New Post
Search
Help
ArchivesRe: Colleen
in reply to a message by Eliora
Colleen was indeed first turned into a given name in the USA and Australia. It was not used as a name in Ireland until famous American actresses named Colleen (Dewhurst, for example) somewhat legitimized it in Ireland, and it got a bit of use there in the 1980s (but was never popular).
I have a friend who was born in the USA around 1950 named Colleen. Her paternal grandmother was born in Ireland, and she has told me that the grandmother was very upset at her son for naming his daughter Colleen. She says it was years before the grandmother stopped asking her son "When are you going to give the colleen a real name?" :)
I have a friend who was born in the USA around 1950 named Colleen. Her paternal grandmother was born in Ireland, and she has told me that the grandmother was very upset at her son for naming his daughter Colleen. She says it was years before the grandmother stopped asking her son "When are you going to give the colleen a real name?" :)
1
Replies
I understand that...
But why would Irish imigrants name their daughter girl to begin with?
But why would Irish imigrants name their daughter girl to begin with?
1
Notice that in the story of my friend it is not the original IMMIGRANT who named her daughter Colleen, but her son, the second-generation Irish-American. I would assume that the first persons who turned the word "colleen" into a name were primarily people who had Irish ancestry but were not themselves intimately involved with the culture of the home country. In the American context, "Colleen" sounded like a girls' name because there were many other names ending in the "een" sound being used at the time, and second or third generation Irish Americans thought it was a "cool" idea to use it as a name for their daughters, with no understanding that people back in Ireland itself would think that was ludicrous.
There are many examples of words from one culture or language that have been turned into names in another culture because of romantic associations with the culture that language comes from, but which were NOT used as names in the original culture. The idea of turning the French word mignon, meaning "dainty", into a given name started with the German poet Goethe. Going back to the Irish, Erin, the poetic term for Ireland, was not used as a given name in Ireland itself but is another American idea. Many names used by African-Americans in the USA today taken from the Swahili language, such as Nia (from the Swahili word for "purpose"), are not used as names in the Swahili speaking areas of East Africa. The name Amanda comes from a Latin word meaning "worthy of love", but it was not used as a name by the ancient Romans, only being created in the 17th century by English playwrights.
There are many examples of words from one culture or language that have been turned into names in another culture because of romantic associations with the culture that language comes from, but which were NOT used as names in the original culture. The idea of turning the French word mignon, meaning "dainty", into a given name started with the German poet Goethe. Going back to the Irish, Erin, the poetic term for Ireland, was not used as a given name in Ireland itself but is another American idea. Many names used by African-Americans in the USA today taken from the Swahili language, such as Nia (from the Swahili word for "purpose"), are not used as names in the Swahili speaking areas of East Africa. The name Amanda comes from a Latin word meaning "worthy of love", but it was not used as a name by the ancient Romans, only being created in the 17th century by English playwrights.
1
Cool, thanks.
You always give such good answers.
You always give such good answers.
1