What can someone deduce about you based on the names you gave your DC?

[Sharon H in IL]

Since naming their children is likely one of the most well thought out decisions people are going to make, how much can you tell about a person based on that?

 

The larger the number of children, the more accurate the guess, one would think, eh? Though one probably has to allow the other parent some say. :D

 

I'm a traditionalist, and my DH is enough of one to permit the traditional names I prefer. He just nixed Philip/Phillip. Probably out of jealousy about that cute 8 year old I once knew in 2nd grade. :tongue_smilie:

[GailV]

People would deduce that we're French. They would be wrong.

[Garga]

What an interesting question. My kids are Logan and Eric. They might have been Calvin or Elliott as well. Those were what we were considering. Mostly traditional, but with a dash of unique. Meaning, they're not John or Matthew, which are totally, completely traditional. You don't meet a whole lot of Elliotts. Just a few.

 

Of course, when we named him Logan we'd never heard of another Logan, and now every other kid we meet is named Logan. I think it's because Wolverine in X-Men is named Logan and once everyone heard that they all started naming their kids Logan.

 

And Eric is because I always loved Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid. Maybe it was just the way Ariel said his name, "Prince Eric..." It seemed dreamy.

[Renee in NC]

What an interesting question. My kids are Logan and Eric. They might have been Calvin or Elliott as well. Those were what we were considering. Mostly traditional, but with a dash of unique. Meaning, they're not John or Matthew, which are totally, completely traditional. You don't meet a whole lot of Elliotts. Just a few.

 

Of course, when we named him Logan we'd never heard of another Logan, and now every other kid we meet is named Logan. I think it's because Wolverine in X-Men is named Logan and once everyone heard that they all started naming their kids Logan.

 

And Eric is because I always loved Prince Eric in The Little Mermaid. Maybe it was just the way Ariel said his name, "Prince Eric..." It seemed dreamy.

 

I didn't know Wolverine was Logan - I have a Logan, too, but I found it on a list of names that was popular in the beginning of the 1900s!

[elegantlion]

People who know my dh's family would deduce that my dh adored his dad. He passed away when dh was little. Our son is named directly for him, being the II, not jr.

 

People that don't know his family might deduce it is a biblical name.

[danielle]

Dd and I have French names. So do all the pets:

Dog: Beauregard ("good looking")

Cats: Cadeau ("gift"--found stray)

Fantome ("ghost"--found around Halloween)

Minou (traditional French cat name)

I guess dh sorta fits: Paul

Danielle

[kokotg]

That we're....quirky?

 

Or, based just on DS #1, that we're Jewish. We're not, but my father in law is, so he also has a very Jewish last name. I ran the name by a (Jewish) friend in grad school to see what he thought, and he said, "I'd just be worried people might keep asking him to say Kaddish."

 

Overall, our names inspire people to suggest to us the wacky names that they like but aren't quite brave enough to use themselves. When I was pregnant with Gus, a friend, whose kids all have names in the top 20, said, "I think you should name him Thor. If I ever had another boy, I'd name him Thor." Yeah, sure you would.

[cathmom]

I tried to convince dh to name this new baby boy "Thorbjörn" meaning "Thor's bear."

 

As you can guess, he didn't go for it!

 

For our actual dc's names, you could probably assume there is some Irish in our background. If you knew the middle names, you would rightly guess that we have an affinity for the archangels.

[*********]

People may assume that we're either Christian (which we are) or Jewish, possibly? Both sons have names of Old Testament prophets. In fact, each has a book of the bible named after them. :)

 

I'm sure I shouldn't, but when someone acts as if they've never heard my younger son's name (which happens frequently), and especially if they ask me to spell it (it's spelled exactly how it sounds), then I assume they don't read the Old Testament much. While I've never met another person with the same name that we gave him, I've known the name since a young girl in sunday school.

[Trivium Academy]

Camille - traditional, old-fashioned name. French comes from Camilla. One website says that Camille means perfect, although when I picked it it meant 'maiden'

 

CAMILLA Gender: Feminine

Usage: English, Italian, Scandinavian, Finnish, Ancient Roman, Roman Mythology

Pronounced: kə-MIL-ə (English), kah-MEEL-ah (Italian) [key]

Feminine form of CAMILLUS. This was the name of a legendary warrior maiden of the Volsci, as told by Virgil in the 'Aeneid'. It was popularized in the English-speaking world by Fanny Burney's novel 'Camilla' (1796).

 

Monique- her middle name, named after her French grandmother- also coincidently my mother's other choice for my first name. French form of Monica.

 

MONICA Gender: Feminine

Usage: English, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian

Pronounced: MAHN-i-kə (English) [key]

Meaning unknown, most likely of North African or Phoenician origin. In the 4th century this name was borne by the North African saint Monica of Hippo, the mother of Saint Augustine, whom she converted to Christianity. Since the Middle Ages it has been associated with Latin moneo "advisor" and Greek monos "one". As an English name, Monica has been in general use since the 18th century.

 

Daniel - my choice b/c I wanted a 'Danny'

 

DANIEL Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, Jewish, French, German, Scandinavian, Polish, Czech, Spanish, Portuguese, Romanian, Biblical

Pronounced: DAN-yul (English), dah-nee-EL (Hebrew), dan-YEL (French), DAH-nee-el (German), DAHN-yel (Polish) [key]

From the Hebrew name דָנִיֵּאל (Daniyyel) meaning "God is my judge". Daniel was a Hebrew prophet whose story is told in the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament. He lived during the Jewish captivity in Babylon, where he served in the court of the king, rising to prominence by interpreting the king's dreams. The book also presents Daniel's four visions of the end of the world.Due to the popularity of the biblical character, the name came into use in England during the Middle Ages. Though it became rare by the 15th century, it was revived after the Protestant Reformation. Famous bearers of this name include English author Daniel Defoe (1660-1731), Swiss mathematician Daniel Bernoulli (1700-1782), and American frontiersman Daniel Boone (1734-1820).

 

Wayne- his middle name, dh's choice b/c his and his father's middle name is Wayne, honoring family tradition. Not my choice so it says nothing about me at all other than I'm loyal and traditional.

 

WAYNE Gender: Masculine

Usage: English

Pronounced: WAYN [key]

From an occupational surname meaning "wagon maker", derived from Old English wægn "wagon". Use of it as a given name can be partly attributed to the popularity of the actor John Wayne (1907-1979). Another famous bearer is Canadian hockey player Wayne Gretzky (1961-), generally considered the greatest player in the history of the sport.

 

Information comes from Behind the Name

[Jenny in Florida]

They would probably assume that we are English (a bit, but not for a generation or two) and/or that we make a lot more money than we really do.

 

Having both grown up with very, very common (and, in my case, trendy) names, we determined not to do that to our kids. However, we also didn't want to name them anything "weird" or made up. And I, personally, am very concerned with what names mean.

 

So, we looked for names that are real, old-fashioned, classic names with a history and underlying meanings that resonated. They ended up with names that sound very "classy" and are familiar enough not to cause them trouble but rare enough that they almost never meet anyone else with the same name.

 

We're happy.

[Jenny in Florida]

"I think you should name him Thor. If I ever had another boy, I'd name him Thor." Yeah, sure you would.

 

Would you believe that we have a relative who named her son Thor?

[Just Another Jen]

You'd guess that we were looking for Irish names that were not weird. But, I didn't go unusual enough- almost all the names have become popular.

[Jenny in Florida]

I'm sure I shouldn't, but when someone acts as if they've never heard my younger son's name (which happens frequently), and especially if they ask me to spell it (it's spelled exactly how it sounds), then I assume they don't read the Old Testament much.

 

When someone doesn't recognize my daughter's name, can't pronounce or spell it, I assume they don't read much.

[amyable]

Ummm, that we're boring? :lol:

 

Seriously, our kids for the most part have very common, traditional names.

[SquirrellyMama]

If my dh hadn't named our second child all of my children would have had names that could be shortened for a nickname. I suppose my 2nd child could but I'm not fond of Al for a little boy. I try to call him AJ but he doesn't like that.

 

Growing up with a name that couldn't be shortened and no nickname had an effect on me. Not sure why that is. I just read an article somewhere that said that nicknames make kids feel like they belong. Maybe that was my issue.

 

Kelly

[Miss Marple]

That we are Jewish - which we are not.

[Jumping In Puddles]

Ummm, that we're boring? :lol:

 

Seriously, our kids for the most part have very common, traditional names.

 

That is what I was going to say! :D

First choice for our boy: William

Second choice: Ryan.

First choice for our girl: Lauren

Second choice: Leah

[Parrothead]

I suppose someone would think we at least read the bible. But we didn't pick dd's name because it is Biblical. I got her name from part of my grandmother's first name and her middle name then mushed them together and added a "y." Dd;s middle name is a derivative of dh's mothers name.

[PrairieAir]

Caleb Michael

Jordan Renee

Joshua Lee

Naomi Ruth

 

Are children's first names are all biblical names. I like the name Joshua, but it's common, so I wouldn't have picked it if we didn't already have a Caleb. I suppose people might deduce that we hold the Bible in high esteem? That we've read the Bible? That we're Christian? I don't know. It probably points somewhere in that direction and any of those would be correct.

 

Naomi is not named after the Naomi of the Bible so much as she is after a dear friend whose death we learned of the day I found out I was pregnant. Driving home from the doctor I knew I was going to have a girl and that I wanted to name her Naomi. It's not a name I would ever have considered otherwise, but it's a good one.

 

Caleb's middle name is after my dad's first name and Josh's is after dh's dad's middle name. I wanted to honor my dad and I thought it would be nice to honor dh's as well. Dh's dad's name is Terry, a name I don't particularly care for, so we picked his middle name. A few months after naming the baby Joshua Lee, we learned that FIL had always hated his middle name. Apparently there was a Barbie knock-off named Terry Lee when he was in school and he was constantly teased about it. I would never have picked Lee if I didn't think it would be a nice nod to FIL since it's kind of a bland name. It works nicely with Joshua though.

 

Naomi's middle name, Ruth is after my Gram, my dad's mom. It seemed a natural choice to go with Naomi.

 

Renee just goes nicely with Jordan. It's not a name I care much for on it's own, but it seems to go well with a lot of things and makes a good middle name. The two together mean "descending rebirth" and we liked the significance of that. The idea to name dd Jordan came from the movie Cocktail. What the heck is wrong with me?:tongue_smilie: Dh and I both thought it was a pretty name and at the time it seemed uncommon. I guess a lot of people watched Cocktail! Her initials are the same as mine, her birthday is the day before mine, and we weighed and measured the same at birth, so I figure she is sorta named after me. Jordan is fairly common, but it is not quite the Jennifer of the 90s so I did her better than my mother did me:D

[slug hollow]

I think they could easily deduce that my given name was far too common for my tastes!

Motherhood has been a great journey (Odessa), the ultimate experience (Maximus) and a joy to proclaim for all to hear (Horatio).

[Aubrey]

People always think we're Catholic.

 

John Michael

Elizabeth Grace

Abigail Gabriella

Caedmon Paul

[5kidsforME]

That we are boring and unimaginative. :D

 

Nicholas John

Charles Gregory

Benjamin Dennis

[abbeyej]

I like the name Joshua, but it's common, so I wouldn't have picked it if we didn't already have a Caleb.

 

This may have come up before, but my parents named my brothers Caleb and Joshua also... All of us had an Anglicized Old Testament name, and then a more traditional English name (though Caleb's are in reverse order).

[clarkacademy]

That in some ways I like Irish names. Especially when you add in mine. I like different that is for sure. With my last child though I was over the top and let my older name her. My daughter is 11 Devlin Lucille, Devlin was just different and cool and it had to be a D because of mine. Lucille for my beloved grandma who I lost way to early. Damian Alexander 10 I promised my mother to let her name my first son when I was 9. Gotta keep those promises. The whole start with a D end with an N was an acciedent. Third child was a boy I wanted Caleb Fox OH NO everyone hounded it must start and end like the other two. No names I found everyone agreed so finally I went online the first boy name that began with D and ended with N was what I used Dillon but I hated the spelling so I went with Irish spellin which is Dylan his middle name and what he actually goes by is Fox after my big brother. Now last and final child little girl, I wanted Piper Jaqueline noone agreed. Everyone liked Daylin but I was over that so finally I put names I liked and let my daughter pick. Skyler Bay. So I guess people could say she is into different as well as family names. But I am sure that after people meet me they just think I am off my rocket anyway!!!!

[abbeyej]

That we're literary... European background, probably Christian, I suppose...

 

Tristan Joshua

Flannery Heloise

 

(and maybe that I have a thing for doomed medieval lovers?)

[sweetfeet]

When someone doesn't recognize my daughter's name, can't pronounce or spell it, I assume they don't read much.

 

Yeah, my son's name is Atticus. I can't believe how many people ask me how I came up with that one.:lol:

 

My daughter's name is Sophie Claire, which sounds french.

[KarenNC]

Would you believe that we have a relative who named her son Thor?

 

Well, we have acquaintances who recently named their son Woden (secular Jews, which seemed a bit jarring to me) and have met someone who named her daughter Tiamat. Have to admit these are not names that usually leap to mind.

 

For us, we went with Sarah Elizabeth, after grandmother and great grandmother. Perhaps not names that lead one to expect that we are not exactly mainstream in much of any group. :001_smile:

Edited November 14, 2008 by KarenNC

[Jami]

People always think we're Catholic.

 

John Michael

Elizabeth Grace

Abigail Gabriella

Caedmon Paul

 

I did not know Grace was Elizabeth Grace. :)

[Karen in CO]

My ds was named after a relative based on a long family tradition. My dd was named by her brother. No one could figure out a name for the youngest until she was born, then we all looked at her and came up with the same name when she was about 10 minutes old.

 

My ds's middle name was chosen from a race horse. My oldest dd's middle name was chosen because dh thought it was funny. And the youngest dd's middle name was chosen by her sister.

 

So just looking at their names, I don't think that the group of names actually reflects anything about me, unless you know the story of the names and that does reflect a lot about me.

[Jami]

Let's see...that we like older Latin/English names? That we try and find classic names at the same time every other parent wants to do the same thing so we end up with top 10 names anyway.

 

Bennett Daniel

Olivia Katherine

Sophia Joanna

Norah Lillian/Norah Grace/Norah Elizabeth (still working on that middle name)

[PariSarah]

Our first son has an Old Testament name, our second has New Testament names.

 

Our first son has a non-nicknameable name, we call our second son by a nickname for his MIDDLE name. And we're not totally opposed to him changing it to another nickname if he really hates his name.

 

Our first son's name is traditional but not common; our second son's first name is the most common there is and his middle name (by which we call him) is just plain batty.

 

Our first son's name has a meaning referencing what God gave us (laughter); our second son's name's meaning refers to what we hope God gives to him (friendship with God).

 

There are only two points of consistency. We deliberately chose a first name with no family connections for Isaac, and a middle name with family connections. We reversed the order for Theo, but the point was the same--we wanted the name by which we called them to be their own, but we wanted to honor family with their other name.

 

And both sons' names were selected with attention to how it would look on the cover of their first book. :D

[mo2]

That we are hippies. :D

[swellmomma]

Well with ds1, they would assume we were irish Austin John Patrick (complete with an irish surname) truth is he is a 5th generation Austin and 4th generation John Patrick these names are important to the family

 

They would assume that we forgot how to spell when we named dd1 Ceilidh Joyce in truth Her name is a the gaelic spelling, thanks to her father who was in pipe band, Her middle name is after my beloved grandmother who died just months before I got pg with Austin, and whom I promised I would name my first daughter after when she was on her death bed.

 

When it came to ds2 Hunter Andrew, a lot of my neighbors thought I named him after the teenage neighbor (andrew)that liked to hang out in my house, the truth is I named him after a dear friend of mine, who despite the fact he was a 22 yr old virgin and not the father of my baby cleared his scedule and acted as my birthing coach for my delivery. The name Hunter I just loved.

 

dd2 I don't know what people would assume, I just wanted a pretty name Isabelle Rose, I only learned later Isabelle means devoted to God, which is cool because I had just been baptized about 6 weeks before I got pg with her and was just really starting on my journey of becoming a christian.

[emeraldjoy]

OH MY, I never wondered what people would assume; maybe I should have..... Defintitely biblical something or other which is to certain degrees both true and untrue. That we were bored maybe.....or indecisive???

 

Jada Rose Serene

Moses David Augustus

Elias James Shalom

yet to be here.....maybe today!!!!!! is Justice Raphael ?.

[joannqn]

You would probably guess that we are Christian (and be correct). We have...

 

Mikaela Nathene (feminine for Michael Nathaniel)

Samual Isaac

Joshua Aaron

 

Then we messed up the trend when we named the baby that we lost a couple months ago. His name is Ethan Jeffrey. Ethan is a Biblical name but not Jeffrey.

 

We choose names on how they sound together and on their meaning. They have to have a good meaning.

[Jenny in Florida]

[Drat. I did it again. Deleting unfinished, duplicate post.]

[Jenny in Florida]

Yeah, my son's name is Atticus. I can't believe how many people ask me how I came up with that one.:lol:

 

My daughter's name is Sophie Claire, which sounds french.

 

Oh, I love Atticus! Sophie Claire is pretty, too. But Atticus is one of my all-time favorite literary characters, and one couldn't ask for a better role model for a boy.

[Haiku]

That we didn't know how to properly spell/pronounce our children's names. Or, if they actually saw our kids, that they were adopted and their names reflect their birth culture.

 

Tara

[Michelle in GA]

One would assume that my dh and I are both traditional and Christian(We are). However, my dd's name (Mary) would make one assume that we are Catholic, which we are not.

[Spy Car]

People think we have very limited imaginations as both grandfathers, my son, and I are named:

 

William.

 

And my mother, wife, cousin, uncle, and grandfather are all named Carol/Carole/Carroll.

 

What a bunch :tongue_smilie:

 

Bill

[SonshineLearner]

About Jami's...."Norah Lillian/Norah Grace/Norah Elizabeth (still working on that middle name)"

couldn't get my quote button to work!

 

Norah...how sweet. My grandma was Nora and her middle name was Ellen. She was the sweetest on earth. It ended up that both of my g-mas had Ellen for a middle name...so my daughter's middle name was....Ellen:-)

I also know a homeschooled girl...(now woman, I suppose:-) who's name is Nora and she is very nice. Her sister's name is Missouri :-)

:-)

[RoughCollie]

My kids have what I call white bread names, courtesy of DH being very conservative.

 

The boys' first names come from the New Testament. You would not believe how many people point that out to me. Their first names are Andrew, James and Stephen.

 

DD's name is reminiscent of the Bible on purpose, but no one notices that: Olivia. Her middle name is Catherine, after the Chatty Cathy doll I loved when I was a child.

 

I thought that DD's name would be rare, but when she was 2, I took her to the park in our small town and there were 3 other babies and toddlers there with her name and one of them had her middle name, too.

 

I nearly named the boys interesting names when I was given the birth certificate form to fill out in the hospital, and DH was not there. Then I realized that such a practical joke would be time-consuming to fix and that DH would probably not find it humorous.

 

Something like: January Skye or Skye Cameron for Olivia. And Eagle Feather, and names of that ilk, for the boys. If the boys had been girls, I might have named them April, May, and June, or three flower names. Tacky is my middle name, I guess.

 

About the closest I got to an unusual name was when I found out DD was girl, I told everyone who asked that we were going to name her "Indoor Plumbing". No one got that little joke.

 

RC

[AnnetteB]

Back in the good old days when we actually trailed around with all eight or nine children in tow, people would ask their names and hope that there wouldn't be a "test." DH and I compromised on most of the names, but he let me name two of them :) He preferred traditional names to the more romantic names. When we named our eighth child, people assumed that we meant something like, "Lord, have Mercy" and I was just thinking that Mercy was a lovely attribute and a pretty name. I was surprised at their reactions and then we would just laugh it off.

Edited November 15, 2008 by AnnetteB

[newbie]

That I love Russian history.

[Crissy]

People think we have very limited imaginations as both grandfathers, my son, and I are named:

 

William.

 

 

Bill

Many of my favorite people in this world are named William.

They are the reason it is my older son's middle name.

[KidsHappen]

And never has a child been more appropriately named. I also have two other children with rather unusual names: Rhianna and Asia. I was going for the same with the other two but apparently tons of other people got the same idea and I now have one of a million different Kelseys and Mirandas. We got Miranda's name from Shakespeare and the only other Kelsey I had every heard of was Kelsey Grammar (a buy). I was quite surprised to hear so many of them running around. We were originally going to go with Raven with Miranda but we weren't sure that she would be dark haired (she is). And if I have Kelsey to do over again I would have probably went with some thing a little more original like Sydney ot Whitney.

[abbeyej]

Well, one of my dd is named Stormy.

 

 

I had a goat named "Stormy" once upon a time... ;)

[TraceyS/FL]

That we should have child #3 starting with a C :glare:

 

DH picked first names for #1 & 2, i did middle. He picked common popular names im sure anyone could guess.

 

A____

B____

 

I picked #3 - first and last and wouldn't tell anyone because i didn't want to hear about it. Now i hear "she should have had a "C" name". NOT.

 

M_______ :D

[myfunnybunch]

Dh and joke about this--people will think that we've got a fondness for the letters L, v, and i.

 

We've got a Calvin, Oliver, Levi.

 

And family is important, as each boy (and one daughter) has a family name for either his first or middle name.

 

The girls have more traditional names, but as we each had a dd from our previous marriages, we didn't name them together.

 

Cat