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HelpRe: Etymology Post- your opinion on name meanings
in reply to a message by Dianatiger
It would be very hypocritical if I said meanings mattered. My favorite girl name atm is Cecilia, which means blind.
But to be honest, there’s a few different ways to interpret it. For one thing, it’s the name of the patron saint of music, and the meaning can also be interpreted as “heavenly lily” or “blindingly beautiful”
I don’t think meaning matters as much as people like to think. For example, Claudia means “crippled”, but it’s a perfectly normal name.
Tristan means “sad”, but is it still a good name? Yeah
Courtney means “crooked nose”, but nobody knows or cares.
Really, my only concern is little kids looking up the meaning of their name and being shocked, but they’ll get over that eventually.
I draw the line when the name is reminiscent or the same as a vulgar or taboo word, like Lucifer (Lucy or Luca is okay) or Phelony. I gave up on Ophelia because of this. Someone said it sounded like a bad word and I cannot unsee it. I feel the same way about Scarlet and Violet, but to a lesser degree. I love their meanings, but they sound like “scar” and “violent” which makes me hesitant towards using them. Presentation trumps meaning for me. For example, Isla means “island”, but I hate the sound of it. With that said, meanings do turn me completely off on some occasions. I think Bronwyn is cool but it means “white breasted” which is really weird.
Personally I like when the meaning is right there. Word names are beautiful to me. I also like when the meaning is a noun or color, rather than just “beautiful” or “warrior” or something. It gives it more flair. Names like Ruby, Jasper, Summer, and Lance (“spear” may not mean much to some, but it makes it sound intricate to me). Here’s a few more hidden meanings I found cool.
Ariel- lion of god
Carina- cute
Thea/Theo- goddess/god
Renee- reborn
Austin- exalted (also a city so that’s cool)
Vincent- to conquer
Donovan- dark brown
Reese- enthusiasm
Trevor- village
But to be honest, there’s a few different ways to interpret it. For one thing, it’s the name of the patron saint of music, and the meaning can also be interpreted as “heavenly lily” or “blindingly beautiful”
I don’t think meaning matters as much as people like to think. For example, Claudia means “crippled”, but it’s a perfectly normal name.
Tristan means “sad”, but is it still a good name? Yeah
Courtney means “crooked nose”, but nobody knows or cares.
Really, my only concern is little kids looking up the meaning of their name and being shocked, but they’ll get over that eventually.
I draw the line when the name is reminiscent or the same as a vulgar or taboo word, like Lucifer (Lucy or Luca is okay) or Phelony. I gave up on Ophelia because of this. Someone said it sounded like a bad word and I cannot unsee it. I feel the same way about Scarlet and Violet, but to a lesser degree. I love their meanings, but they sound like “scar” and “violent” which makes me hesitant towards using them. Presentation trumps meaning for me. For example, Isla means “island”, but I hate the sound of it. With that said, meanings do turn me completely off on some occasions. I think Bronwyn is cool but it means “white breasted” which is really weird.
Personally I like when the meaning is right there. Word names are beautiful to me. I also like when the meaning is a noun or color, rather than just “beautiful” or “warrior” or something. It gives it more flair. Names like Ruby, Jasper, Summer, and Lance (“spear” may not mean much to some, but it makes it sound intricate to me). Here’s a few more hidden meanings I found cool.
Ariel- lion of god
Carina- cute
Thea/Theo- goddess/god
Renee- reborn
Austin- exalted (also a city so that’s cool)
Vincent- to conquer
Donovan- dark brown
Reese- enthusiasm
Trevor- village
This message was edited 7/20/2022, 3:32 PM
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Replies
Neither Damian nor Damien means anything like 'demon'. Etymology matters!
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I believe it is a pop culture connection. There is a classic horror movie in which the "bad or possessed" kid is named Damian and the characters draw that connection to it's similarities to demon. Thus because of the pop culture association that is how the false etymology took root.
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I believe it is a pop culture connection. There is a classic horror movie in which the "bad or possessed" kid is named Damian and the characters draw that connection to it's similarities to demon. Thus because of the pop culture association that is how the false etymology took root.
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I read that somewhere. It must’ve been untrue. Thanks for telling me.
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