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HelpDream
So putzing around bored on a rainy Sunday while waiting to go grocery shopping (what a thrill), I noticed that Dream for a girl went from not being in the top thousand in 2016 to #828 in 2017.
WDYTO Dream for a girl?
WDYTO Dream for a girl?
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I don't mind the meaning, but as a word name it's kind of corny.
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I much prefer Dreama.
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Ah, I thought maybe you were going to share names from a dream. Anyway, Dream is cheesy and stripperish.
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I don't think I'd have liked being named Dream. Dreams are by nature ephemeral and when they 'come true' they usually aren't a bit like what one expected. OK, the same applies to babies! But if there must be word names, I'd like them to be more solid and three-dimensional.
I also find the current fashion for saying "Follow your dream - if you want to be/do/get something, then you will" actually counterproductive. It isn't true that someone who is barely capable of finishing high school can become a marine biologist. It isn't true that spending five hours a day in the pool will get a relatively untalented person into the Olympic swimming squad. And it isn't fair to deceive them, because in a contest between dream and reality, reality wins every time.
I also find the current fashion for saying "Follow your dream - if you want to be/do/get something, then you will" actually counterproductive. It isn't true that someone who is barely capable of finishing high school can become a marine biologist. It isn't true that spending five hours a day in the pool will get a relatively untalented person into the Olympic swimming squad. And it isn't fair to deceive them, because in a contest between dream and reality, reality wins every time.
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I soooo agree with your second paragraph.
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It seems to be a common name meaning, so I don't necessarily find it illogical as a name.
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I don't like it. It sounds like a random word name, but also too sweet and juvenile, and also a bit Southern in a obnoxious way. Like Sugar or Honey. It might also lead to jokes regarding the name eventually.
This message was edited 3/3/2019, 9:00 PM
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That said, I have often wondered if Dreama is actually some old contraction of Angadrisma, perhaps a Cajun contraction of Angedreme that found its way into West Virginia? I have met Cajuns with this name too.
This message was edited 3/4/2019, 11:10 AM
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That seems unlikely to me. It reminds me of Eartha. I'd guess people just felt like adding a feminine suffix to a word because that made it seem more namey to them.
Drema is interesting, though.
Drema is interesting, though.
This message was edited 3/4/2019, 11:46 AM
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Why would it seem unlikely when Angedreme was a pretty common name among the early French settlers? Twyla has similar origins, you would never guess it comes from Etoile.
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It's interesting that they coincide, and it might have been an influence, like I would think Bertha was an influence on Eartha, but I suspect it was not the primary reason Dreama would have been used in the central/southern Appalachians in the 1900s, considering word names were not that unusual there. I could see people thinking: Dream is a pretty word/concept, but maybe it'd mark me as low class, while adding an A would make it look even prettier, fancier, more official; and once they thought that, maybe it sounded familiar to them because of a rare preexisting name. Or it could be a heavily accented version of Dreamer, idk.
That is just my impression, having lived in that area most of my life.
It's possible it was from Angedreme, and people didn't know how to spell it or decided Dreama was more intuitive. I don't think it can be proved one way or the other.
That is just my impression, having lived in that area most of my life.
It's possible it was from Angedreme, and people didn't know how to spell it or decided Dreama was more intuitive. I don't think it can be proved one way or the other.
This message was edited 3/4/2019, 7:40 PM
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I agree, you are right. There is probably more than one reason. Dreama also occurs among Cajuns. I have no doubt that maybe in the Appalachian case they were inspired by Dream.
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Dreama has always been a gp of mine. I quite like it.
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I actually like it as a gp, but for some reason I like Dreama better.
I wonder what pushed this into the top 1000?
I wonder what pushed this into the top 1000?
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I didn't know that but that makes perfect sense why it suddenly appeared.
No, I haven't noticed the 1-syllable thing, but doesn't explain Stormi and there is also the newborn Chicago.
No, I haven't noticed the 1-syllable thing, but doesn't explain Stormi and there is also the newborn Chicago.
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Hi !!!
I think that's a nice name!
Wordy names are beautiful if they carry a good meaning because they are immediate so they are timeless in my opinion.
I think that's a nice name!
Wordy names are beautiful if they carry a good meaning because they are immediate so they are timeless in my opinion.
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I agree. I have a soft spot for word name.
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It seems wistful to me...sad, ephemeral, nostalgic, soft...like Rainbow + Misty, and I read some idealistic American patriotism into it, kinda like Liberty.
I wonder if people would ever call her Dreamsicle; that'd be annoying.
I think it's not terrible and makes an interesting MN, but I'd like the similar words Reverie or Imagine more as names. Or Hope or True or maybe Fantasia.
I wonder if people would ever call her Dreamsicle; that'd be annoying.
I think it's not terrible and makes an interesting MN, but I'd like the similar words Reverie or Imagine more as names. Or Hope or True or maybe Fantasia.
This message was edited 3/3/2019, 12:58 PM
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I really like Reverie. I would never use it personally though.
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It's a pretty meaning but an ugly sounding word. I prefer Miracle, which is in a similar vein, still kinda clunky and ugly sounding by less so.
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