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Bethesda
I read a book set in ancient Rome and one of the characters was named Bethesda. I have totally fallen in love with the name, even though I'm more familiar with it being a place name (Bethesda, MD - a rather posh area at that) I still adore it - I love the sound, how ancient it is, everything about it. Thoughts? Similar names?
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I'm really really trying to separate it from the city in Maryland...but I just can't. It's no different than naming a child Baltimore to me.I don't tend to like the "beth" sound (except in Elizabeth), but there's always Bethany, Bethan, and Bethania. Belen is a huge guilty pleasure of mine -- it's the Spanish form of Bethlehem, which is similar to Bethesda.
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I don't like it. All I can think of is the town, maybe because I have family near there, and the fact that the area is "rather posh" makes the name seem down-market to me, like people who use luxury brand names like Lexus as baby names.
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All I think of is Maryland. I think the sound and ancient feeling is appealing, but I couldn't really use it IRL. I really like Bethany, and it has a similar feel for me. Too common?
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Isn't it a place in the Bible? Something to do with the Sea of Galilee? Or am I thinking of something else? It gives off very Biblical connotations to me. It's interesting but it doesn't work for me as a first name.
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That's BethsaidaIt made me think of it too.
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I've lately been thinkin Beth is super cute, so any Beth name I'd tend to like. I don't really like the sound of the -esda part, though. It makes it sound kind of dark and witchy. I also keep wanting to say Bethseda (like Bethsaida) when I look at it. I like that sound better, too.
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I love the name Beth! That's my favourite cousin's name.(Elizabeth really, but always called Beth).
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I think its nice. It's snappy, ancient, but still lends itself to a familiar nickname. Not bad!There is a video game company called Bethesda, makers of the very popular Elder Scroll games (which I'm playing right now, newest one's awesome).
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I feel so silly saying this but all I can think of is Bethesda Softworks, a game company. They've been rather popular lately with their The Elder Scrolls and Fallout series of games.Other than that I really like the name. The second and third syllables sounds really appeal to me.

This message was edited 1/4/2012, 2:40 AM

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It's also a place in North Wales, not remotely posh but right next to this:

The associations are good and it would be nice to see as a name, but the sound is a bit fancy for me. On the similar names front, I've always thought Bethel might work (Biblical place-name meaning 'house of God').
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I love Beth, but Bethesda is a bit too much for my tastes
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