Name meanings, do they bother you?

[rosesinhand]

Asking as i really love the name Sienna, however i don't think i really like how it means brown / red colour? (I love the sound of Sienna and how it looks written down.) Am i being silly to be unsure about it for that reason or should i just use it?

Use it :) if it meant something like whore or Satan I would say fair enough but it's a pretty name.

that's true, it's not the worst meaning out there!

The name is inspired by the beautiful Tuscan town in Italy ‘Siena’, which is also the Latin for ‘to be old’....so it’s not just a red colour.

I don’t go much for name meanings though, it’s a pretty name-there’s a reason that it’s so popular at the min.

I would take meaning I nto account when it's obvious or well known.

So for Sienna, I would think it a place name. Unless you're a water-colourist, the pigment isn't going to be the obvious assiciation

I paint so I know of the pigment Sienna but I separately think of Sienna as a beautiful name. I think you should like a name first and then look at the meaning. And like a pp has said.. You should only reconsider if the name has a truly awful meaning.

Someone on mumsnet once said they liked the name Sienna and their last name was Brown. So they were quickly put off the name once the realised it's meaning, which was fair enough 😂

As pp have said, depends on the meaning. I don’t like Ben for a first born as it means the opposite!

Doesn't Ben just mean son?

If it's Benjamin, it means beloved little son (trad name for younger/youngest son).

If it's Benedict it means 'blessed' and is fine for any

Most names don't really have meanings, despite what baby name websites/books would like you to believe. However, with a name that is an actual word, like Sienna, then I would take it into account, especially if there is a negative connotation. Like, I would never name a child Rue, for instance, because rue is an actual word meaning to regret.

Sienna's just a colour though. It might not be your favourite colour, but I wouldn't think that should matter too much, personally.

I don’t like Ben for a first born as it means the opposite!

Um, it literally just means 'son of'.

I had a name picked for Dd right up until the 39th week of pregnancy and I loved it. I loved it even before I was pregnant..
I had a wobble at the last minute and decided not to use it because of the meaning...weary, cow.
Every now and then I have a bit of name regret, not everyone goes to look up name meanings.
Red/brown is not terrible at all.

Some name meanings bother me i.e. Claudia which means "lame", Cecilia which means "blind", Delilah which means "weak", Julian which means "downy bearded", Calvin which means "bald" etc.

Something like Sienna wouldn't bother me though. It's not negative; it's just a bit of a nothing meaning.

Oh, and Portia, which I do love... but the meaning is "pig".

thank you everybody, think i will use it

Negative meanings and associations do bother me.

But I wouldn't worry about something like Sienna meaning red...

Go for it , it's a lovely name and the way it sounds is beautiful! xx

Benjamin is considered to be a last baby, but the name means Son of the Right Hand (Bin Yameen)

I liked Cameron years ago until I saw it meant 'crooked nose.' It did put me off.
But something like Sienna is not bad at all

I don't think brown/red is a bad association! I love the name Simonie but apparently one of its old meanings is 'stealing from the church'...

Meanings would put me off, but Sienna has a nice meaning. I also think of burnt sienna which is another lovely colour. And the place. So all round good meanings.

Sienna is an anglicisation of Siena, from the Italian city which also manufactured the colour back in the day. It's fine. I wouldn't care about meanings in names like Cecilia, Claudia, etc, which are long established, but I would care about names that are an actual word that is in the dictionary.

My name has a negative connotation (mentioned here) but nobody really cares, I guess most people don’t know. Mary (not mine) means “bitter” apparently, yet it has always been very popular! Probably historically due to the Biblical connection.