poster

mollysawally · 10/06/2008 22:15

That is really cool Athena.

My DD1 has a family name but its the only name from my family that I could give my DC.

Most of my family history is patchy to say the least!

OP posts:

Blandmum · 10/06/2008 22:14

Rosalind

For Rosalind Franklin the woman who did all the work on the structure of the DNA double Helix that was 'approriated' by Crick and Watson.

Sadly she died of ovarian canver before she could be awarded the Nobel Prize.

A fine mind. She changed the world as we see it today

AtheneNoctua · 10/06/2008 22:11

Can you find someone in your family history who did something interesting. DD is named after a pretty distant relative who was one of the first graduating classes of Mount Holyoke -- when it was virtually unheard of for women to go to University. When I was looking at names, I thought this was really cool and it helped me choose the name.

Original poster

mollysawally · 10/06/2008 22:04

THEMILD - Just read the bare basics about SOE on the BBC website, very brave.
Don't underestimate yourself though, who knows what we are capable of if we are put under extreme circumstances.

OP posts:

themildmanneredjanitor · 10/06/2008 21:49

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

mollysawally · 10/06/2008 21:29

POINTYDOG - Whilst I greatly admire Hatshepsut's achievements and successes as the fifth pharaoh, I don't really think its a name I called call my dd.

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MsDemeanor · 10/06/2008 21:24

Oh, it will, it will

Virginia Mckenna looks nothing like Violette (who was half french and olive skinned) but I think she is v good.

Original poster

mollysawally · 10/06/2008 21:23

I've just ordered 'Carve her name with pride,' from Amazon.

Hope it doesn't make me cry

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