Name meanings

little_bren · October 2015

How important to you in naming your baby is the meaning?

RyeRye444 · October 2015

Not really at all. To be honest, I don't know the meaning of my daughter's name. I should look it up:)

Knottie1442268460 · October 2015

It's about 25% of the reason I choose a name.

little_bren · October 2015

I'm 99% sure that none of the names mean spawn of Satan so... I'm good.

kanga915 · October 2015

It was very important to me. I only considered names that had either great meanings or family significance (and ended up with both for both my daughters).

little_bren · October 2015

@kanga915 did you choose the meaning first and look up what names meant that or did you choose names you liked and then check if you liked the meaning? Did you wait to see if the baby's appearance fit the meaning? (I know parents who wait to meet the baby to name him or her.)

SmrBrd2012 · October 2015

It factored into the decision for sure but it was mostly to make sure it didn't mean anything negative or ridiculous.

TheHauntedHauswife · October 2015

If i like the name and am indifferent to the meaning, its alright with me.

But if i love the meaning and feel okay about the name, it goes onto the maybe list.

virginiaunicorn11 · October 2015

Meaning was just a nice bonus for me. Though DH liked the name Abigail and loved it even more when he learned it meant something about father's love or something like that.

We had two names for each sex, though a strong preference, and waited til baby arrived to be sure our favorite name fit him.

eastdurian · October 2015

I have no idea what DD's name means, didn't even think to look up the meanings.

KaLikeAWind · October 2015

Name meaning had the most influence on the choice when that name was already on the fence anyway. We have discarded names because of the meaning, and have ended up liking names more after learning a meaning. But with names we loved to begin with, meaning didn't matter very much. The name I really wanted for a daughter has a couple of meanings people would consider negative, but I still would have used the name anyway. We ended up having a boy and as a bonus the meaning for his name is one we quite like and think suits us as a family

We chose names and then looked up meanings. And like @virginiaunicorn11 we had a small list of 2 names and waited until baby was born to decide.

little_bren · October 2015

Thanks for sharing opinions. Curious what the negative meanings were, @mellymar and @SmrBrd2012

KaLikeAWind · October 2015

The name I liked for my girl meant 'bitter' or 'bitterness' and was associated with grief in a biblical story. I still would have used it, though.

SmrBrd2012 · October 2015

@little_bren

This link has some of the ones I came across: https://nameberry.com/blog/good-names-with-bad-bad-meanings

mrstrax · October 2015

It was a bonus for us. However meaning can also rule out a name for me - Mallory is pretty but naming a child "unfortunate" isn't something I can do.
That said, we named DD Lillian Kay:
Lillian - from the lily, symbol of innocence and purity.
Kay - from Katherine, meaning purity.
So yeah... Pure Pure

little_bren · October 2015

Well, who'd a thunk it.

Latina211508 · October 2015

I honestly could care less of the meaning when I named my children. I chose their names because I personally just liked them.

blansaw · October 2015

It means a lot to me. But I'm big on symbolism.

queenwog · October 2015

I don't choose names based on meanings but I do veto them if I don't care for the meaning. One of the names I liked meant "bald," so I scrapped that one.

mvhyde · October 2015

I like to know the meaning of the names I choose, but I didn't look for names that meant a particular thing.
I like to choose based on history of a name (historical role models, family history, mythological characters). I might rule out a name if it had an unfortunate meaning.

But my own name is old enough that no one knows the meaning it could mean sea of bitterness or wished for child or rebelliousness or beloved depending on which language you think the name originated from.

oceanchild · October 2015

Fairy important. It's definitely one of the things I look at. But if I LOVED a name and didn't *love* the meaning I wouldn't be deterred. But I prob couldn't love a name if I hated the meaning.

mb0112 · October 2015

I don't choose names for my list BECAUSE of the meaning, but I do check the meanings on names before adding.

I'd hate for my kid to look up their name meaning one day and see that it is something negative

NathanheartsKim · October 2015

@little_bren A huge part. As in, we kind of make a short list and start looking at the meaning. If I don't like the meaning, It is done for. Period.

neverblushed · October 2015

Only a little important. We picked names and then checked out their meanings.

Both of my kids have names that are traditional, recognizable names that, according to Behind The Name, have been used as first names since about the time of the Protestant Reformation, but are based on older Greek/Arabic words. I am a total dork about etymology, and I would have nixed a name if it meant something negative or off-putting. But there were other factors I considered first.

Gingermom15 · October 2015

It's not terribly significant to me though I do like there to be a positive meaning. If I liked the name well enough it wouldn't matter unless it meant something terrible. I never looked into my son's name meaning until recently, but it happens to be lovely and it did make me happier with our choice.

little_bren · October 2015

Interesting. Thanks for the thoughts, ladies.

Elsa1984 · October 2015

It didn't factor into our naming. I know what the meaning is of my name, and don't care. I don't know what the meaning of my kids name is, because I didnt bother looking. I just went with a name that we liked, and that sounded good with our last name, and thats about it.

joforyoga · October 2015

Not of huge importance but a nice morning is a bonus. For the longest time we were going with Gabriel which has biblical meaning. We are not religious and don't beleive in God but I would have used it anyways simply because I loved the sound of the name.
We are gong with Charlie for a boy which means "free man" of Claire for a girl which means "clear and bright". So both of those were great bonuses

jkeezy · October 2015

Really important for me - why would you give your child a name which has bad attributes or characteristics?! I'm a strong believer that names matter like that. I've known too many people with a certain name who share certain characteristics.

Also important to me is family tradition/culture and in my culture, naming in memory and respect of a deceased relative.

Name meanings

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