Would the meaning of a name put you off if you otherwise liked it?

[mrsgboring]

We are thinking quite seriously about the name Edmund, but a bit dismayed it means "Guardian of Riches" which isn't quite our Grauniad-reading woolly lefty liberal cup of tea. Would this put you off?

I'm thinking people don't necessarily know names' meanings anyway - and DH's name means "warlike" which is way worse but at the same time, it's a fly in the ointment.....

Usual proviso - if by any chance you know me IRL, our name choices are top secret, please keep it to yourself.

My neighbour's cat is called Jezebel. It suits her

Has she been neutered?

Edam I was on another forum where the mum said she'd chosen Cain because she wanted "something from the Bible"

LuluBal you are just trying to wind me up now aren't you? Narnia films. Arghgh.

sorry

[LuLuBai skulks off into a corner to consider the error of her ways]

To be honest I think most of our generation read the books and there aren't loads of Edmunds running around are there. Quite a few Lucys but there always were. And practically no-one calls their kids Susan or Peter.

When I was younger I liked the name Caspian. Thought I would like a son called Caspian. Couldn't do it now though.

Meanings - not a problem (DD is, after all, NOT a Christmas baby ). Associations - I would be more wary of. But not with Edmund, the Blackadder connotation is a positive benefit (less so Baldrick, although it's a good name for a lovely little sausage).

riches could also be taken metaphorically- riches like love, wisdom, happiness etc etc

Lulubai sorry I've been mistyping your name - on my screen your i has looked like an l (I squinted at it for ages)

You are right about our generation having read the books. I also love the name Peter, but our surname ends in -er so it would almost rhyme and sound silly.

Dontkillmebaby, perhaps I should go for Baldrick as a middle name?

we have a Peter! and SO many people have complimented us on choosing a less popular yet still "sensible" and strong sounding name.

Unfortunately any name with a P was out because the combination of first initial and surname looks very similar to another word for 'willy'!

My daughter is called Cecily- we get all kinds of reactions from "What a beautiful name!" to "Oh, that's......interesting!" It means blind, which is not so great...can you tell I never looked at a single names book?

No it doesnt bother me at all, my name is Claudine and as lynettescavo says its meaning is pretty dire but i like it and thats what matters so when naming my DD and DS i just ignored the meanings and went with what i liked.

I think this stuff about names having meanings is just a lot of nonsense. The names may derive from words in other languages that have a certain meaning, but it doesn't mean that is the meaning of the word. Obviously the name Claire is connected iwth clair (light) but that's not the same as saying Claire means light.
The Latin for blind is caeci, which is clearly a totally different word to Cecily, even if there is a derivation there.

A really negative meaning or association would put me off, yes. I love the name Rebecca, but it means 'noose' which put me off.

DD is called Sophia, which means wisdom. I must admit that the meaning of the name was an important consideration when I was choosing her name.

DP has a friend of a friend who called her daughter Calpurnia (after Caesar's wife in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, apparently). It means prostitute. Not something I would name my daughter! (though imo Calpurnia is euphonically attractive)

I am torn on this! Ds1 name means God has heard, love it! Ds2 name means 2nd born son, little brother or ditch digger, we went with it and chose to ignore the latter meaning but honestly if it only meant ditch digger I just wouldn't have called him that. Feel rather stupid admitting that though.
Edmund is lovely and if you love it go with it.

I think Edmund is a great name, agree that riches doesn't have to mean money.

I would really like to use the names Jacob and Mara, but haven't because they mean, repectively, "deceiver" and "bitter". I do think name meanings are important.

Haven't read previous replies. Wouldn't bother me AT ALL.
Who is to say 'riches' has a nasty money meaning anyway? When someone has a 'rich and full life' it has little to do with their bank balance.
I love the name Edmund. I associate it with the turkish-loving grumpy sod in the Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe however he absolutely came good in the end!

I think Edmund is great and the meaning stuff is all a bit dodgy, IMO. I mean can you actually split it into Old English/Anglo Saxon/whatever specific words that mean Guardian of Riches? Mund is more likely to have come from Mundus - Latin for the World.

I was put off using Cassandra for DD - she was a prophetess of doom