Message: "Mel" - Behind the Name

Mel

by Atlanta (joannabonarro)

3/15/2011, 1:45 PM

I really hated this name at first but now I warming up to it. I'm fine with it for a boy or a girl, though for a girl it would fit better on a tomboy IMO. Not as a given name but as a nickname to a Melvin or a Melissa. I hate the name Melissa (not to anyone's offense) and if that was my name I would have to go by Mel.

#Mel

Replies

- Marie (Tawnee)

3/18/2011, 10:19 AM

I like Melanie with the nickname Mel.

- Speranza

3/16/2011, 6:39 AM

I like it as a given name for a boy since it is a standalone name here. I don't like Melvin at all. I used to know a Mel, all his brothers had Irish names. I like Maeliosa too though I do appreciate it looks like a girl's name to non-Irish speakers. I like Melissa too.

- telfalathiel

3/15/2011, 9:10 PM

My name is Melissa and my mom calls me Mel, though nobody else does. I also know a Melody who goes by Mel. I'm really pretty indifferent to it.

- Orsino (bananarama)

3/15/2011, 2:48 PM

Mel is okay, but I don't like it. It makes me think of Mel Gibson. In his case, it's not short for anything. Apparently some people think his name is short for Melvin, but it's not.

- Evangeline Rose (evangelinerose)

3/15/2011, 2:25 PM

I'm a Melissa who goes by Mel, no offense taken!

I'm not a fan of Mel really, it just happens to be what everyone shortens Melissa to. I prefer to go by my full name as I find 'Mel' a bit boring and bland, and know a lot of people who go by it.

- Bear +4

3/15/2011, 2:18 PM

Actually . . .

. . . Mel can stand on its own. According to my Irish cousin, Mel was an ancient Irish (male) saint. She named one of her sons Mel, not short for anything. So that's an option if you'd like.

Personally, I love the sound of it because it means "honey" in Russian (and Greek too, I think.) I especially love it as a nn for Melanie and Imelda.

- Amara L. (guest)

3/16/2011, 3:29 AM

It doesn't mean honey in Russian! 'Mel' means chalk, the word you are thinking of is 'med' which does indeed mean honey. Where do you think the word 'medved' ' comes from?

I think Mel's a really nice name, but prefer it as a nickname rather than a stand alone name, and on girls rather than boys.

- Atlanta (joannabonarro) +2

3/15/2011, 2:25 PM

I know but...

I like having a full name as your legal name and having a nickname based on that. That's just my opinion.

- beethoven (blaaarg)

3/16/2011, 10:32 AM

She was saying that Mel is actually a full name, like John or Paul or whatever.

- Bear

3/15/2011, 2:55 PM

Absolutely. Me too. I just wanted to let you (or anyone else reading) that there was another option. :-)

- Chels

3/15/2011, 1:48 PM

I have a bad association to a male Mel growing up. I like the name Melissa, but the Melissa's that I have known have never gone by Mel, they either preferred Missy or Lyssa or Lissa, so I prefer that abbreviation of the name too. For Melanie I can see it working though.

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