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HelpRe: Nausicaä
in reply to a message by Theodora'sMommy
I actually do value tasteful creativity with names (modified spellings and new inventions) higher than the ability to scour for established rarities (maybe a skill, but less a talent). An example would be Tolkien, who was a brilliant inventor with names. It is difficult not to be tacky, but the ability to create a tasteful non-derivative name is something I view as a celestial gift.
Expressing my opinion toward a name or naming tendency should not be taken as me looking down on someone. If I found someone truly abhorrent, I would not bother replying to their threads at all.
Expressing my opinion toward a name or naming tendency should not be taken as me looking down on someone. If I found someone truly abhorrent, I would not bother replying to their threads at all.
This message was edited 1/25/2018, 7:04 AM
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Replies
Pardon everyone's confusion, but using descriptive words like tiresome, tedious, unimaginative and pedestrian lead the average reader to assume you are looking down on the name choice, or more specifically your assumed method of arriving at that name choice.
That is how I read it - but I am glad to hear you didn't mean it that way.
I would not be the first one to like Nausicaä, but I do think that we (as name nerds) can become so versed in naming, trends and etymologies that we put a little too much thought into what people "must" have been trying to do when they chose a name.
To express my own opinion - I don't think that "scouring" is a negative in any way when it comes to naming. It shows effort and deliberation. It is much preferable to indifference or top tens.
As a side note, I totally agree with you on people like Tolkien, who can come up with new names (Miriel is a favorite, but I also love Muriel and Mirielle... which may have some connection). This is probably why Nameberry holds a contest every year to see if anyone can submit a great "new" name.
That is how I read it - but I am glad to hear you didn't mean it that way.
I would not be the first one to like Nausicaä, but I do think that we (as name nerds) can become so versed in naming, trends and etymologies that we put a little too much thought into what people "must" have been trying to do when they chose a name.
To express my own opinion - I don't think that "scouring" is a negative in any way when it comes to naming. It shows effort and deliberation. It is much preferable to indifference or top tens.
As a side note, I totally agree with you on people like Tolkien, who can come up with new names (Miriel is a favorite, but I also love Muriel and Mirielle... which may have some connection). This is probably why Nameberry holds a contest every year to see if anyone can submit a great "new" name.
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Well, for we lowly ungifted ;) a name’s history can have incredible value, and using it unaltered can imbue it with a different sense of fondness than the fondness you feel when you create one yourself. So just like there’s no need to scorn a bride who buys her own veil, there’s no need to scorn a bride who chooses to use an heirloom.
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On variant spellings ; name invention
The thing about names is that they are subjective. There are people who find invented / creatively spelled names like Nevaeh, Aidynne, and Daenerys nice, even though they’re completely against my tastes (and apparently those of most posters here). The people who like names like that aren’t *wrong*, I just have a different perspective than they do.
I do think simply inventing names requires linguistic talent that the average person may not have (not everyone is Tolkien), and variant spellings are sometimes problems for the bearer (spoken from experience!), so caution when doing this would be a good thing here.
The thing about names is that they are subjective. There are people who find invented / creatively spelled names like Nevaeh, Aidynne, and Daenerys nice, even though they’re completely against my tastes (and apparently those of most posters here). The people who like names like that aren’t *wrong*, I just have a different perspective than they do.
I do think simply inventing names requires linguistic talent that the average person may not have (not everyone is Tolkien), and variant spellings are sometimes problems for the bearer (spoken from experience!), so caution when doing this would be a good thing here.
This message was edited 1/25/2018, 7:49 AM
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Plus - we forget that the average person out there is not totally sure what is a "natural" spelling and what is a variant or kre8tive one.
Tons of people assume my DD, Clarisse, is a creative spelling... albeit a simple one.
Tons of people assume my DD, Clarisse, is a creative spelling... albeit a simple one.
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