Aug 16, 2010

What's in a name?


Lately I've been a bit obsessed
with finding the perfect name for baby #3.
I've checked out plenty of those baby name sites, which offer tons of suggestions
and categories~ boy/girl, trendy, unique, classic, etc.  They also tell you the
name's meaning, which I think is very interesting.

How many of you know your name's meaning?  Does it fit you?
Mine sure doesn't!  Natalie means "born on Christmas" and, well, my birthday is in July. 
Perhaps my parents meant to be ironic... or more than likely, just liked the name.

Here are the meanings behind a few RA-related names.
Taken from THIS site.  Do you think they fit?

Richard
Meaning: Powerful, Rich ruler
Origin: English
His Royal Gorgeousness.

John
Meaning: God is gracious, Merciful
Origin: Hebrew
 
There are a lot of Johns.

Guy
Meaning: Living spirit
Origin: Latin
The only decent graphic artwork you'll see the entire post.
*Wallpaper by Angela (aka: Spikesbint, Angelfish).
She also designed the blog's header.  See her creations HERE.*

Lucas
Meaning: Light
Origin: Latin
Lucas and lights!  I love this picture.

Harry
Meaning: Comes from Harold, meaning Army Ruler
Origin: English, Scandinavian
Nope. Nerdish glasses-wearing Harry just doesn't cut it as an army guy.
Perhaps Ian or John Porter should have been named Harry instead?

Claude
Meaning: Lame
Origin: Latin
How rude.  I don't think you're lame, Claude... only your beard, I mean... oops.

Lee
Meaning: Sheltered from the storm
Origin: English
Lee's theme song:
Singing in the rain...  just singing in the rain!
What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again!

9 comments:

Phylly3 said...

Great stuff, Nat! LOL
Love that Lucas piccy too -- and the name as well!
I didn't recognize Harry with that army gear on. It wouldn't work for Harry Potter either!

Avalon said...

Great post! I find name meanings interesting too.

I wrote a Robin Hood post on name meanings a few months ago and I found that Guy's name also meant "wide", Norman French.

I come from a long line of parents who use name meanings as a rule. My parents are historical fanatics, so they named all of us for someone or some historical place.

You may also consider naming your daughter in the memory of a special ancestor.

Whatever you decide, I'm sure the name will be lovely.

Violet8886@yahoo.com said...

Richard is a lovely name. Meanings of names are interesting, but a name for a child should have meaning for a parent. For instance, most people will not know that Lucas means "Light" etc...You seem a very bright, intelligent, and curious person...You will find the right name for your precious baby. :)

Myrtle said...

Interesting post. Funny that RA has played 4 Johns', Thornton, Standring and Porter are adorable but I just want to do something wicked to Mulligan.

Choosing a name for a new baby is fun, but such a big decision. I'm sure you will choose a lovely name for your daughter Nat.

I always liked the name Richard for a boy even before you know who....honestly. :D

Fanny/iz4blue said...

Great post, Nat! The hardest part of finding a name was not finding one but one that two people like :-)

Joan Crenshaw said...

I only named one baby: John Richard. (Coincidence, it was 28 years ago and my husband was Richard.) The hardest part was getting my mother to understand that she got no input and then to make her stop calling him J.R. after J.R. Ewing.

Whatever you name the baby will be perfect!

Twinkling Moon said...

@Joan Crenshaw, I haven't heard about JR Ewing in forever!

@Nat, naming babies is one of the most fun things about having a baby I think. My family is definitely big on name meanings. As soon as a baby is born and named, the first thing everyone asks is 'what does the name mean?" I actually had a neighbor once who had a son and initially wanted to name him Tyler, but then read somewhere that it meant "the person who puts in tiles" and changed her mind. I can't remember what she went with now.

Had no idea that RA played 4 Johns. must be a popular name in England.

Also, when is the deadline for the limerick thing? I am a horrible poet and have been unable to come up with anything so far

mulubinba said...

What I like about Richard is that he doesn't seem to ever abbreviate his name. I've always loved Lucas or Luke but as my surname begins with "L", we thought it was a bit too much alliteration.

Poor Claude ... I can't get over that meaning "lame" :(

I'm with TwinklingM - I have writers blank at the moment in terms of a limerick.

Traxy said...

Have you looked at behindthename.com, Nat? Ohh and what's that other one? *thinks* kabalarians.com - some philosophy thing about that names implies a personality and stuff. I suggested they added Traxy to the list (they had Traxine and some other similar ones) and they finally did. Wooh! Well, regardless if you buy into it or not, it's a harmless bit of fun.

The names my parents gave me mean "whole/universal" and "wisdom", with "wisdom" being my given name. Quite like the sound of that! :D Then there's "Traxy" which I added nearly 10 years ago now but kinda made that one up myself... Meaning of it? Considering it originated from a chat nick based on my three favourite TV shows in 1996... weeeell... Maybe I should just say it means "fangirl" and get it over with!