What's in a name?

Regarding the first names that sound like last names, that comes from a long-standing southern tradition, which held that the first child should have the mother's maiden name as a middle name and the next child should have the mother's maiden name as FIRST name, all this regardless of whether the child was a girl or boy.

I don't think the newer crop of Taylors and Carvers and Madisons, etc. are based on any kind of tradition, but that may be where people got the idea.

I've got sort of a personal approach/avoidance complex about kids being named according to tradition or not. My twin brother was named after our two grandfathers--which made him a nice, respectable "James Lee"--while my name was more like an afterthought: "Oh yeah, we've got this girl to name, too!" So I got "Judy" after..........Judy Garland. What were you thinking, mom?

These are the names of the 5 children of one of my best school friends: River, Rain, Lake, Sunny and Eddy. A little odd but not bad.

My surname is pronounced "knobs" and I come froma family of military men. My father was Major "Knobs" and my brother was "Private Knobs". My uncle was not military but was named Richard and went by D!ck...

One of my good friends nearly named his son Noah DeNault. He didn't realize how it sounded if you say it fast - "no I don' know". Fortunately we helped him out with that.

Finally, I went to school with a native girl named Anita Drinkwater.

Spanish speaking friends don't like to call me by my proper first name because it's pronounced the same way as the word "almost" in spanish....Cassie. So they say Casi-eh instead.

I used to know a kid named

Mark Ingpen

I find these names so unfortunate.
My first and last birth name rhymes, which is why I kept my married name.
My first name is a lovely name and I like it but always felt so self concious about the rhyming aspect.

These poor kids. Their parents should be ashamed.

"Wendy Summer Knight"

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Originally Posted by zencentury

Awful they may be but that's old timey Texas (or the South)

Somebody has to have a kid and name him President.

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Yes I have run into other Pansies when I worked in Bryan (lots of rural customers). I think the worst parts are 1. my mom was born in the mid-50's and it already had a negative connotation. 2. My great-grandma hate the name and went by Ellen but passed it on!

Of course when anyone calls me wimpy I just reply "Sorry, I come from a long line of pansies; I just can't help it!" :) All of the women named Pansy though are (were) incredibly strong so it is ironic.

Wow, the things people name their children!:eek: :o :rolleyes: It's all too funny.

I went to school with a Forest Green and a Dill Pickles. Though Dill went by another name when I met him. I didn't find out his given name until he was going through the process of legally changing his name when he turned 18. Also I had a friend whose last name was Tope. Her parents were going to name her Isa, but thankfully didn't go though with it.

My ex-neighbor's daughter is named Treasure (Tessa for short). The mother had wanted to name her Precious, but her husband was having none of it. So they compromised on Treasure. :rolleyes:

And how about Rosemary for a guy. Their family tradition was to name someone that each generation after a many times great grandmother. When it became apparent that there wasn't to be any girls born to them, he got stuck with it. I always wondered why he didn't change it because he seemed to be very embarrassed about his name.:confused:

I went to high school with a 'Candi Lamb'. Poor girl.

I also knew a family with the last name of Wohl. They named their first son Steel.

And I heard a rumor of a girl in the next town when I was growing up whose name was Crystal Leer....her middle name was Chandal. I still doubt that one is for real though...

Oh, and my mom wanted to name me whatever the Sanskrit term for 'moon beam' is (yes, I'm a child of the 60's). Luckily my fathers foriegn sounding last name stopped her, so I was blessed with a beautiful (and traditional) first name instead. Phew!

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Originally Posted by IFjane

Some names from this year's enrollment:

Carma
Gage
Kazire
Akyia
Cedasia
Jakeia
D'Myija
Keyonia
NeVaeh (heaven spelled backward) - we had two of these last year!

And a couple years ago we had:

Turnipseed (really!)

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I won't even lie, I LOVE the name Gage.

My family is all P's so my kids will more than likely end up with different names.

I LOVE Paxton, Peyton, Perdita, and Patience.....I also loved Porter so much that I named one of my pups that :)

my husband works with a guy named Thomas Sawyer. he makes sure people call him Thomas, instead of Tom.

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Originally Posted by TexanCzexican

I won't even lie, I LOVE the name Gage.

My family is all P's so my kids will more than likely end up with different names.

I LOVE Paxton, Peyton, Perdita, and Patience.....I also loved Porter so much that I named one of my pups that :)

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There is a big part of me that is a literalist; therefore; I always want to know why a person would name a kid Porter? it means someone who carries stuff for a living. Or Perdita; which means lost. Or Colin; semi colon? colon that comes after large intestine?

now Patience, I have always been fascinated with the (old) trend of giving children names like Patience, Charity, Hope, etc. Does it make them more of whatever that virtue is? or less?

When I was a kid I knew a family that all had the same initials LAA
Lawrence, Lance, Leah, Lee, etc....... I suppose it saves on the monogramed sweaters, luggage and hankies?

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Originally Posted by mimitabby

There is a big part of me that is a literalist; therefore; I always want to know why a person would name a kid Porter? it means someone who carries stuff for a living. Or Perdita; which means lost. Or Colin; semi colon? colon that comes after large intestine?

now Patience, I have always been fascinated with the (old) trend of giving children names like Patience, Charity, Hope, etc. Does it make them more of whatever that virtue is? or less?

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Actually, Porter means 'gatekeeper' and I liked the protective spirit of the name.

My brother's name is Pierce and people always teased him about piercing things; yet in translation it means "Rock" even though my parents chose it because it's another form of Peter (my mom HATES Peter, thought people would call him Petey ie the dog from Little Rascals:)

EDEN--we are all PAT's which is ironic since my dad's name is Pat

When I was in middle school I swam with a brother and sister, ping and pong and when I was in college I rowed with two sisters, one was summer and the other was spring. I thought that was pretty cool.
I know that if my twin and I came out boys, my mother would've named us Bert and Ernie (blah!!! I'm soooo Glad I'm a Girl!!)

Ironically as I was reading this thread a co-worker came up and said "check out this name: Charles Prince aka Prince, Charles"
I have a friend named Quinnie.
At the wedding I was just at I was introduced, and everyone remembered my name because one of the people introduced me like this: "This is Amber, with the amber colored hair". At least I wasn't called something bad. :eek:

I love this thread about names :)

a young (very young) couple here just named their baby Heaven Leigh
Neaveah is very popular here also.

Re ethnic names. I live in a predominatly Scandinavian settled community so names like Dagny, Berit, Hanne, Thor, Lars, Kristine, Kirsten, Bjorn, Marit are pretty common for all generations and they seem normal here. Last names are Knudson, Tjelveit, Thingstad, Larson etc, etc, etc

My niece is a Hanne (pronounced Hawnna - sort of - just more nasal -not Haaanah) - she will correct you if you say it wrong.

I went to school w/ Beppie (Dutch)
Zillah (biblical)

My best friend from high school named her daughter Ceildgh (sp) pronounced Kaylee. Her son was Aran

I had a female student named Aaron

and who ever referred to Erin Schmidt - I taught her too - a cute little American/Norwegian/German blondie.

I taught a WhiteCloud. We have a strong Native population in the vicinity so this would seem natural but nope she is caucasian.

The one that always throws me is Andrea. I have had 3 or 4 Andreas in one term and they all spelled it the same but pronounced it differently and they would let you know if you said it incorrectly.

Oh well at least they are interesting - a friend's DIL made the comment to her
" all the guys you know have 3 letter names, Pat, Ron, Don, Bob, Cal, Jim, Jon"
That's the 40's and 50's for you!

And to top it off I work w/ a gentleman in his late fifties and yes his name is
D*ck Butts AND he works in a grade 11 and 12 high school. His name is Richard so why oh why didn't his parents shorten it to Rick or Rich ? ? ? Or why didn't he reinvent himself when he left home? ? ?

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Originally Posted by eclectic

I taught a WhiteCloud. We have a strong Native population in the vicinity so this would seem natural but nope she is caucasian.

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Named after toilet paper?

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Originally Posted by Wahine

My surname is pronounced "knobs" and I come froma family of military men. My father was Major "Knobs" and my brother was "Private Knobs". My uncle was not military but was named Richard and went by D!ck...

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:D :D :D :D Wahine! You absolutely made my night:D :D :D :D :D

I am rolling on the floor right now!:D :D :D :D

My last name has a "plural" sound to it (with body part overtones). Silver's maiden name is the same word (spelled differently) but in "singular".

To protect our identity, I will not put the actual name...but Silver's name would be akin to Jone-Jones (if she hadn't dropped the maiden - fearing that it would sound like she was stuttering!).

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Originally Posted by Mr. Silver

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To protect our identity, I will not put the actual name...but Silver's name would be akin to Jone-Jones (if she hadn't dropped the maiden - fearing that it would sound like she was stuttering!).

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Or incestuous:eek:

Where have I been? This thread is hilarious!

I had a girl in a class this year named Chardonnay.

I knew an Evan Evans.

I went to school with Shady Lane, and knew a Misty Dawn.

I met a man named Mr. Sansregret (I loved that one!).

One branch of my family was descended from William of Orange, and one matriarch gave each of her many children the middle name of "Orange."

I knew a guy named Falcon. I kind of like some of those names.

I like the names I can actually spell and pronounce, at least for the most part, at first glance.

I CANNOT believe the Abcde's. I mean?????

I once knew a Dancing Water.

I insured a car for a Mercedes. She was driving something considerably less prestigious.

I had a teacher whose maiden name was Sandy Beach.

In my father's catholic family, all of the boys had the middle name Joseph and all of the girls had the middle name Mary.

I had an Aunty Bunny. I did not know her name was Agnes until she passed away.

My own name is actually misspelled. My parents meant to name me after the beautiful, young, flower loving Saint Therese of Liseux; but instead I am named after the staunch german nun St. Teresa. Darn.

Hugs and butterflies,
~T~

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Originally Posted by LBTC

My own name is actually misspelled. My parents meant to name me after the beautiful, young, flower loving Saint Therese of Liseux; but instead I am named after the staunch german nun St. Teresa. Darn.

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Hey, as Gump would say, "Namesake is as namesake does!" If you are more beautiful, young and flower-loving than staunch, claim Therese!

My brother had a friend in elementary school named "George George George."

For a long time one of the popular trivia bits here at the University of Washington was the Forestry professor named "Anne Forrest Burns." (her picture is still on the wall in the Forestry department.)

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

My brother had a friend in elementary school named "George George George."

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Which bring us to the offspring of George Foreman. How many sons does he have named George?

Daughters named George, too, I believe... or is that another of those urban myths?

Why oh why do i have such a boring name???

Urgh..at least my parents didn't call me Sale or Half...those of you who know my last name will understand...

I get stuck with plain boring..Cheryl..

I almost feel like ann of green gables when i see the last line i just wrote..:o

C

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Originally Posted by KnottedYet

Daughters named George, too, I believe... or is that another of those urban myths?

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I do know a woman named George, but she's not related to Foreman. She's a Political Science professor in North Carolina.

I went to school with a girl named Kennie. She had electric blond cork-screw curled hair and was completely insane and tons of fun. She was definately a kennie.
The one name that doesn't get me is Trudie, my mother's and great aunt's name. I can see a woman named Trudie, but I couldn't imagine a little girl named Trudie, just seems too grown up.

Just got back from a trip into town to forage for food. The local florist has a message board out front and a birth announcement is displayed - the new baby's first name is Camry. Thankfully her last name is NOT Toyota! :eek:

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Originally Posted by missymaya

I went to school with a girl named Kennie. She had electric blond cork-screw curled hair and was completely insane and tons of fun. She was definately a kennie.
The one name that doesn't get me is Trudie, my mother's and great aunt's name. I can see a woman named Trudie, but I couldn't imagine a little girl named Trudie, just seems too grown up.

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Yeah, but Trudie comes from Gertrude, which is HORRIBLE..

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Originally Posted by IFjane

Just got back from a trip into town to forage for food. The local florist has a message board out front and a birth announcement is displayed - the new baby's first name is Camry. Thankfully her last name is NOT Toyota! :eek:

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I wonder what Camry will name HER daughter. Pepsi?

I thought of a couple more:

A girl a grade above me in middle school was Stormi Seay
A girl in middle school's mother did not have to change her name when she married! Her maiden name was Hall and they could find no common relatives.

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Originally Posted by mimitabby

I wonder what Camry will name HER daughter. Pepsi?

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Yes, but spelled pe'Pcee :p

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Originally Posted by Starfish

Yes, but spelled pe'Pcee :p

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:D :D :D ROTFL:D :D :D

No one mentioned lemonjello's twin - orangejello.

I've seen Notorious, Wonderful, Seagram and Trainnieyana Kenosha Mercedes.
Also Queen, Queen Mary, LaVern, Seagram, Lavoris and Dentyne- the last 4 are men
This is the south and we have a lot of last names for girl's first names- Taylor, Stider and Dabney (corrupted from D'Abinee)

I work with a woman whose middle name is Elmer and my Dad's name is
Thoy Lee.

My university has a football player named Javorsky (first name).

I once knew a Raffi Kevorkian

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Originally Posted by Hub

I've seen Notorious, Wonderful, Seagram and Trainnieyana Kenosha Mercedes.
Also Queen, Queen Mary, LaVern, Seagram, Lavoris and Dentyne- the last 4 are men

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Just when you think it can't get any better along come Lavoris and Dentyne.

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Originally Posted by Aggie_Ama

My university has a football player named Javorsky (first name).

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Heehee, for some reason his whole name Javorsky Lane is what cracks me up. With Javorsky, he could just be foreign, but you add in his last name, and you realize he's not:D

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Originally Posted by TexanCzexican

Heehee, for some reason his whole name Javorsky Lane is what cracks me up. With Javorsky, he could just be foreign, but you add in his last name, and you realize he's not:D

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Yes, we have debated where they got the name over many game watching parties. And I am sorry it is Javorskie!

There is also L'Tiddrick. If Tiddrick wasn't bad enough let's add to it.