Names are a hobby of mine--I've been fascinated by them since I was a little
kid.  I love their meanings, the impressions they carry, the variety of
sounds that strike us as belonging to one gender or another...naming my
kids was difficult not only because of the cultural split between my ex
and I (But you *can't* name a little boy Charlemange!  They'll call him
"mangey" by second grade.   -- Bjorn?  You want to name a dear little boy
"bear"?  Oh, no--no, no, no) but because even among the names we agreed
on, the selection was so rich!

I recently encountered a book that lists the impressions people have of
various names culled from a large survey of people throughout the country.
After looking up some of my favorites, I was surprised to discover that
I appear to prefer names that belong on old people--especially bad tempered
old women!              ;)

So, what about names?  Do you like yours?  Do you know how you came to be
named?  Would consider changing (or have you changed) your name?  If you
have kids, how did you select their names?  When did you name them? (I
know a man in his 60's who was referred to simply as "the baby" until
his parents finally settled on a name when he was 8 months olde.) (More
commnonly, I know many people who have one of each gender selected before
they had the pregnancy medically verified)

What are some of your favorites?  Would you want to be called that?  Would
you name your child that?

129 responses total.

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    Well to start my oldest brother's name is Clarence Terrence (Terry is what
we call him) named after my grandpa.  Next comes Steven Laurence (named for a 
fishing buddy of my dads) then comes me...Joni Marie my mom just liked it no
real reason for it she just liked it.  Dad got to name the boys so mom kinda
named the girls.  My sister (younger then me) was named because Terry was 5
and in school and was in love with a girl named Lisa and told everybody that
the baby was gonna be named Lisa.  So mom named her Lesa Kaye :) (mom had 
originally planned on Shiela).  The only history here I guess would be Terry  
and the name came from French/Canada.

I like my name because there is a story behind it.

In high school, my father and his best friend made a deal to name
their first-born sons after one another.  The nice thing about this
is that my father and Dan Evans are still good friends, and that I
am proud to be his namesake.  He is a genuinely nice person.

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Yep. Michael Evans is Dan Evans' second child.  Their first child was
a daughter, named Kimberley.  I was born a couple of months before Kim.
When she found out her first child was a girly, Mrs. Evans was reported
to have said, "Tell Mike I'm sorry."

indigo was named at about 3 days old
we were going to wait longer
to see what she was going to be like
but we just couldn't stop trying to think of names

indigo was a name my mom suggested to me months before
i was due. i think she it was a character in a book she
read but i believe her suggestion was meant as a joke

i already had a boys name just in case 'griffin cedric wolfe'
the boys name was easier for me than the girls
but i don't know why

i like indigo cody wolfe

i LOVE her to pieces!

  I kinda like my name, although if I would have had a say in it, I would have
perferred Jed or Beau. (I love southern names). But, I prefer to be called 
"Jim" rather than "James" or "Jimmy" which I still get from my stupid aunt
who has not grapsed the idea of me being an adult. Fortunatly I don't see much
of her.
  I am actually a Jr, being named for my dad, Jim Sr, who, was a hell of a 
dude. My middle name is Frederick, which was taken from my Grandfather Fred, 
whose favorite sport was beating up telephone poles. (kooky family, I know)
My paternal Grandfather was named Frederick Conrad Reuter, and My materal
grandfather was named Walter David Burch, I almost got to be a Walter, but
some one stepped in at the last moment. 
  My sister on the other hand was not so lucky... she got Marlene Lucille
Reuter hung on her, and Marlene was taken from my mom's best friend and the 
Lucille came from My maternal Grandmother, Eileen Lucille Burch. The other
one that I really consider to be unususal is my mom who got Marthalee Phyllis
Burch and I am told that Marthalee is a very uncommon name. My aunt is 
Sandra Lynn Burch, and she named her kids, Christopher David Rose, Donald
Curtis Rose (we just call him Curt), Cynthia Lynn Rose and Constance Victoria
Rose, who, being born on the same day as Quenn Victoria, wound up with that
as her middle name. Any Questions?

No one has written here in two years, almost, but I wanted to put my
two cents in because I just discovered this.  I was named after both
my great-grandmothers, one was Anna and the other Annie- so I am
Anne- with an e of course.

That's really nice, Anne.  Timothy's middle name is Solomon, because his dead
great-grandfather was Sol and I didn't care for that.  The longer version seems
to fit, though.  I wanted to give Gareth the middle name of William, after my
favorite uncle, but that wouldn't stick, and Michael did although I don't 
believe in naming a kid after a living relative.  With a middle name there 
shouldn't be too much confusion, though.  The first names were just things we
 (mostly I) like.  We had more trouble agreeing on girls' names (so it's as 
well I haven't had one...). I like "Miranda Joy", but Michael isn't too keen
on Miranda to the compromise was "Melissa Kate", with the middle name after
my dead grandmother.  Michael's sister changed her name from Marjorie Ann
McClennen to Anna Schlossberg to commemorate a dead great great grandmother,
but now her last name is Stubblefield because she took her husband's name. The
grandmothers took a bit of time getting used to calling her Anna.  She says it
like "Ah", not "A".  I like the meanings of names.  After we named Timothy,
I used to joke that I would have three other kids and name them; "Clover,
Alfalfa, and Field".  That way I could just call them "Hay, gang!" (OK, it's
bad, but I never said I didn't have a sick mind.)

I was named "Bjorn," because of heritage.  My first name, "Christian,"
was given me in honour of my Great Grandfather.  Not all people
know the story behind viking naming, but I have no wish to 
describe it.

why not? oh, young bear

Actually, without the norwegian letter "ur" my middle name has no
mening and is in truth not a real word.  Becuase I was at school 
(notice the time), and I really didn't want to.  However, I might
honour you with that story later...

it's later than you think

Fine.  I'll tell you.  

Vikings are named for warriors who have recently reached Valhalla.  It
is a bad omen to name a child after someone who has not reached
Valhalla.  The name is usually given for the attitude the little
brute (girls went on raids too) is wanted to have by its parental
units.  Usually, this turns out to be just the case...

Fancy that- In Jewish tradition it is considered unlucky to name a kid after
someone who isn't dead, too.  I don't think it has to be a recent demise, but
that may well be common. 
Are there other common animal names, or is only the bear used because of its
special relationship with warriors, children and mothers?

Fierceness and yet a kind personality.  Fierce in fighting, kind in
talking.  Fits me perfectly.  There are other animal names.  Whether
they are common or not is another question.

such as?

Such as I can't think of any right now.  My brain is going to overdrive.

In our circles it's not considered unlucky, just possibly confusing, to 
name a child after a living person.  As a matter of fact we gave our 
second son the same name as my brother -- the brother lives in Kingsville 
TX and we see him once every year or two if we're lucky, so the confusion 
factor did not seem high.  
        I was named after two of my mother's college friends, but my 
father happened to have an Aunt Grace, and I generally liked having 
the same name as a greataunt.  (It made me feel especially part of 
the family when they talked about her)
        In my family-of-birth one deciding factor for each of the
four children was that there be no obvious nickname.  Both of my
parents had used their middle names for years, and wanted to give
us unquestionably usable first names.
        Dave & I decided on a girl's name (and then changed it) years before
there was any definite expectation of her existence.  First she was
going to be "Elanor" (as in LOTR), and then "Elizabeth" (my middle name).  
The middle name of this hypothetical daughter is still open to 
negotiation; viable candidates have been "Ruth", "Hope" and "Frances".
(We say to the boys "If Betsy or ... comes along" when 
we're explaining that we don't know the future)
        We had not had a definite boy's name in the same
way, but some time during the years of infertility Dave fixed on
"Jonathan", which was acceptable to both of us and particularly
suitable (it means "God gave").  Dave wasn't going to give a middle
name, but I talked him into it, and made up a list of men's family
names for him to choose from.  He ended up with "Stuart" after my
father.  Then 3 years later we chose a second boy's name on the 
same principle, "Paul" after Saul of Tarsus and "Bryan" as a family
name, Dave's middle name which was his father's name which was his
father's name which was chosen because of William Jennings Bryan.

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One of the many meanings of my name is  'Graceful one'.  Whenever I
trip or generally do something clutzy my mom always says she's glad
she didn't name me Grace.  Then I am forced to remind her that my
name means 'graceful one' sigh.

I'm Jewish too.  I agree that the tradition is to name babies after
dead relatives.  But I think the deal is that you can name babies anything
you want as long as you SAY they were named after dead relatives.

I am Jeffrey Howard named after (I am guessing on the spelling here) my
great-great-grandmother Jenny and my great-grandfather Hillel.  My brother
is Robert.  They were going to name him Ronald, but upon birth decided he
did not look like a Ronald.  How does a baby Ronald look?  He is still named
after my grandmother Rifka who died a couple months before he was born.  

So with the three data points available, I'd say that all you need is the
same first initial as a dead relative to be named after him/her.  

Is it an insult to the older one that my dad and his first cousin are both
named Charles, were they both named after the same dead relative, or is it
just a coincidence?

ask them- we'd love to know :)

This is quite... Parallel.

Kalinda is sanskrit for sun.  Heh, heh, heh --Anne as the graceful one. :)

I'll have to remember that about "kalinda".

Is it related to "kalends" (Roman calendar phenomena, like "ides")?

15th...

"In March, July, October, May, the Ides are on the 15th day, the Nones 
  the seventh; all other months take two days less for Nones and Ides."
  (I *think* it's "seventh" but it might be "ninth".)  The Kalends are
  always the first.

I did not know about the Nones or Kalends, but thank you.
Back to the original topic...

which is?

Which is *what*?  (You don't know when March 1 is?)
But is that name related?  Just curious.

Which is= what is the original topic that vidar referred to?

so, if you name a daughter Nona or Ida, are you naming her for the calendar?

If you name a daughter "Nona", this means "ninth".  Like naming he
Septima or Decima, or Octavia.  (<check the dictionary>  The Nones
were called that because they were nine days before the Ides)
"Ida" doesn't seem to mean anything in particular, I think there's
a mountain in Crete by that name.  Would it be better to be named
after a mountain or a Roman date -- or not to know?

I don't know and I don't care.

maybe a date with a roman on a mountain? hope not.

I like her... She's silly...

of course.

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