Did/Does a name's meaning influence your decision?

meaning definitely important here
dd1 three names mean worshiper of god the life giver watched over by god she was the result difficult pregnancy and was very ill baby
ds1 names mean very handsome and manly follower of christ
dd2 names mean cultured and beautiful gift of god she followed a mc
ds2 man of the church a gift from god born at easter he was born on good friday
ds3 we chose names we liked but ptrotected and noble longed for
dd3 born in july a beautiful gift from god
ds4 born after 2 mc one at 18 weeks strong man of god a bringer of joy asked for of god
dd4 born post mc a sweet bringer of happiness a beautiful answer to prayer
we liked the names any way but were put of certain names eg mary means living with bitterness

when you travel the meaning is very important, africans and asians will always ask you what your name means. so I did chose for the meaning with the sound of course (in different languages) and non religious, which was quite dificult. For example I didn't go for Caroline which I previously liked as it means manly (not good for a DD).

Ugh so true thumb! No Alex's or Matthews will number among my children, ever!

I am put off by meanings to an extent, yes. But put off more by previous associations with other people.

If you picked that, Jamie, you'd spend the rest of your life saying "This is my son Christian-I-Just-Like-the-Name!" I like Christian too, but I am one, so it might work out a bit more

When I was preg with DS I went through a tremendously horrible depression my last trimester. I mean, awful beyond words. The only thing that helped in the slightest was meditation and prayer (not so much praying as screaming "HELP ME!" from the absolute depths of despair...). It made me feel like someone was with me and listening, so when DS was born I went w/ Samuel (means "God has heard".). Of course I really liked the name Sam, so the meaning was just a bonus. But the meaning was what gave it an edge over William.

It is a factor but not a deciding one.

Ooh good news about Jonah...I can't find my book but think it said something like "unlucky". Must get new book with "Dove" meaning if pregnant again!

For DD2 her name was decided by it's meaning; she's Miriam, one of the meanings of which is 'wished for child'. She was very much wished for and rather unexpected after a series of miscarriage, a life-endangering ruptured ectopic and the news that I was unlikely to carry another baby to term.

Her middle name is Hope because, cheesy though it may be, that's what her arrival returned to our family's life.

Weirdly, one of my favourite boys names is Christian, and I'm an atheist

Nope. I have a Jonah!

HRH - didn't read your post - sorry I was referring to a more corporeal definition of Grace . I appreciate it is a lovely name for other reasons ....

helyg that's beautiful- my dd's middle name is Hope, for a similar reason - she was a prem baby and nearly didn't make it.

Yes.

DD is called Carys Angharad. Both names mean Love (from the Welsh word Cariad).

We had a lot of problems during the pregnancy, I was told three times that I was very likely to lose her. I was also told that there was a high chance that she would have a disability. We wanted a name that would show that no matter what happened she was very much loved.

As it was they were wrong and she is now a bright and bubbly 4 year old. But she is still very much loved

Name meanings are really important to me too and while I would never choose a name soley for the meaning I have taken names off the shortlist because I don't like the name meaning.

I love my names meanings and just find them symbolic and fun in my head (though obviously it's different for plenty of others!).

I love that DD's name means God's grace and is a bible character she can look up later on.

DC2 is en route and his name meanings are vital to me too.

Love Jonah as a possible middle name and it means Dove or Peace which I like a lot. I know 'a Jonah' used to be used for someone who was seen as bad luck but that association doesn't bother me as it's obvious why from the story - the ship nearly sank because of Jonah!

I got put off Molly because the book said it meant "bitterness". But also because MIL's cat was called Molly it got crossed off the list anyway.

Also I love Jonah but the meaning isn't very good (can't remember it now and would still like Jonah for a DS).

Meanings influenced our choices, but equally important was whether we liked the names. I think meaning was probably more important for me than for dh.

I like the fact that our children's names mean things like 'god-given' and 'father's joy'.

I find it odd when, say, a Jew is named Christopher, and only marginally less odd when a Christian is named Judith! But I suppose that's a matter of personal taste.

Not at all. Wouldn't occur to me to even check. It's not going to change my child.

Sorry I just saw the post where Claudia's meaning was explained

The meaning of the name was of really high importance when I chose dd's name - Sophia (wisdom)

What does Claudia mean save me looking it up?

I wouldn't NOT choose something like Claudia, just because of its meaning. That seems a bit superstitious to me.

I would choose a name if it was that of someone admirable, or a relative

I also quite like "virtue" names - like Hope, Faith and Mercy

I would think twice before choosing Grace though, in case the child concerned might turn out to be not very

I oculdn't tell you the meaning of either of my dds names (or any of their middlenames, either, come to that)

But I am sure I probably read them at some point when browsingname books for inspiration.

But I kind of gloss over that part. It's not what is important.

We need names that would work in 3 languages, and that was key for us.