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April, May and June, yes! No problem. But, what about July?
It looks like a spelling mistake for Julie, and in South Africa we would tend to assume that its bearer was male - as in the Nadine Gordimer novel "July's People". But there seems no logical reason why little girls elsewhere should not be named July. To the best of your knowledge, have there been any instances of this?
If so, I'd expect them to be more modern than April, and much more modern than May and June. Would I be right? (I've never seen a South African example of Summer or Winter used as given names, by the way, though that proves nothing.)
Thanks!
It looks like a spelling mistake for Julie, and in South Africa we would tend to assume that its bearer was male - as in the Nadine Gordimer novel "July's People". But there seems no logical reason why little girls elsewhere should not be named July. To the best of your knowledge, have there been any instances of this?
If so, I'd expect them to be more modern than April, and much more modern than May and June. Would I be right? (I've never seen a South African example of Summer or Winter used as given names, by the way, though that proves nothing.)
Thanks!
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Replies
Well, from a point of view of a Czech who once named her character July, because I knew about April and it sounded good, the reason is obvious - someone who's not used to this at all can very easily get confused by it and think it's also possible.
Or, it's on purpose and the author will let you know.
Or, it's on purpose and the author will let you know.
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In Spanish, the name of the seventh month is "Julio" (pron. HOO - lee - oh), from latin "Iulius" and it's a male name (vgr. Julio César.) Also exists female "Julia" (pron. HOO - lee - ah). I think the difference is: we know that the name of the month (Julio) is just like the people's name. "July", instead, english speakers don´t see it like a person name. This is my point of view.
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Hi, Profe - nice to hear from you!
Yes, I agree with you from an English-speaking perspective. But there are two complicating factors. One is the fashion in America and in celebrity circles elswhere for using words (Apple, January) as names, and the other is the long-standing practice among black South Africans of using words (Goodwill, Matric) as names. In South Africa the words tend to be inspirational though they may be related to the situation prevailing at the child's birth; a baby born to an unmarried mother might get the name 'Silence' to discourage gossip, or something like 'Matric' or 'Doctor' might be used as sympathetic magic to ensure a good future for the child.
But English spelling is a minefield at best, and the spelling of names is no different. There are several examples of women named Queeneth, for instance, which I assume is somebody's best attempt at Gwyneth; and they do sound very similar.
Julie, a form of Julia, has the first syllable emphasised. July, the month, has the second. So the spelling there is useful, but if July is used as a given name a lot of English speakers would be puzzled! Presumably then it would sound like the month.
My problem with July as a personal name was that I was dealing with a document written by a non-native speaker of English in which a character, July, appeared in an invented case study. I decided to treat it as a simple spelling error and changed it to Julie, in the interests of not slowing its readers down for no good reason. (It certainly slowed me down.) But I could have been very wrong; if so, I am confident the author will let me know.
All the best
Yes, I agree with you from an English-speaking perspective. But there are two complicating factors. One is the fashion in America and in celebrity circles elswhere for using words (Apple, January) as names, and the other is the long-standing practice among black South Africans of using words (Goodwill, Matric) as names. In South Africa the words tend to be inspirational though they may be related to the situation prevailing at the child's birth; a baby born to an unmarried mother might get the name 'Silence' to discourage gossip, or something like 'Matric' or 'Doctor' might be used as sympathetic magic to ensure a good future for the child.
But English spelling is a minefield at best, and the spelling of names is no different. There are several examples of women named Queeneth, for instance, which I assume is somebody's best attempt at Gwyneth; and they do sound very similar.
Julie, a form of Julia, has the first syllable emphasised. July, the month, has the second. So the spelling there is useful, but if July is used as a given name a lot of English speakers would be puzzled! Presumably then it would sound like the month.
My problem with July as a personal name was that I was dealing with a document written by a non-native speaker of English in which a character, July, appeared in an invented case study. I decided to treat it as a simple spelling error and changed it to Julie, in the interests of not slowing its readers down for no good reason. (It certainly slowed me down.) But I could have been very wrong; if so, I am confident the author will let me know.
All the best
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Hi, Anneza... now I understand much better the case. I just tried to give the point of view of an Spanish speaker, but now I see what was the reason of the question. Best regards.
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Goodness! November sounds the prettiest, but not pretty enough. December could I suppose be a break from the usual Natalie/Holly/Christine/Noel names. January shortens pleasantly to Jan, but there the pleasantness ends. And September ... it's my birth month, and very pretty here, being the start of spring, but as a name it just sounds feeble. Whatever happened to Septimus (or, indeed, Septima)? At least they exist.
Anyway, thanks for the report on July. I think it's a spelling error for Julie in the document I'm working with, and queried it accordingly.
All the best
Anyway, thanks for the report on July. I think it's a spelling error for Julie in the document I'm working with, and queried it accordingly.
All the best
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