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HelpRe: Geneva
in reply to a message by Caroline
Was it Anne Rice, or another book? And, was the character born with a tail? Heterochromic irises? Magic powers? lol
The first time I heard the name Merrick as a first name was in about 1987 when I met a girl (about my age - 16?) who called herself that (I doubt it was her real name - not much about her was real). So the original girl Merrick wasn't Anne Rice's character - I'm not sure who it was. Maybe one of Rice's early books had one in it? Anyway I immediately felt that the name was really a guy name, and this girl called herself that as an affectation, because she wanted to seem edgy and gothy. I just thought it was really appealing as a boy name.
Deliberately using names unconventionally on girls, has always been an affectation. (It's becoming that way for boys too?) So personally I think the name Merrick on a girl sounds embarrassingly characterish, though I see its appeal. I think Merrick comes off witchy and "edgy" on a woman because of the Mer- being familiar as a piece of a feminine name, and the -rick so familiar as masculine. So it worked for Rice's witch, and I'm sure for other female characters. To me personally, the -rick part makes it manly and the Mer-part makes it sound happy ... it's cheerful-tough like Nicholas or Jack. But, I can also see how people perceive the Mer- part as making it femme, and the -rick adding an "edge" or whatever. *raspberry*
So I predict (and have secretly predicted since forever) that if Merrick ever does take off in popularity as a baby name, it'll be as a girl name. At best, it'll do this sort of thing: http://www.behindthename.com/top/name/kelsey,mackenzie,lindsay,aubrey,london
And I'll be exasperated, but I won't think it's as bad as some other names people give to girls.
- mirfak
The first time I heard the name Merrick as a first name was in about 1987 when I met a girl (about my age - 16?) who called herself that (I doubt it was her real name - not much about her was real). So the original girl Merrick wasn't Anne Rice's character - I'm not sure who it was. Maybe one of Rice's early books had one in it? Anyway I immediately felt that the name was really a guy name, and this girl called herself that as an affectation, because she wanted to seem edgy and gothy. I just thought it was really appealing as a boy name.
Deliberately using names unconventionally on girls, has always been an affectation. (It's becoming that way for boys too?) So personally I think the name Merrick on a girl sounds embarrassingly characterish, though I see its appeal. I think Merrick comes off witchy and "edgy" on a woman because of the Mer- being familiar as a piece of a feminine name, and the -rick so familiar as masculine. So it worked for Rice's witch, and I'm sure for other female characters. To me personally, the -rick part makes it manly and the Mer-part makes it sound happy ... it's cheerful-tough like Nicholas or Jack. But, I can also see how people perceive the Mer- part as making it femme, and the -rick adding an "edge" or whatever. *raspberry*
So I predict (and have secretly predicted since forever) that if Merrick ever does take off in popularity as a baby name, it'll be as a girl name. At best, it'll do this sort of thing: http://www.behindthename.com/top/name/kelsey,mackenzie,lindsay,aubrey,london
And I'll be exasperated, but I won't think it's as bad as some other names people give to girls.
- mirfak
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It was some recent bestseller, A Spool of Blue Thread. Merrick does sound kind of witchy and "edgy" now that I think about it, but in this book the name was chosen by a kind of Appalachian redneck social climber trying to appear old money blue-bloodish in Baltimore. He named his son Redcliffe.
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Haha, that's funny when considered alongside the Anne Rice character. Hard to believe the author wasn't aware of it, especially since it was a title character.
But now that I think of it, the surnaminess just seems like another reason to think it'll show up on girls in real life. I dunno, it never sounded posh to me as a surname - dog food company, Elephant Man. Guess it might seem that way "back east" since it's the name of a town - so there's probably an old family.
But now that I think of it, the surnaminess just seems like another reason to think it'll show up on girls in real life. I dunno, it never sounded posh to me as a surname - dog food company, Elephant Man. Guess it might seem that way "back east" since it's the name of a town - so there's probably an old family.
This message was edited 3/15/2015, 10:01 PM
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So move to the west coast? haha. I don't think it's pretentious-seeming here.
Maybe someone disagrees ... dunno. Nobody has called it pretentious in the comments, yet.
Maybe someone disagrees ... dunno. Nobody has called it pretentious in the comments, yet.
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