February 9, 2008
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Names that Mean Something
When I first saw Firefly one of the things that struck me was the name River.
I can’t help it. I absolutely love that name! It’s a name chalk full of
meaning and significance. It’s a powerful name and it sounds cool too.In a book I’ve been reading the main heroine’s name is Nest.
That name’s not as primordial as River but I like it a lot too! Again
it invokes the thought of many different ideas and concepts. It has a
sort of power to it.Speaking of names with power, there’s a manga I read where the main character’s name was Light. Now that one might be a little too over the top with its meaningfulness. But I like it too. It sounds cool!
I was thinking that it’s so odd that so many names don’t mean anything.
Most of the names I’ve heard don’t mean a thing. The names might have
history to them, but they don’t often have any inherent meaning in the
language. My real name is like that. Almost everybody I know’s name is
like that. At least their American names are like that. Those who come
from other cultures often have another name that does have a direct
meaning to it. So why are so many English or American names so devoid
of meaning?Maybe it’s jut that most words in English don’t make good names? I
don’t think so! There have got to be lots of words in English that
would make great names. Haven’t there? Names like River and Nest and
Light are some good ones definitely. Here are a few more:Delta - This name’s great because of its multiple meanings. But mostly
because Delta is used usually as the term for Change. The word Change
makes a terrible name, but Delta works great.Tale – It’d be cool to name someone something that invokes the idea of
a story or a narrative and the word “Tale” makes the best sounding nameSpire – This name invokes the idea of someone achieving great heights in their life. I love it
OK, so that’s all I could come up with off the top of my head. Pathetic I know. There have got to be tons more.
So you tell me! What are some other words with meaning that would make great names?
Comments (8)
I love Lost. They’ve made great use of historical and famous figures for names: Rousseau, Locke, Hume, Faraday, Lepidus. The names almost always has an immediate implication in the character’s purpose or personality.
@huginn - I love the names in Lost too. But it’s so weird sometimes! John Locke is nothing like John Locke!
@nephyo - A bit. The philosphical John Locke believed in the tabula rasa. The Lost John Locke believed that each person should be able to choose their own destinies. A microcosm of this when John led a group to the Peral station in season 3. When Nikki and Paublo said that they were interested in joinning them , Locke said something to the effects of “sure, it’s a free island.” This was in direct contrast to how Jack leads the group.
Those born to hippie parents managed to get some good ones like Rainbow, Rain, and Peace. I’ve known people by all three names.
Many of our last names came from professions. That’s why you see so many Cooks, Smiths, Bakers, Masons….etc. The other last names came from the son of our father. This gave us Williamson, Jacobson, Michealson, etc. Then, the “on” on the end was dropped off to make another variety.I feel bad for any children given names that set them up for a lifetime of abuse. Is Bertha expected to be beautiful and sexy? Is Harold expected to be cool? Will Agnes or Maude be voted Homecoming Queen? Many names are passed down through the ages out of respect, but they evoke stereotypical personalities in modern-day use.
I don’t know much about english name etymology, but I’d say most likely it’s that the names did closely resemble words at one point, but the language evolved to the point that they’re unrecoignizeable now. And they keep getting passed down through families. I personally hate family names. I find it so unimaginitive.
I always tell my parents I’m going to name my kids Dweezil and Moonbit.
@huginn - When Locke was acting all religious-fanatic-y during one of the earlier seasons with regards to the island that was when he seems to depart largely from the historical Locke. Still I see where you are coming from. But I’m bowing out of this discussion since you clearly know a lot more about Lost than I do.
@polymergoddess - With regards to the names that tend to have negative connotations, I actually think people should use them more! That way the name can become unfettered from the shackles of its history. Once you have a well known hottie named Bertha, maybe Bertha won’t be such a name to cause scorn any more. But I agree if people just don’t like the sound, meaning, or impact of the name, it shouldn’t be passed down just because its in the ‘family’.
@elvesdoitbetter - Dweezil and Moonbit are awesome names!
I think a lot of the “meaningless” names in English are direct ports of names from other languages such as Latin, Greek, and Hebrew that may once have meant something in those other languages. Other names as was suggested earlier come directly from professions and trades, but that usually goes for last names more than first names and I am more concerned with the lack of interesting and meaningful first and middle names in the world. Last names you can’t do a whole lot about.