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I realise that some of the stranger names one sees are very rare or even one-offs, but for those of us based outside the USA it is sometimes hard to know for sure. So, advice, please!
I know about Gwyneth Paltrow's Apple daughter. I also know about a Chinese woman who has left Shanghai and is asking people to call her Plum. She finds it cute, and it has some link to her given name - something like Forest Fruit, it seems. And then there's Cheryl/Cherie/Cherry ... or is there? Berry? Others?
In your experience, are fruit names happening? Might they come to look pretty ordinary, or is there no real momentum as yet? I'm cross-posting this to the Opinions board, as some people tend not to leave their board of choice; but I'd like either facts or fact-based impressions if you have any.
Thanks!
I know about Gwyneth Paltrow's Apple daughter. I also know about a Chinese woman who has left Shanghai and is asking people to call her Plum. She finds it cute, and it has some link to her given name - something like Forest Fruit, it seems. And then there's Cheryl/Cherie/Cherry ... or is there? Berry? Others?
In your experience, are fruit names happening? Might they come to look pretty ordinary, or is there no real momentum as yet? I'm cross-posting this to the Opinions board, as some people tend not to leave their board of choice; but I'd like either facts or fact-based impressions if you have any.
Thanks!
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Replies
In French, fruity names plus spices names are a trend, small, but a trend. They are known and used since the French Revolution and in some cases they coincide with saints' names (as Pomme very close to the saint's name Pome), but lately this names are appearing more and more in naming boards (I noticed Cerise, Prune and Cannelle in a lot of discussions by mothers-to-be).
Here you have an article about the most used:
http://www.notrefamille.com/v2/editorial-dossiers/les-prenoms-de-fruits.asp
In Catalan, Mirtil ("bilberry") and Gerd ("raspberry") are used, but they are little-known fruits and they coincide with a mythological name and a German name, which means that they are more acceptable to most of the people. But it is clear its intention as fruit names because often the siblings have also names coming from words: Gavina ("gull"), Isard ("chamois"), Mel ("honey"), Brot ("shoot"), Acant ("Bear's Breeches")...
In Spanish, the use of fruity names is unknown (to my knowledge) unlike other names coming from nature words (Lluvia, Luna, Arena...).
Here you have an article about the most used:
http://www.notrefamille.com/v2/editorial-dossiers/les-prenoms-de-fruits.asp
In Catalan, Mirtil ("bilberry") and Gerd ("raspberry") are used, but they are little-known fruits and they coincide with a mythological name and a German name, which means that they are more acceptable to most of the people. But it is clear its intention as fruit names because often the siblings have also names coming from words: Gavina ("gull"), Isard ("chamois"), Mel ("honey"), Brot ("shoot"), Acant ("Bear's Breeches")...
In Spanish, the use of fruity names is unknown (to my knowledge) unlike other names coming from nature words (Lluvia, Luna, Arena...).
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Very interesting! Can you please clarify, what do you mean by "Bear's Breeches" - a word for nthe backside of a bear? This is a name used in Catalonia?
On the original subject, I thought of the author Banana Yoshimoto (Japanese), although that is a pen name.
On the original subject, I thought of the author Banana Yoshimoto (Japanese), although that is a pen name.
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I copied "Bear's Breeches" from the Wikipedia as the English name for the plant scientifically known as Acanthus mollis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthus_mollis
Obviously, I don't know the story or the etymology behind the English expression. Perhaps an English philologist or an English speaker can help with that.
Acant is a name used in Catalonia. It is unusual, as most of the nature names, but it is not unheard. For instance, there is an actor named Acant, Acant Canet (and I met another one in person).
Before the new Spanish naming law (and in some small towns, even after it), many people had a hard time trying to register nature words as a names, so they usually registered a non-related name for the child, who went always and exclusively by another name (a nature word); that is the case, for instance, of a girl named Nit ("night"), registered as Maria. This situation disguises the real use of nature names.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acanthus_mollis
Obviously, I don't know the story or the etymology behind the English expression. Perhaps an English philologist or an English speaker can help with that.
Acant is a name used in Catalonia. It is unusual, as most of the nature names, but it is not unheard. For instance, there is an actor named Acant, Acant Canet (and I met another one in person).
Before the new Spanish naming law (and in some small towns, even after it), many people had a hard time trying to register nature words as a names, so they usually registered a non-related name for the child, who went always and exclusively by another name (a nature word); that is the case, for instance, of a girl named Nit ("night"), registered as Maria. This situation disguises the real use of nature names.
This message was edited 4/5/2010, 5:21 AM
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I don't think that Cheryl and Cherie have anything to do with Cherry and so aren't "fruity" at all.
Cherry, on the other hand, is already well-established as a given name in the USA and was way before any of the others.
Berry turns up as a male name in the USA because in most American accents it's pronounced the same way as Barry, and so is seen by some parents as just an alternative spelling for Barry.
I've seen more than one example of both Peach and Peaches used as given names for girls, and there is a British author who calls herself Plum Sykes, though I believe that's a pen name and not the name her parents gave her. But I don't see "fruity" names becoming a big new fashion; just one of the hundreds of different ways parents are creating new names in the modern culture where giving children "unusual" names is more and more desired.
Cherry, on the other hand, is already well-established as a given name in the USA and was way before any of the others.
Berry turns up as a male name in the USA because in most American accents it's pronounced the same way as Barry, and so is seen by some parents as just an alternative spelling for Barry.
I've seen more than one example of both Peach and Peaches used as given names for girls, and there is a British author who calls herself Plum Sykes, though I believe that's a pen name and not the name her parents gave her. But I don't see "fruity" names becoming a big new fashion; just one of the hundreds of different ways parents are creating new names in the modern culture where giving children "unusual" names is more and more desired.
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Ah-ha! So that's the reason for Berry. Makes sense - I was mildly puzzled by American posters saying they wouldn't use Barry or Harry because they disliked Beary and Hairy until I said it out loud in my attempt at an American accent; and this must be .
I agree that Cheryl and Cherie have got nothing to do with Cherry from a scholarly perspective, but the looks and sounds are so close that I'd be surprised if Cherry didn't get used as a nn for Cheryl especially. But there isn't an oversupply of Cheryls right now. Interesting that Cherry predates the others.
Plum could be a nn for Victoria, I'm told.
Thanks!
I agree that Cheryl and Cherie have got nothing to do with Cherry from a scholarly perspective, but the looks and sounds are so close that I'd be surprised if Cherry didn't get used as a nn for Cheryl especially. But there isn't an oversupply of Cheryls right now. Interesting that Cherry predates the others.
Plum could be a nn for Victoria, I'm told.
Thanks!
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But Cheryl and Cherry don't have the same initial sound. Cheryl has /sh/ as in shop while Cherry has /ch/ as in church. Cheryl was a very common name in my peer group (I was born in the 1960s), and while some Cheryls were called "Sherry," there was never any confusion with Cherry nor was Cherry used as a nickname for any of them. In fact, I've never known a Cherry.
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I've known two Cheryls who used the ch pronunciation, one of them being my cousin and the other uses Cherry as a nn! But, yes, they are unusual.
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