Nox for a boy

[misslucy92]

My DH and I love Nox for a boy. Is it usable? Please be honest, I won’t be offended.

It means ‚night‘ and we got it from a book.

My concern is that people may spell it Knox or that it’s too unusual.

Sister is called Ruby.

Nox should be a middle name really.

You can't give one child a lovely name like Ruby and then name the next one Nox. They don't go together at all. How about Max?

Thanks, I appreciate your long answer.

But it’s not slang for a drug, that was a mistake someone here made and a lot of people repeated. The slang is nos.

It sounds identical to Knox so to me the Iris and Aurora comparison doesn’t work. Most people don’t know much about mythology and will assume a boy from the sound.

It isn’t a name in Harry Potter but a spell and one I don’t remember even though I read the books several times.

I appreciate your input as it was interesting to think about these issues but to me they are not really everyday problems but things that came up when people put it into google and then repeated without checking (which is why it was falsely repeated over and over that it is slang for a drug).

Max is cute but I know so many. I love Ruby and don’t regret it at all but I am upset that we are meeting so many as she is usually Ruby Surname.

No, it's definitely Nox around here.

Thanks for long answer.

Nox and Knox are not the same, however. (Nor are 'see' and sea' etc etc - we understand words in part from their context). I even think they sound slightly different. 'Knox' sounds more breathy to begin with - your mouth makes a wider shape to say the 'k'and that affects the sound of the word.
You are right; in Harry Potter, Nox is the name of a spell, rather than a person. It's still a name (noun).

But more concerning than these, at school, children learn about myths and legends. There are also many children's books about them, for private reading. Nox (on the whole an unpleasant, secretive, threatening character, who brought death as well as sleep) is sometimes described in them.

Children also learn about word origins. Perhaps it might not be much fun for a boy called Nox to be in a class where a teacher was explaining that the word 'nocturnal' (owls, bats etc) comes from the name of a Roman goddess.

All about Nyx (called Nox by the Romans) here:
www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Nyx.html

As others have said, Nox IS used as drug slang.

But as always, your baby, your choice. Genuinely, best wishes.

From my experience children don’t learn much about mythology and even if they did she is usually called Nyx in English so a Nox wouldn’t come up.

I mean how would a Claudia feel if she found out the meaning of her name in Latin class? I think it’s a non-issue because it won‘t play a part in his everyday life. Persephone‘s story in mythology wasn’t great and Juno’s was terrible yet people use these names.

I mean I appreciate all the input but I think my main concern is that people will spell it Knox or associate it with Brad Pitt whom I dislike.

To me Knox and Nox sound identical.

Not a fan of the "Nox" spelling, I personally much prefer "Knox", but I do like the name itself

Nitrous oxide ?

Makes me think or Noz for nitrous oxide too, sorry

It's better with the K

As an alternative, would you consider Noctis? It means "Of Night" in Latin.

(However, it is used as the name of a main character in a Final Fantasy jRPG video game, if that matters to you.)

Let me guess... that book was Harry Potter? In the very least, that is what everyone else will think

Nope. Nitric oxide and nitrogen dioxide.

I'm not sure we can dissuade the OP from this unfortunate choice but maybe at least we can learn some chemistry.

No, it wasn’t.

I think misspelling it as Knox should be the least of your concerns quite honestly. Though why ask opinions if you're just going to get defensive.

Sorry, don’t like it.

Giving an opinion and being snarky or rude are not really the same thing.

Children do learn about myths.
Myths (reading and writing about) are part of England's statutory National Curriculum Key Stage 2 English. Just look at this quick crib from the BBC, for example: www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zx339j6

Children learn that some Latin names originated as nicknames or as distinguishing names - Claudia is indeed one of them. So are (in Scotland) names of famous heroes such as Rob Roy (= Red-Haired Robert). But they also learn about famous real people with names such as Claudia. ( Some heroic ohbabynames.com/all-baby-names/claudia/ , some less so: ancientlinks.blogspot.com/2010/11/ancient-roman-women-claudia-octavia.html )
The point being that there have been and still are many real-life people called Claudia - up to and including glam 20th cent actress Claudia Cardinale and early 21st cent supermodel Claudia Schiffer. And they have been female.

So far as I know, there are NO real-life boys, past or present, called Nox or Nyx for any child to compare with. So the comparison with Claudia does not really work.

Anyone who has studied classics or ancient history or or myths and legends or linguistics or a awful lot of English literature - or even operas! - will know about Nox/Nyx and her horse and her chariot. See, for example, here:
musicspoke.com/downloads/o-lente-lente-curite-noctis-equi/
['noctis' is a form of the word nox meaning 'belonging to' or, simply 'of'. Noctis equi = night's horses.] Ancient myths told how Nox/Nyx?Night drove her chariot across the sky; until she had passed, dawn could not appear.

Myths and legends are also extensively used by the creators of online games. The word Nox has been somewhat randomly used, to suggest danger and theat.
For example:
playclassic.games/games/role-playing-windows-games-online/nox/
and
www.gamingonlinux.com/2022/06/westwood-classic-rpg-nox-lives-on-with-the-opennox-game-engine/

Finally - and I really don't want to be rude - but if I were a child just perhaps I'd hate to be called something that suggested my parents did not understand what my name meant when they gave it to me. It's been fine for Cruz Beckham, because when his parents gave him a female name they had the money and the fame to help him face it out. But most of us don't have those resources.

No. She is Nyx in Greek mythology. The Roman counterpart (or equivalent) is Nox. Still female. She isn’t called Nyx in English. If someone is referring the Roman Goddess of Night as Nyx, they are wrong. Not just saying the name in English.

My kids learned about Rome in school in the last few years. Including The Roman Pantheon.

She is called Nyx in English. Nox is rarely used.

Nox can also be used as a spelling alternative to Knox.

I know what the name means. I also know about mythology. But most people won’t without looking it up and even if they’d look it up they’ll usually find her name as Nyx.

The usage of names changes. Julian was a popular girls name in the Middle Ages and so was Christian. It’s not like I don’t know about mythology or different languages, I simply don’t see an issue with using a name that sounds identical to a known boys name (Knox) just because it is also a name of Nyx which isn’t even used in English most of the time.

I find it quite sad that you feel the need to belittle others just because they want a more unusual name. We love our daughter’s name, Ruby, but she is never just Ruby, always Ruby Surname so we want something less common. Your last paragraph speaks volumes and and feels very judgmental and intolerant so I’d rather not continue a conversation with you so won’t be replying further. But thanks for your input.

How is she not called Nyx in English?

www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100242951

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nyx

www.theoi.com/Protogenos/Nyx.html

So the Oxford Uni‘s dictionary is wrong?

@Itsthewhitehat

Ah sorry, I misunderstood. Yes, true, she is Nox. But given that she doesn’t even have her own wiki entry and when you google ‚Nox Goddess‘ you get results for Nyx instead I somehow doubt that her existence will be a problem for a boy called Nox.

Nope. Nyx is the GREEK goddess.

Nox is Roman.

Nyx isn’t the English name for Nox.

Can you not read the links you provided? The Oxford dictionary one clearly says Greek mythology 🙄.

I already apologised but I guess kindness and compassion or proper discussions aren’t really valued here.