To not understand why people call their baby...

[smellfunny]

Not to be goady, but I don't understand why people give their babies names with negative connotations or meanings. Examples from the top of my head being:

Cain (murdered his brother in Old Testament)
Hector (hector also being a synonym for bullying someone)
Tristan (this one is a bit contentious because it can either mean 'tumult' or correspond to 'sadness')

Is it just that people don't think about the meanings behind the names? Feel free to add more names to the list...

Bonus name: 'Claudia' coming from the Latin word for 'lame'. I gave this one a pass because it's so established and the connotation is generally unknown...

"Amelia isn't only a disease, it's also the name of the Victorian mass murderer who killed over 200 babies."

I had never heard of her. Fascinating reading about her though.

I suppose for me there's a distinction between names that actually mean something today in English, like Hector and Harry, where the meaning of the word is, to me, intrusive, and names that derive from a meaning in another language but don't have that meaning in English, like Claudia - there is no word in English meaning 'lame' that resembles Claudia so it's a point of historical interest, nothing more. There are also names like Cain and Adolf where the main referent is so negative or unattractive that you wouldn't choose them. And then there a whole host of other names that sound like English words that have negative meanings but don't actually mean them (things like Noah or Otis).

Choosing obscure names, especially using weird spellings, is just another form of attention seeking - the modern curse.

I'm also bemused by choices from Shakespeare which suggest the parents were unaware of the fate of the character concerned - I know more than one Ophelia (who goes mad with grief and drowns) and Cordelia (who is hanged)

Because not everyone reads Shakespeare. I have tried and haven't enjoyed reading his works, but have heard of many of the names. Names are just names to most people.

barbarian they mean tetra-amelia

Tarquin as well.... rapist and murderer

I very much doubt that any name is connotation free - most names could be associated with murders or other horrific incidents.

Indeed, the connotations with names that a person is likely to have are much more likely to be with famous people who achieved notoriety after the child is named, than any sort of claudia lame reference to what was once the literal meaning of a word possibly in another language.

Lilith is the one that gets me. It's apparently enjoying a moment of relative popularity.

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith

Damian - the shining
Ophelia - went insane & drowned herself.
Judas - not a loyal friend - will help your enemies
Maggie - Thatcher
Cecelia - blind
Emily (from Aemilia) meaning rival
Leah - tired or weary
Lilith- night monster
Lola - lady of sorrows (from Dolores)
Loralie - she whose singing lures men to destruction
Mallory - unfortunate or ill fated.
Molly - bitter
Portia - derived from pig
Calvin - bald
Cameron - crooked nose

Yikes there's loads of em - watch out baby-naming folks!
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Battleax, I presume Lilith is the name of Hoof's high-achieving daughter above and I think her rationale is common. Lilith seems to be becoming a feminist icon!

I really liked Emily for a girl but dismissed it as it means rival. We were going to use Joseph for a boy despite Joseph Stalin being a bit unpleasant.

Maybe some people just dont care OP? I have a nephew calles Tristan. and i quite like the name Cain. Almost named my son Lucifer because i love that name - and im catholic too. Only didnt name him Lucifer because mum pointed out a family members cat was the same name and i didnt want the link to the cat.

It's a lot of weight to put on a baby, though, isn't it? There's hundreds of years of mythology there.

My sons name is on that list never knew any of those connotations... I just really liked the name! Though incidentally it was the name of a character in one of my favourite films which sealed it for me!

A girl at my school was called Regina.
Why would you inflict that on your child?

But if you research those names LoniceraJaponica you would discover those connotations, so you don't have to have read Shakespeare to know

Wasn't Damien from The Omen?

Barbarian - here you go.
medical Definition of amelia. : congenital absence of one or more limbs.

I think popular culture is more of a reason not to name your child a certain name than ancient meanings.

I really like the name Lola but it makes me think of the Kinks song, and I also love Margaret but my dad, who still blames Thatcher for everything that's wrong in the country, would have struggled with a grandchild with that name.

I think it's Shane Ritchie whose daughter is called Lolita. I mean, seriously?!

Remember in Only Fools and Horses with Damian?

I actually really like Lilith. I think dark or tragic names can be beautiful too. I think Hector is a strong, masculine name.

bfgdreamtree
Names don't really mean anything at all.

To you maybe, though it is hard to respect that statement considering the great effort many people here put into choosing their children's names. To many people worldwide the meaning of names is very important, and they give their children names with positive, often inspirational meanings.

I'd be quite surprised if most people search for the meaning of baby names though Thumbwitch. So they'll look on line, or in a baby names book, see the meanings given there and go by those.

My personal hate is girls with 'son of' names, Madison and McKenzie spring to mind.

But hey, people can call their kids what they want. I know of a Charley, named that because she was conceived when her parents were on coke.