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HelpHave you ever seen a post or site claiming the wrong meaning of a name?
What made me ask this question was because I saw the internet the posts saying this (I haven't seen any posts like that on BtN yet.) : One post claimed that Andrea had the meaning feminine. One post claimed that Emma had the meaning universe. And one post claimed that Madison had the meaning Matthew's daughter.
This message was edited 2/29/2024, 12:42 AM
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Definitely. Lots of parenting websites, especially ones trying to sugar coat a name with a negative meaning or lying about the gender of a name. I've seen many websites claim a goddess was a god to pass off a more masculine sounding feminine name as male. They also might slap a random meaning onto a name with unknown origins/meaning. Ive also seen them take a modern name that is literally a word for 'ocean' and say it means "lady of the sea" to make it more appealing to parents. They also often a name's language of origin wrong, like when looking into a Greek name, some websites said it was Swedish in origin, other German, ect. Basically any country that uses the name.
This message was edited 2/29/2024, 4:23 PM
All the time! Tiktok loves doing this, I don't even HAVE Tiktok and I come across all kinds of bizarre clips relating to names from that platform. Not just meanings, but ridiculous claims like "The Name Steve is Going EXTINCT!!!". It's wild.
There used to be these little baby name books you could buy at the grocery store near the cashier. They were cheap mass-produced things, filled with "name meanings" that were sometimes accurate, but often wildly incorrect (but usually beautiful/positive). They were notorious for trying to put a more acceptable spin on more challenging name meanings (hence, Andrea, meaning "man, masculine" is turned into "feminine"). I wonder if lots of these websites are like urban legends, they just regurgitate these baby name meanings originating in these cheap little books that were imported to the internet when it first started. I can't think of where else people would come up with some of that stuff, like "Michelle means "Like a goddess"'. That has "cheap supermarket baby name book meaning" ALL over it.
I miss those books. They were kinda fun. I wish I had kept some.
There used to be these little baby name books you could buy at the grocery store near the cashier. They were cheap mass-produced things, filled with "name meanings" that were sometimes accurate, but often wildly incorrect (but usually beautiful/positive). They were notorious for trying to put a more acceptable spin on more challenging name meanings (hence, Andrea, meaning "man, masculine" is turned into "feminine"). I wonder if lots of these websites are like urban legends, they just regurgitate these baby name meanings originating in these cheap little books that were imported to the internet when it first started. I can't think of where else people would come up with some of that stuff, like "Michelle means "Like a goddess"'. That has "cheap supermarket baby name book meaning" ALL over it.
I miss those books. They were kinda fun. I wish I had kept some.
Most baby name websites, for sure. Before using BtN I would look up names on The Bump, and there were (and still are!) lots of non-unisex names marked as unisex, such as Maurice, Asher, James, Michael, Aiden, Atlas, Dorian, Patricia, Flynn, Wyatt, Maverick, Gaia, Julian, Walker, Kyle, Paisley, Damian, Eva, Claire, Eliza... I really wonder how these names are viewed as "unisex".
On The Bump you could also find lots of wrong meanings, such as Evelyn meaning "island" or Quinn having a Spanish origin.
On The Bump you could also find lots of wrong meanings, such as Evelyn meaning "island" or Quinn having a Spanish origin.
How many persons of each gender have to have a name before it is considered "unisex" would be subjective, and sometimes a name will seem unisex to many people if a very famous person of the opposite gender from the name's normal use bears it, even if there are very few other persons of the famous person's gender with the name.
Michael would often be thought of as unisex in the USA simply because of the fame of the actress Michael Learned. And it certainly has been used for girls, because Michal is normally pronounced the same as Michael in the USA and Michal is a female name in the Bible.
Anyone who used to watch the American soap opera "One Life to Live" would think of Dorian as unisex because one of the most prominent women characters on that show was named Dorian. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian_Lord
Kyle was unisex at the start of its frequent use due to the fame of model and singer Kyle MacDonnell, who was prominent in the very early days of television in the United States. Kyle was among the top thousand names for girls in the USA between 1950 and 1990. I was born in 1951 and knew two girls named Kyle back when I was in high school. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_MacDonnell
Clare was a short form of Clarence in the USA and some parents named sons Claire because of that. There was a man who was a member of my church in Omaha, Nebraska named Claire who just died last year.
Michael would often be thought of as unisex in the USA simply because of the fame of the actress Michael Learned. And it certainly has been used for girls, because Michal is normally pronounced the same as Michael in the USA and Michal is a female name in the Bible.
Anyone who used to watch the American soap opera "One Life to Live" would think of Dorian as unisex because one of the most prominent women characters on that show was named Dorian. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian_Lord
Kyle was unisex at the start of its frequent use due to the fame of model and singer Kyle MacDonnell, who was prominent in the very early days of television in the United States. Kyle was among the top thousand names for girls in the USA between 1950 and 1990. I was born in 1951 and knew two girls named Kyle back when I was in high school. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_MacDonnell
Clare was a short form of Clarence in the USA and some parents named sons Claire because of that. There was a man who was a member of my church in Omaha, Nebraska named Claire who just died last year.
This message was edited 2/29/2024, 2:50 PM
I see, thank you! I've recently been digging Dorian as a feminine name because of Ms. Leigh. :)
I think Julian could have been a genuine unisex name nowadays because of the saint.
I think Julian could have been a genuine unisex name nowadays because of the saint.
Thank you.
100%, baby name websites/ “gurus” are infamous for this - don’t want to upset the clientele by giving them anything but good meanings/feedback.
My favourite was the site that gave the correct definition for Madison, but said Madisyn meant “She will fly”.
My favourite was the site that gave the correct definition for Madison, but said Madisyn meant “She will fly”.
Hilarious! Thanks for sharing.
Thank you.
Too many to count. A Chinese friend's parents gave her the English name Katie because they thought that Katharine means, I think, Forest. No idea where they got that from; certainly not from this site!
Thank you.
Basically every site except BtN lol
Thank you.
If it's from a baby name website, especially ones that have weird lucky numbers and letter-by-letter meanings, it's probably wrong.
Thank you.
Nameberry gets it wrong all the time.
Thank you.