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Panteleimon
There's a girl in another class whose name was on a class sheet in the corridor today: Anna Pantelejmona. I guess it could be written Panteleimona as well. I've never met her but have a friend who's met her in the common area who swears she's "from some Slavic country, Bulgaria or something"... gah. Useful. Verry useful for my name creeping. I've always thought Bulgarian names worked like Russian names, and from the class table-sheet layout it could either be "First name: Anna, Middle name: Pantelejmona" or "First nameS: Anna Pantelejmona / Anna-Pantelejmona" and there isn't a patronymic or other given name in sight. Hmm. And to be honest, I've spend quite some time in Bulgaria and never come across Pantelejmona, which doesn't really help much, so I'm stumped.Anyway, what do you think? Gotta say, not a fan. It spices up Anna but they seem completely mismatched side by side. Completely put off by the Pant- bit in the name, and isn't Panteleimon Lyra's daemon in Pullman's Dark Materials series? I just think they don't flow and on a person Panteleimona especially looks weird and hyper religious and pretentious and just plain odd. And this is me saying it. Hm.Also, boy is it hard to say. That end 'a' throws me off completely. But what do you think? Do you agree, or do you think it's usable in any way? It's definitely interesting.A little thought is that Panteleimon would be adorable on a pet - a kitty or something. What do you think? I fought so hard to name our newest feline addition Pandemonium/Pandaemonium (and lost) because I thought Pan was the most adorable nickname ever and Pandemonium was delightfully rambunctious and long and easy to mispronounce and full of nicknames. Pan works for Panteleimon too, doesn't it? And I like the Pant bit for a pet, because embarrassing nicknames on cats are just amazing and I wouldn't be able to resist calling him Pant and Pansty and Knickers. Because I'm odd. But is it a bit wordy and pretentious, or too Philip-Pullman-series-fan-esque? I don't think it works on a person, but do you think it does - or do you think a cat could pull it off just as well?Many thanks :D
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Anna is the blandest name on earth so I don't really see the combo as mismatched because Anna, being as bland as it is, goes pretty much with any name. Anyway, I think Pantelejmona is super cool. I really like the sound and look of it. Not really a fan of Panteleimon, it kind of ruins the coolness of Pantelejmona, unless it's for a boy, then I like it. I think I still prefer it spelt Pantelejmon though.
ETA: Okey, I thought you suggested Panteleimon for a girl as an alternative to Pantelejmona. I guess you didn't.

This message was edited 5/31/2011, 11:59 AM

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Anna Pantelejmona is fantastic, I love it. Interesting find!
Apparently Sveti Pantelejmon (St. Panteleimon) is an important monastery in Macedonia. So maybe she's Macedonian.
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I think Macedonia seems like a likely fit, tbh. I wouldn't call it a Slavic country, but it's near Bulgaria and my friend's easily confused, I guess. Unless I end up meeting her like my friend did, and think up a tactful way to say "So, where are you from?" I guess I'll never know, haha. It's not my style, but is interesting, no? Never heard of it before so thought I might share.

This message was edited 5/31/2011, 11:52 AM

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Actually Macedonia is a Slavic country and Macedonian is a South Slavic language (very close to Bulgarian actually).
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Hmmm, for some reason I once got told off by an academic for calling Macedonia a Slavic country, so I guess it's all relative. It's always stuck in my head that I shouldn't call that part of the world Slavic and definitely not Eastern European, but I guess he was just snobbish about his geography. Not really the point, though.
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I have a male and a female lavender corn snake, the male is Pantalaimon (how its spelled in the books) and the female is Lyra :P
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It's nice, though I prefer Pantaleon.

This message was edited 5/31/2011, 11:13 AM

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One of the advantages to being clueless about popculture is not minding the reference to Pullman's Dark Materials series. I've never heard of the series, let alone the character. So my laziness comes in handy yet again.When I read your post the name Pantaleon kept going through my head. I kept wondering if that was the surname of an annoying guy I went through school with. No, that was slightly different. It wasn't until I read New_Chloe's comment that the penny dropped.Now I began to see the up-side of Panteleimon / Panteleimona. I have a thing for A and P names together. So Anna Panteleimona starts out with a plus in my book. I'd prefer Anna Pantaleona though. That "m" in Panteleimona is making me think of lemons. Anna Pantaleona looks cleaner to my eyes. The "pant" thing isn't bothering me. It makes me think of the Parthenon, which makes little sense. But it helps me keep it Greek and cool. Yes. Anna Pantaleona (assuming that's a legit form of Pantaleon) is really growing on me. Thanks for the new names on my long list. :-)

This message was edited 5/31/2011, 11:09 AM

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I actually think it's really neat. Anna is one of those not so exciting names that I will like better if paired with something really interesting. Probably because I'm not a big Anna fan to start with. So I've never encountered Panteleimon before, and I love the look and meaning of it. I have heard of Panteleon, though. It doesn't seem too difficult to me when you actually look at it, but it definitely catches your eye. And I've never read the Dark Materlials series (although think we have it because DH read them), so I don't have that association.Panteleimon would be amazing on a kitty, I agree.
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I love itIt's totally beautiful. Also I adore the meaning of Panteleimon, so maybe I'm biased. It's a mouthful to be sure, but a really nice mouthful.I think Panteleimon would be ok on a pet. Extremely Pullman-esque, but if you like him, then it's all good.
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Speaking of pets, isn't this (or similar) the name of the girl's daemon in 'the Golden Compass'?
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Sorry, can't be bothered to log in. But yah, which was one of my problems with using it as a pet name in that it seems that people are going to automatically think any theoretical kitty is named after that and possibly go 'yeah, you know that that's a pet cat, not your familiar or something, right? *cough*' or something... I dunno...
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Ah. (ETA)I wondered why Panteleon kept running through my head. I thought it was the surname of someone that I had met in the past. Thanks for clearing that up.So Panteleimon makes more sense now. I love the meaning. It flows well with Anna (what doesn't?). But the masculine thing is tugging at me. (ETA: Strike that. I reread the OP and see that it was Anna Pantelejmona. Much better.)

This message was edited 5/31/2011, 10:59 AM

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I think the thing that makes it feel mismatched to me is that it feels like it was chosen as something to add to Anna to make it more than just Anna (you know, like Anna + Name or Maria + Name) and they chose something religious and obscure and a little OTT. Or they liked Pantelejmona, thought it a little out there and added Anna in front to make it seem more normal. I guess it's a feeling I get more if it's seen as a double name rather than name and middle name and can't quite place it. I don't know the girl or the family, so I guess I should be less uppity.The Pullman reference is a trilogy of books he wrote called His Dark Materials. It sticks in my mind as the first place I came across the name Panteleimon, which can't have helped matters, haha.
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