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Baby names

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

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Original poster

"a Rose by any other name..." does the meaning matter?

31 replies

Bakingtins · 31/10/2013 08:05

How much does the meaning of a name matter to you? Would you avoid a name you liked the sound of because of it's meaning? Conversely, would you select a name short list purely based on the meaning?

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AntoinetteCosway · 31/10/2013 08:07

I wouldn't want a name that meant 'evil' or 'psychopath' or anything similar but I don't mind particularly otherwise. Our daughter's full name means champion javelin thrower. Oh yes

Original poster

Bakingtins · 31/10/2013 08:10

I'm going to have to google those now Antoinette! And is she good at athletics?

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Hassled · 31/10/2013 08:11

Very few people know the meanings of names and I think frequently the meanings have just been made up somewhere along the line. So no, I don't think meanings matter.

I think there is some value in thinking about the "original" of a name, though. I liked the name Cassandra, for example, but abandoned it when I realised the original was a prophetess of doom.

JumpingJackSprat · 31/10/2013 08:12

I wouldn't be put off. My favorite girls name is Claudia which is a gorgeous name with a crap meaning. This will only matter when she is 12 and looking up the meanings of names with her friends. A moments possible disappointment and then she will get on with her life. Though to hear some people on mumsnet is the worst possible thing to give your child a name that doesn't mean sweetness and light.

notanyanymore · 31/10/2013 08:14

It depends on the 'meaning', for example 'Lucifer' - NO! But less obvious ones wouldn't bother me.

GrandstandingBlueTit · 31/10/2013 08:20

No, it doesn't matter, unless you're very, very, irrationally 'woo', in which case the meaning of your offspring's name is the least of your worries.

DS goes to Kindy with a Cassandra. The last time I looked, she wasn't a prophetess of doom.

Sorry, I feel like I'm taking the piss massively. I'm not, honestly. But, well, really...!

Seriously - the meaning of a name has zero bearing on your child. And if the name you're considering is Claudia, then definitely don't let the meaning put you off. It's a gorgeous name. Nobody thinks Claudia Schiffer is lame, right? Nor the screeds of other women in Germany with the name.

LeMousquetaireAnonyme · 31/10/2013 08:26

For me it does matter, when you travel a lot most cultures will ask you your name is and what it means.

If you stay in the UK/France it is less important I guess.

I won't use Caroline, Amelie, Martin, Cassandra, Pandora, Kali....? Nothing to do with sweetness and light, I would use a name with a "bad" meaning if I could relate it to a fantastic person that any DC would be proud of as a model (unless the meaning is dedicated to war in any way or Amelie/a as I knew the condition before the name).

I know a fantastic Claudia, I would used it if I didn't have names I prefer to use 1st.

AntoinetteCosway · 31/10/2013 08:27

Ha! You might not be able to figure out the javelin thrower bit, and it's our surname so I can't tell you, but the champion (/warrior) bit is fairly easy. No idea if she's good at athletics as she's only 2, but she does like dancing, running, jumping and climbing, so maybe she'll escape her crap-at-PE-genes and live up to her name instead!

Meringue33 · 31/10/2013 08:27

I know a baby Ophelia!!!!

17leftfeet · 31/10/2013 08:27

I didn't even consider the meaning of my children's names

I knew dd1's as it has the same origin as my name but that didn't influence the choice and they sound totally different

Dd2's I still don't know, seems to have about 4 meanings depending on which website you look on

My consideration was
Do I like the name?
Will it go with the surname?
Are there any others in the close family with the same name?

Although the last one didn't seem to bother my cousin who has called his dd the same first and middle name as my dd2

GrandstandingBlueTit · 31/10/2013 08:32

I've travelled a lot (and I'm not in the UK or France, either) and at the grand old age of 39 I have never been asked what my name means.

VisualiseAHorse · 31/10/2013 08:32

But Lucifer means "bringer of light", its a lovely name when you look ats it's meaning!

VisualiseAHorse · 31/10/2013 08:33

I do look at the meaning of names. My boy's is "son of huge waves". Just lovely!

I have been asked many times what the meaning of my names is, but it is an unusual name.

vikinglights · 31/10/2013 08:37

well
dd1's name means godess of love - wise
dd2's name means beautiful thunder - frenchwomen .......
ds's name means nobleman - bringer of liberty

looks like dd2 got a slightly bum deal (and she's not french....)

GrandstandingBlueTit · 31/10/2013 08:40

My name means 'devoted to God'.

Pffft.

Original poster

Bakingtins · 31/10/2013 08:42

I'm sufficiently rational not to expect to pick out the Claudia in the crowd from her limp, thanks
The question is partly inspired by the 'redemption' thread. I think it can be a positive thing to look for names with an inspiring or significant meaning. Just interested in whether others consider meaning or go purely on the sound of a name.
I'd definitely avoid a name with obvious negative associations with a historical figure e.g. Lucifer, Adolph

OP posts:

MrsGSR · 31/10/2013 08:42

I've also travelled a lot and don't remember ever being asked the meaning of my name.

I love the name 'Leah', it means weary or tired which did put me off at first. If you do enough googling you can usually find alternative meanings though, Leah can also mean delicate or graceful which sounds nicer!

GrandstandingBlueTit · 31/10/2013 08:44

Negative associations - such as Adolph - are another matter entirely.

I probably wouldn't name a DD Myra, for example.

This is different from the actual meaning of a name, as if by bestowing the name, you also bestow the meaning. You don't, so why worry about it?

LeMousquetaireAnonyme · 31/10/2013 09:02

Most african and east asian cultures will ask you because it is important to them.

VisualiseAHorse · 31/10/2013 09:27

Sorry, my sons name means 'son of THE waves" not Huge waves. Bloody autocorrect.

LeMousquetaireAnonyme · 31/10/2013 09:54

VIS That is a great name.

I will rephrased my 1st post:
As I have been asked a lot what my very normal european name means by people of different cultures, meaning is important to me.
If I had staid in the UK or France, I probably wouldn't even have thought about it and just picked names that I liked; the DDs would have been Caroline and Emilie (DD1 nearly was but she didn't looked like one ).

I wanted "gust of wind" for DD2 but DH vetoed it, he chose "hope" instead, if the meaning had been "little poo" I would have vetoed him, I am fine with "hope" IYSWIM.

As it is I get asked a lot in the UK what DD1's name means, it is the french version of a common UK name so not too out there. I would guess because people like it (that is what they tell me anyway) and are curious.

When I worked in Japan, I was constantly asked why my name means too, because it translate to something awful in Japanese like "beef tongue" or "dribbling meat" and they really hoped my parents weren't so cruel (and to explain the sniggering when I introduced myself).

Also in France "une cassandre": "somebody who predict doom and who is never believed" is in the common vocabulary so you wouldn't meet a lot of them there. So there is some "regional" reasons why some people wouldn't used some names.

In short do what you want, everybody have different equally valid reasons to choose a name.
It would be very sad if we were all called Adam and Eve...

TheNunsOfGavarone · 31/10/2013 11:20

Interesting thread.

Candida is a lovely name but if I were naming a child I'd find the thrush association too strong. I googled it a moment ago and there is nothing about its use as a name in the first page of results. Apparently the original meaning of Candida was "white" which had connotations of purity and salvation with early Christians. Pity it's also the colour of a yeast infection!

We had an elderly distant cousin whose first name was Alura. She never used it, preferring a nickname. Family legend had it that her father,who was stationed in Malta at the time of her birth, was disappointed that she wasn't a boy and insisted on her being named Alura, Maltese for "I don't care". That's the story anyway but she was on my mind lately and I went on Google translate. "I don't care" is actually "i ma 'kura" in Maltese. Either the old boy got his Maltese wrong or he's been maligned. Alura is still a pretty awful name however it came about.

A pity about Lucifer. Such an amazing name.

Original poster

Bakingtins · 03/11/2013 06:11

nunsofgavarone is quite a name in itself!
I have Nigerian friends and in their culture names seem to be picked primarily for the meaning rather than because they like the name. When I meet their friends they will often ask what my children's names mean, as part of a getting to know you conversation.
Sis is married to a Japanese man and again names are important in their culture. Her children have a western first name that can be written in Japanese characters (narrowed down the list considerably) and a Japanese middle name chosen primarily for the meaning. They also tried to use characters that appear in family names though the meaning changes dependent on what other characters you put them with

OP posts:

Geckos48 · 03/11/2013 06:42

I wouldn't call a child chlamydia though it does roll off the tongue rather well.

MyNameIsSuz · 03/11/2013 06:43

I don't really consider it important, because who ever knows the meaning of someone else's name? It's not something they'd be judged on. DS's name means 'free man', which is nice but didn't impact on our decision. Top of my girls list for next time is Cecilia, which apparently means both musical and 'little blind one' which isn't very nice but still fairly apt given how short sighted everyone in my family is!

I do agree with the previous poster who said about really strong associations, though, but I think that's less to do with meaning.

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