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Pansy is still used as an insult nowadays. Because of this, I automatically think 'wimp'. So yes, I find it unusable.

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Poppy has a similar feel. It's silly and frilly and not my style.

Yes.(m)

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When I was a kid, we called all the crybaby whiners "pansies", so I can't take it seriously.

I think it is considered whiny

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But I like it a lot. I first saw it as a name in Henry James' "The Portrait of a Lady" and I thought it was divine. So for me Pansy has a really classy Victorian vibe to it.

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Pansy Parkinson or whatever was Draco Malfoy's pig-faced hang-about groupie so I think it's got a bad rap with the younger generation too. Poor Pansy!

This message was edited 10/29/2010, 9:21 AM

Hmm

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Aw, I dunno, I really like pansies. Poppies are rubbish flowers that are all very flashy for a day or so, but don't last. Pansies are prettier, hardier, bloom even in the winter and don't have any drug associations. Plus, I feel Pansy as a name should be reclaimed from the anti-gay brigade. But! it is a bit silly and reminds me of pants. Tansy might be better.

Pansy in the UK is a "nancy boy" - to use a similar British term (politically incorrect, of course!)
Can't stand Pansy or Posey or Peony or Poppy!

Lovely flower, but not a fan as a name. I've met 1 and she seems like a nice person, but I just don't think I could use it.

"Pansy" is old-fashioned British slang for a homosexual. So, no way. I find it silly anyway. I find Poppy silly too, actually, but not as much as Pansy.

I used to like Pansy. I'd still like it if it wasn't basically a slang word for wimp...

I love and adore it! I think I prefer it as a nick name but I could love it either way. I work with a woman named Kitty-Joy and people take her seriousy.... I figure that is such a sweetie pie name that anything else should be fine!!!!

I like Pansy in theory; however, its use as a pejorative term for gay men (or any person deemed "weak") in the United States prevents me from fully appreciating it.

Dictionary.com says that "pansy" is a derogatory term for a homosexual man, and can also be used to describe weak and cowardly men. So yes, Pansy does give off a silly and wimpy vibe, more so than Poppy, which isn't a derogatory word that I know of.

Um, yes. It's a term for someone who is wimpy... I wouldn't use it.

From Merriam Webster dictionary:

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"Definition of PANSY
1
a garden plant (Viola wittrockiana) derived chiefly from the hybridization of the European Johnny-jump-up (Viola tricolor) with other wild violets
2
a) usually disparaging : a weak or effeminate man or boy
b) usually disparaging : a male homosexual"

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And from Urban dictionary:
"A sissy, fag, fairy, or one that is generally unmanly."

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So yeah, Pansy is wimpy since that's it's meaning.
It's too bad, since I like the flowers and it would make a nice name.

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I also love Poppy and maybe since I've met a few don't find it a bad name (they were all British). And there's an American actress Poppy Montgomery whom I love.

This message was edited 10/28/2010, 7:17 PM

I don't know if this is specific to where I live but "pansy" is actually a synonym for the word "wimpy". Not an actual official meaning but something that I hear people say a lot (like slang, I guess). Ex. "Wow, you're such a pansy!" To me it is completely unusable, for that reason.

Well... Kind of... It's a bit too cutesy for me, and it reminds me of an irritating character called Pansy on a TV show I used to watch.

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I have Poppy on my list as a middle name; I think it has a spark to it, it's kind of spunky. Nothing wrong with our popularity charts, we like Poppy :P

I prefer Poppy as a nickname (for Penelope), and I agree that it's a little too... "whimsical" as a full first name. However, for me it doesn't have associations nearly as negative as Pansy, which I believe is still an insult used today. For me, it would be like naming your kid Dandy... well, worse.