How much do you care about the meaning of a name?

FirstBabyMomma

I love the name Mallory, but apparently it means 'unlucky.' Does the meaning of a name affect whether or not you would use it?

PhilsWife07

I knew this would be about the name Mallory before I even opened the post.

The meaning of a name is one of the last things I consider. When will it ever even come up in conversation?

I love the name Mallory and I'd use it despite the meaning.

kerribear1717

It's a nice name.  I wouldn't care about the meaning.  DS's name means like wolf lover.

baloneydisc

We never even looked up the meanings of names we were considering.

SpokenVows

Meanings are very important to us, but I think we're in the minority. In our families, name meaning comes up a lot, so it's always been important to us.

dairygirl19

Yeah..unless it meant like skank or prostitute I don't care at all.

It's not something anyone I know ever discusses.

That and I feel like every name means about 3 different things lately depending on what site you check, what book you pick up and what culture you associate it with. I feel there's no clear cut answer like their was years ago.

I adore Mallory.

rainbowbiitch

I thought about Mallory when I saw the subject of this post.

No, Mallory is one name I wouldn't use because of it's meaning and I usually could care less about meanings, but that one bothers me.

FirstBabyMomma

rainbowbiitch:

I thought about Mallory before I opened this post.

No, Mallory is one name I wouldn't use because of it's meaning.

The fact that two of you already knew it was going to be about Mallory makes me think that more people know the meaning that I would have expected. Hmmm.... something to think about.

led2009

I had no idea Mallory meant unlucky. I know a Mallory and she's a grat person with a great DH and 2 great kids. I'd probably still use it. I actually thought it was going to be about Mara (bitter). But I know a cute little gir with that name too. Meaning doesn't really play a huge part for me.

caramia582

PhilsWife07:

I knew this would be about the name Mallory before I even opened the post.

or Cameron.... 

magnoliablossom00

I am in the minority also. We very strongly care about the name's history, origin, and meaning. I also care if it's a religious name. However, the meaning doesn't have to be fabulous or anything, just nothing bad. I used to love the name Carter (and still do) but found out the meaning is "one who pushes a cart." Bummer.

If it really doesn't matter to you, then use it! Mallory is a very beautiful name and not too common. I think meaning only matters if you and your husband believe that it does, kwim?

June2007

It's kind of important to me. DD#1 name means 'ford at the oak tree' from Scottish/Gaelic origins, some say its English beginning means "Noble" or a form of "edgar" , which aren't entirely significant to me but it's not bad either. DD#2 means 'wished for child' (its an Americanized version of Aibhlinn) which I liked! I think if a meaning was really bad, I wouldn't like it as much. Emily means 'rival' but a lot of people dont seem to mind!

hgfmom

If you love the name, I don't think you should let it stop you. I never looked into my kids' meanings until after we picked their names. If it has a cool meaning, thats just an added bonus.

plunderb

I find that the name etymologies you find in baby name books and online are often tortured to the point of irrelevance. You could say that "Katelyn" means "pure" because it's a modern American spelling of the Irish Caitlin, which is a version of Catherine, which may be related to the Greek root that gives us words like "catharsis," but no one's actually sure about that. Lots of names are like that when it comes to their "meanings."

Unless the name is a word independent of the name (lily, river, serenity, hope, etc.), I don't care at all.

ajetter

FirstBabyMomma:

rainbowbiitch:

I thought about Mallory before I opened this post.

No, Mallory is one name I wouldn't use because of it's meaning.

The fact that two of you already knew it was going to be about Mallory makes me think that more people know the meaning that I would have expected. Hmmm.... something to think about.

This isn't necessarily an accurate sampling of the public though. I've only been stopping by this board for a couple of weeks, and I've seen Mallory and it's meaning mentioned twice. I wouldn't have known had I not read a post on this board.

The meaning of a name might make me question how much I truly love the name, but if ultimately I still loved the name I'd get over it.  

lovebug33

I don't really care. I looked up the meaning of her name, but I don't even remember now! That said, I'd never name my child Mallory because I've taught two and they were bratty and snotty little girls!

 

HAFranklin

No, meanings are not important to me. Maybe because my own name (Heather) means "flowering shrub". 

DS's name means "Dark and swarthy", which does not describe him whatsoever.

I had no idea what the name we chose for DD meant until I just looked it up now. Apparently, it means "Honor" which is nice.

I love the name Mallory, and if DH hadn't vetoed it, I would have used it in a heartbeat.  

lily_721

rainbowbiitch:

I thought about Mallory when I saw the subject of this post.

No, Mallory is one name I wouldn't use because of it's meaning and I usually could care less about meanings, but that one bothers me.

I thought of Mallory as well when I read the post.  I think it is a beautiful name but the meaning is too much for me.  I have also seen the meaning to be "unhappy."  I wouldn't use it.  Usually I don't care much about the meanings...

TofuMama7

I look up the meanings for the names on our list, but we don't really factor it in. The meaning we do value is using a family name as the middle name (there we care more about honoring someone than how it flows with the first name). I think the name Mallory is beautiful.

FWIW I looked up Calvin, which means "bald", and it's still on our list.

ObLaDi

A positive meaning is a nice plus, but I'm ok with a neutral meaning.

An actively bad meaning would be a problem for me.

I've always disliked Mallory. While I didn't know it specifically meant "unlucky," mal- is always a negative prefix. 

SEWF

Eh. If our LO is a boy, we plan on using Malcolm as a first name. "Mal" in Spanish means "bad". Whatever. We like the name.

Zimger

It matters to me quite a bit because imparting my families traditions and values is very important to me. This is just one way we are choosing to pass down our values. I study my families history very intently I prefer to use a name that has meaning for us both through them having been our ancestors names and through the meanings themselves. I am usually drawn to names that mean protection/warrior, healer, poet/philosopher because these are a part of our family history.

MrsTBird

ObLaDi:

A positive meaning is a nice plus, but I'm ok with a neutral meaning.

An actively bad meaning would be a problem for me.

This. I posted a few days ago about how MH really takes a name's meaning into consideration. He found that our DS' name, Rhys, meant 'enthusiasm' and was completely sold on it. Any name I bring up to him, he usually wants to know the meaning. So even though we're in the minority, a decent meaning is a part of our criteria. 

However, I found Joy's post really interesting about the Chinese people she worked with knowing their name meanings. MH is Asian so I'm curious if that plays a big part in his love for name's meanings. 

With that being said, I would not pick Mallory. But again, that's just me. 

persephonerose

I think the meaning of a name does affect me but in a bit opposite of your situation. DH LOVES the name Donovan. I really did not care for it because I hate Don and Donnie and those are the obvious nicknames people are going to go for and I will have to spend forever telling people NO.  I like proper names for the most part. However, once I saw the meaning of the name it influence my opinion on it. Since my husband is of Spanish descent, the meaning dark haired chieftain sounded like a good fit.

Meaning has some affect, be it family name or general perceived meaning. I personally would not use Mallory because it reminds me of the annoying chick from Family Ties and even more recently I watched a tv show called Archer (?) with a Mallory. 

However, I agree with PP if you Love the name then that is all that really matters. Public opinion will always vary.

 

PinkPeony6210

I don't think I looked up the meaning of Ella, or Kate until after my girls were born. 

MelissaRae1525

It would only bother me if the name meaning had a really bad connotation and was very well known, like Satan or something. FWIW I didn't know Mallory's meaning but I am not surprised because of the Mal- beginning.

queenbone

I factor the meaning of a name into our name selection, but it doesn't necessarily rule out names completely. I adore the meaning of DS1's name "Divine gift", but DS2's name means "free man" which isn't too exciting compared to the first.  

However, I'm a little bit superstitious so I'd probably avoid a name with a negative connotation like "unlucky."

FirstBabyMomma

MelRC117:

FirstBabyMomma:

rainbowbiitch:

I thought about Mallory before I opened this post.

No, Mallory is one name I wouldn't use because of it's meaning.

The fact that two of you already knew it was going to be about Mallory makes me think that more people know the meaning that I would have expected. Hmmm.... something to think about.

This board isn't the general public though. Many on this board just have a thing for baby names.

I think like a PP said, you determine the meaning of a name.  

Good point!

FirstBabyMomma

lovebug33:

I don't really care. I looked up the meaning of her name, but I don't even remember now! That said, I'd never name my child Mallory because I've taught two and they were bratty and snotty little girls!

 

Ha! I am a teacher too- I have only had one Mallory and she was a sweetheart, so it hasn't been ruined for me yet. A lot of names have been, though. 

LoCarb

I don't care about meaning. I love DD2's name and hate the meaning.  I love the name Mallory.  Forget about the meaning, you should care what I think of the name j/k of course!

Todd&Laura

PhilsWife07:

I knew this would be about the name Mallory before I even opened the post.

The meaning of a name is one of the last things I consider. When will it ever even come up in conversation?

I love the name Mallory and I'd use it despite the meaning.

This 

jlh2716

I do care about the meaning of a name, but that's just one of my little name hang-ups. So no, I wouldn't use a name that had an unpleasant meaning. But, again, that's probably just me! lol

KatieLG04

It influences my decision a lot.  The meaning needs to mean something to me for me to really like a name.  I really think we take on qualities of our name, so I would avoid anything that means something negative, but that's just me.

KarmB

I care 0%

I like to know but could careless

PhilsWife07

FirstBabyMomma:

rainbowbiitch:

I thought about Mallory before I opened this post.

No, Mallory is one name I wouldn't use because of it's meaning.

The fact that two of you already knew it was going to be about Mallory makes me think that more people know the meaning that I would have expected. Hmmm.... something to think about.

Only because it gets brought up on this board fairly regularly. I'm sure if you polled a hundred people on the street very few of them would know the meaning.