PPPhD, oddly enough, although I have read all five (so far) volumes of GRRM's saga, and seen every episode of GoT, my main association with Bran is Bran the Blessed. I know of two Tychos, one an infant and one an adult from the Netherlands. My daughter-in-law has a (much older) half-brother named Zeno who must like the name well enough because there is a Zeno, jr., and a Zeno III. Reuel is one of J.R.R. Tolkien's names, and interestingly he puns on it in his translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. There are actors named Gaius and Titus, a twentieth-century Welsh political figure named Aneirin, a Hall of Fame umpire named Nestor, a civil rights leader named Bayard, and Wystan is W.H. Auden's name. If Atticus is cool, why not Agrippa? I am personally fond of Tarquin, and it's a way to get to the popular nickname Quinn. So these names are unusual, but not so unheard of as to be completely "out there." Your hubby needs to get with the program :-).
Anyway I know you'll come up with something terrific.
I suppose it says something about me that I picked up on the vulgar association even before the nursery rhyme. I don't think it would escape the middle school cohort, and I wouldn't be surprised if perenially adolescent men continued to make an issue of it for life. I would go for John or Jacob, and use Jack as a nickname if desired. BTW the initials of Jack or John or Jacob Alan Quick are JAQ, that is, Jack. So ANY J-name will give you the nickname Jack. As for popularity I grew up when the bulk of boys were named John, Jack, Bob, Bill, Jim, etc., and the sky didn't fall.
Yes, LOTR was written as six books (half the epic number) intended to appear as one volume, but for production reasons it appeared in three volumes, causing people to refer to it thereafter as a trilogy, which it was never intended to be.
Rima from Green Mansions, a popular novel from the early twentieth century and a popular film starring Audrey Hepburn (I had a very unpleasant colleague named Rima.)
Also, besides Eowyn, I have run into Arwen in use, and I knew one man named Gandalf. Of course, technically Lord of the Rings is not a novel.
Karyn, the vowels Ah and AW alternate all down the US east coast and along the Gulf. I can pretty much tell people's place of birth by noting which vowel shows up in which word, e.g., New York City has chawklit, and I (from Pennsylvania) have chahklit (for chocolate). As for John, in the PA Dutch country where I grew up, those with a pronounced local accent say (or said, since the demographics have changed completely) Chun (ch- as in chair, rhyming with 'fun'). In New Orleans the local pronunication is Jawn (as in 'jaw'). Similarly in New Orleans, 'darling' is 'dawlin'.'
Um, Augustine of Hippo spoke Latin and would have spelled his name Augustinus. If the primary thought is to honor the saint, then an alternative would be Austin which is a Middle English version of the saint's name. The nn could still be Gus (or anything else for that matter). If anyone should ask why an Austin is nn Gus, then it can be explained that Austin is a version of Augustine.
Every year I would look at the list and wonder if one of them would be the Big One that would flood New Orleans. Now I know, and living in the desert now I no longer feel anxiety when I review the names.
Mostly because they have no connection to Icelandic history and culture and because they cannot be declined like an Icelandic noun. In order to be approved a name has to be able to take an Icelandic genitive form.
If you want a name derived from an obsolete trade, why not consider those that were applied to female workers, like Baxter, Webster, and Brewster?
Gender is indeed socially constructed, but sex is not. To me giving a female child a masculine name says a number of things, none of which seem positive to me. It can mean "You were born female, but we deep down wish you had been male." And/or "If we give you a masculine name, potential employers, admissions departments, etc., will think you are male, and that will give you a leg up." And/or "Calling you a masculine name will impart virtues gendered masculine like strength, which are more desirable than those gendered feminine." And so on. A masculine name on a female inevitably sends the message that it is better to be male than female. If I had a daughter that is not a message I would want to impart to her. And quite frankly I do not think it is better to be male than female. If I were about to born and were asked whether I would prefer to be male or female, I would absolutely choose female (unless I were scheduled to be born in Saudi Arabia).
I know a grade-school-aged Conrad who is simply Conrad. When I went to high school the quarterback was named Conrad, and the newspaper called him Connie, but everyone else called him Butch. Connie was his sister Constance. BTW the local sports pages invented their own nicknames for all the high school athletes. William became Willie, even though he actually went by Bill and hated Willie. That's the thing about nicknames--they're not entirely in mommy and daddy's control. Therefore I wouldn't stress over them.
Yes, according to the real estate transactions which are public records requiring legal names. Usually middle names (and all surnames including names from all marriages) are listed, but in this case there was only a middle initial.
It depends. If, for example, the family belongs to a Modern Orthodox or even Conservative synagogoe and plans to send the children to a Hebrew day school, then most of the people the children will encounter will be familiar with Modern Hebrew names and will know how to pronounce them. I think only non-Jews and Jews without any Hebrew education would pronounce the two names the same. Take the name Ayelet. People familiar with Hebrew will pronounce it correctly: A-YELL-et (roughly), whereas people unfamiliar with Hebrew might well pronounce it AYE (as in the opposite of nay)-let.
Just to complicate matters slightly, the original spelling is d'Arcy. It's not a name I would use because it bears no relationship to the names of any of my deceased ancestors, but if I were to use it, I would be sore tempted to keep the apostrophe. If I resisted the apostrophe temptation, I would use Darcy since that is closest to the original spelling.
PPPhD, oddly enough, although I have read all five (so far) volumes of GRRM's saga, and seen every episode of GoT, my main association with Bran is Bran the Blessed. I know of two Tychos, one an infant and one an adult from the Netherlands. My daughter-in-law has a (much older) half-brother named Zeno who must like the name well enough because there is a Zeno, jr., and a Zeno III. Reuel is one of J.R.R. Tolkien's names, and interestingly he puns on it in his translation of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. There are actors named Gaius and Titus, a twentieth-century Welsh political figure named Aneirin, a Hall of Fame umpire named Nestor, a civil rights leader named Bayard, and Wystan is W.H. Auden's name. If Atticus is cool, why not Agrippa? I am personally fond of Tarquin, and it's a way to get to the popular nickname Quinn. So these names are unusual, but not so unheard of as to be completely "out there." Your hubby needs to get with the program :-). Anyway I know you'll come up with something terrific.
Well, Madeleine is the French form of Magdalene/a, so maybe Maggie or Madge?
Tarquin, Tycho, Fintan (one Irish name I don't hear everywhere), Njal (Ireland by way of Iceland), Alaric, Bran, Gaius, Oberon, Nestor, Titus, Agrippa, Blaise, Zeno, Aneirin, Aslan, Bayard, Reuel, Wystan, Taliesin
These are all more or less unusual and have literary and/or historical associations. a few with fantasy connections.
I suppose it says something about me that I picked up on the vulgar association even before the nursery rhyme. I don't think it would escape the middle school cohort, and I wouldn't be surprised if perenially adolescent men continued to make an issue of it for life. I would go for John or Jacob, and use Jack as a nickname if desired. BTW the initials of Jack or John or Jacob Alan Quick are JAQ, that is, Jack. So ANY J-name will give you the nickname Jack. As for popularity I grew up when the bulk of boys were named John, Jack, Bob, Bill, Jim, etc., and the sky didn't fall.
Gulliver's Travels is a satire.
Yes, LOTR was written as six books (half the epic number) intended to appear as one volume, but for production reasons it appeared in three volumes, causing people to refer to it thereafter as a trilogy, which it was never intended to be.
Freedictionary is not a reliable source for definitions of literary terms.
FWIW the character in the opera Carmen is also pronounced with four syllables.
Names derived from novels:
Rima from Green Mansions, a popular novel from the early twentieth century and a popular film starring Audrey Hepburn (I had a very unpleasant colleague named Rima.)
Also, besides Eowyn, I have run into Arwen in use, and I knew one man named Gandalf. Of course, technically Lord of the Rings is not a novel.
Karyn, the vowels Ah and AW alternate all down the US east coast and along the Gulf. I can pretty much tell people's place of birth by noting which vowel shows up in which word, e.g., New York City has chawklit, and I (from Pennsylvania) have chahklit (for chocolate). As for John, in the PA Dutch country where I grew up, those with a pronounced local accent say (or said, since the demographics have changed completely) Chun (ch- as in chair, rhyming with 'fun'). In New Orleans the local pronunication is Jawn (as in 'jaw'). Similarly in New Orleans, 'darling' is 'dawlin'.'
Um, Augustine of Hippo spoke Latin and would have spelled his name Augustinus. If the primary thought is to honor the saint, then an alternative would be Austin which is a Middle English version of the saint's name. The nn could still be Gus (or anything else for that matter). If anyone should ask why an Austin is nn Gus, then it can be explained that Austin is a version of Augustine.
Every year I would look at the list and wonder if one of them would be the Big One that would flood New Orleans. Now I know, and living in the desert now I no longer feel anxiety when I review the names.
Mostly because they have no connection to Icelandic history and culture and because they cannot be declined like an Icelandic noun. In order to be approved a name has to be able to take an Icelandic genitive form.
If you want a name derived from an obsolete trade, why not consider those that were applied to female workers, like Baxter, Webster, and Brewster?
Gender is indeed socially constructed, but sex is not. To me giving a female child a masculine name says a number of things, none of which seem positive to me. It can mean "You were born female, but we deep down wish you had been male." And/or "If we give you a masculine name, potential employers, admissions departments, etc., will think you are male, and that will give you a leg up." And/or "Calling you a masculine name will impart virtues gendered masculine like strength, which are more desirable than those gendered feminine." And so on. A masculine name on a female inevitably sends the message that it is better to be male than female. If I had a daughter that is not a message I would want to impart to her. And quite frankly I do not think it is better to be male than female. If I were about to born and were asked whether I would prefer to be male or female, I would absolutely choose female (unless I were scheduled to be born in Saudi Arabia).
I know a grade-school-aged Conrad who is simply Conrad. When I went to high school the quarterback was named Conrad, and the newspaper called him Connie, but everyone else called him Butch. Connie was his sister Constance. BTW the local sports pages invented their own nicknames for all the high school athletes. William became Willie, even though he actually went by Bill and hated Willie. That's the thing about nicknames--they're not entirely in mommy and daddy's control. Therefore I wouldn't stress over them.
Merle Oberon--forgotten so soon....
Lola is the traditional nickname for Dolores.
Yes, according to the real estate transactions which are public records requiring legal names. Usually middle names (and all surnames including names from all marriages) are listed, but in this case there was only a middle initial.
It depends. If, for example, the family belongs to a Modern Orthodox or even Conservative synagogoe and plans to send the children to a Hebrew day school, then most of the people the children will encounter will be familiar with Modern Hebrew names and will know how to pronounce them. I think only non-Jews and Jews without any Hebrew education would pronounce the two names the same. Take the name Ayelet. People familiar with Hebrew will pronounce it correctly: A-YELL-et (roughly), whereas people unfamiliar with Hebrew might well pronounce it AYE (as in the opposite of nay)-let.
Just to complicate matters slightly, the original spelling is d'Arcy. It's not a name I would use because it bears no relationship to the names of any of my deceased ancestors, but if I were to use it, I would be sore tempted to keep the apostrophe. If I resisted the apostrophe temptation, I would use Darcy since that is closest to the original spelling.