Most important: look of name or meaning?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2005
Most important: look of name or meaning?
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Sat, 02-04-2006 - 3:25pm

I lurk around here from time to time, and I want to get the group's opinion:
What is more important in a name: how it looks/sounds, what it means, or both?

For example, my boyfriend and I toss up names every now and then for our future kids (don't worry, this is just for fun, not to rush into pregnancy) and he really likes the name Cameron for a boy. I think the name *looks* good, but then I learned that it means "crooked nose". That brought down the appeal of the name somewhat to me, because my own name and those of my siblings were chosen just as much for meaning as for visual appearance.

What do you think? Is the meaning of a person's name important, or is that secondary to how it looks when written or spoken aloud? What do you look for first when you think of names for your future children? For people who make up totally original names that you didn't find in a book, do you choose a meaning for it as well, or do you not think it's important?

Just wondering,
Kosmyk

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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-28-2005
Sat, 02-04-2006 - 3:33pm

Wow...you should look back a few weeks and you would find a post from me about the exact same thing about the exact same name...Cameron! It is my VERY TOP choice for our third son, due in 6 weeks. I knew DH would shy away from it due to the meaning, so I was "delaying" in telling him. I have told him and now it is a "wait and see" issue. He still really likes the name, as do I, but I know he is afraid to use it due to the meaning. NOrmally we would say forget the meaning, we love the name. BUT, I have had experiences in the past with my sister being a total idiot about name meanings for my first son.

ANyway, my advice to people normally is forget the name meaning! If you love the name, use it anyway. Is the meaning really that important in the scheme of things?? I don't think so. Now if I can only convince my DH to think this way before my 6 weeks is up and we have this little boy!

Theresa

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-01-2006
Sat, 02-04-2006 - 3:39pm
i think all that should matter is that if you like the name or not. i mean its not like your child will be saying "hi my name is cameron and my name means this....."
every time he has to say or use his name. to me the meaning is irrelevnt sp?
iVillage Member
Registered: 01-21-2005
Sat, 02-04-2006 - 3:46pm

I think that at least one of the names - first or middle - should hold some significance, either by being a family name or have a special meaning. The meaning crooked nose would be a turn off to me too!

Melissa

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-16-2004
Sat, 02-04-2006 - 4:44pm

For me it is both, I want a

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2005
Sat, 02-04-2006 - 4:47pm

Lol...I should have checked first, it seems to me like it would be a common consideration/question for new parents. I'll look for it, thanks.

My boyfriend would probably agree with most of you that the name is more important than the meaning, and I think that's true when the name is fairly common or traditional. But for untraditional names, like ethnic names, I think a common question is 'what does that mean?'--I know I got it all the time when I was a kid, right after 'how do you pronounce that?'. That probably explains why it concerns me and not him--his sibs all have fairly common names and each are easily to spell/say.

Do you think meanings are more important for non-traditional names for the very reason that they tend to attract special interest because they're uncommon?

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-16-2005
Sat, 02-04-2006 - 4:56pm

I agree.

As an aside, I wonder if Cameron and Campbell have similar origins? Maybe the "cam" puts the "crooked" in nose and the "twisted" in mouth.

iVillage Member
Registered: 12-16-2004
Sat, 02-04-2006 - 5:47pm

Lets check this out.

iVillage Member
Registered: 09-26-2005
Sat, 02-04-2006 - 10:24pm
My favorite is Kennedy, a surname that I've seen used as a girl's name that means ugly or misshapen head. Personally, I wouldn't want to give my child a name with a negative meaning, but meaning is not my first consideration.
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iVillage Member
Registered: 10-14-2005
Sat, 02-04-2006 - 10:47pm

To be honest, I could not care less about a name's meaning. I am obsessed with names, but until Theresa brought up the Cameron issue a few weeks ago, I didn't even know what my own name meant. I certainly understand being wary if you come from a family where this is going to be an issue. And I think you have a point about unusual or ethnic names - people are much more likely to ask what they mean or where they came from. But for me, what's important is how the names look/sound and what the mean to me.



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iVillage Member
Registered: 09-29-2005
Sat, 02-04-2006 - 11:14pm

LOL at Annie's "conniving beast" comment. I like that one. ;)

Just thought I'd mention that, while names don't have to have a GREAT meaning for me to like them, a nice meaning IS a plus (I think that's one of the reasons Jason's so in love with the name Abigail ... and what father wouldn't want that for his little girl? lol). It does bother me when a name has a negative meaning, but there are only a few I've come across that were "bad" enough to turn me off.

I did want to second (third?) the notion that people will be more likely to inquire about the meaning if the name is less common. I can speak from experience here, having a Kaitlyn and a Devanie. When people hear Kaitlyn's name, they don't say a word (other than maybe mention that they really like that name or that it's their daughter's/niece's/neighbor's-uncle's-sister's-cousin's-baby's name LOL). Then when they hear Devanie's, the usual response is, "Oh! That's really pretty! I've never heard it before ... what does it mean?" So that's definitely true.

~Kelli


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