RobynT
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- About Me
Born (1979), raised, and currently living in Hawaii. Spent several years in the Midwestern US. Teach and research language. Married 2005, no kids yet, but many nieces and nephews.
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I really love that you always show us how new naming traditions have historical roots. My exp with this subject: I had a classmate named Channel'. She would've been born 1979 I guess. She said the ' was so people knew to pronounce her name Chanel rather than Channel. Not sure if that's a grammatical rule somewhere or was invented.
Is Axl a respelling of Axel?
I had a Hispanic (I think?) student named Axel several years ago. Maybe he was Filipino. I feel like it was pronounced with the stress on the "el" sorta like to rhyme with Noelle. Sorry I'm not putting much effort into Googling, but just thinking about whether Axel is related to Axl.
cc_sadie: I remember when Malcolm in the Middle came out, I thought it was a weird name for a white kid, but since then I guess I've gotten more associations with the name than Malcolm X. I think of Malcolm Reynolds from Firefly too. I wondered if the nickname Mal in Firefly was supposed to be symbolic or something. I mean going with the meaning of "bad." I definitely have positive associations with Mal from that show though. I feel like I've heard/heard of Wynn also. Or maybe heard it as a middle or surname and thought about the meaning. I guess I have to say I like how Wynn is a little subtler
Not sure if Marlo is in BNW2, but I've heard of a couple (one in a family with #1 and 2 quite popular/stylish/trendy names) and I love it/think it could be up-and-coming, etc.
adding Orson to Zoerhenne's list of long vowel followed by short. (i guess the second "o" is actually a schwa right? in any case, not long.) as for Claire and Mary, i was unsure about whether those were long A's too. hrm... how many different sounds does each vowel make in American English? long, short, and schwa? seems like there are more...
very cool. i think i may tend toward shorter vowel sounds too. i wonder if that alone makes my choices unpopular with, say, grandparents, for example. ok wait, maybe we need three categories: names with long vowels, short vowels, and both? i wonder if the "feel" of those with both would elicit a reaction somewhere between the other two. or does one long vowel "freshen" it up? or one short vowel frumpy it up?
some interesting names from my roster: F@rren (male) G3nesis (male, says he's named after the Bible) W3nd-0rrie (says her mother was going to name her Wendy, but got the call that grandma 0rrie passed while she was in labor and so amended the name)
At story time at the library there was an Ella, Emily, 2 Rhythms (yeah idk what that's about), Jaya, Kiele (boy, rhymes with Teal), Ginger, Sandy (girl), Ty, Maverick, and others I forgot.
interesting names from my local listings: VIVIENNE - CARALINA - MELANIE - CORMAC - SKYLY - BRAYE - RIANA - AGUSTUS - FRANK - SABRE
Elodie: I think people will come around on Irene. They probably just find it old-fashioned, but I think there are a lot of us these days giving names that our parents find old-fashioned. And I agree with others that it is among the freshest-sounding of the een names. And I love Frances. We considered using it with nickname Frankie (grandpa is Frank) and I think it would be our top runner if we had a second girl. Eustace: hrm... i can think of one Andrew that is the first boy in his family... oh, another that is the second... for some reason not able to think of many Andrews and Deborahs... re: Lulu: I don't immediately think dog, but I do prefer Lou as a simpler and more boyish nickname. (I am a fan of boyish nicknames but obviously that is just personal taste.) oh, and some interesting names from my local listings: jayd@ lynn and j@ydee ann (twins) @rrik-jack and kirr@-jill (twins) Ace Lucca Azariah B0sstyn Tienn@-Rise (I'm sure most of you will notice that @rrik is Kirr@ backward.) Beth: Your comments, especially the one about teenage Cici and Lulu, made me laugh!
I thought some of you might be interested in this article, "On Abandoning 'Americanized' Names," written by a Persian-American: http://dcentric.wamu.org/2011/06/on-abandoning-americanized-names/
Eustace: When you say Deborah/Debbie and Andrew don't sound like first child names, do you mean they are not usually parents' first choice? Or they match well with a lot of other names? As for Samuel and using the full name, I think there are ways to request that without sounding snotty. I guess it helps if others are polite about it and ask your preference though... SandraIsMyName: I guess the aunt aspect overrides the trendy sounds. Maybe the br is a problem. Are there currently popular girls' names with br? I think we had talked about consonant blends previously... also, to me, Deborah sounds old too. I think I prefer Deb/Debbie... I think Deborah is very Biblical and the "h" is especially old-fashioned (in contrast to Debra). Deborah is so serious, whereas Deb/Debbie are cuter.
I can think of only one Debbie I went to school with (b. 1979). I remember there was a Debra (not Debbie) too. I like Ellie as a current day Debbie. And I think it's adorable that Deborah means bee!
Linnaeus: Ah, maybe the parents of Quetzalcoatl is a fellow writing teacher!
re: Quetz@lcoatl: I know! I'm very curious about the thinking behind this one. Linnaeus: Do you know of others with this name? Just curious if it is more common than I know.
re: Tyrannie: well, it does have a nice sound. Like... Tiffanie? I mean I definitely see the problems with it, but trying to understand where the namer was coming from... kate b: i knew a samarha (sp?) growing up so my first association is not the ring or samaritans. actually, now that you mention it, i guess i do think of the place samarha (sp?), which i guess is probably where samaritans came from... re: Lucifer: I remember one day thinking how there were no names that have the same ending sound as Jennifer and trying to think if other names could be given that end sound. When I thought of Lucifer, I was like whoa.
interesting names from my local listings: Zylgen Jeyden Estelle (as middle) Ren Lyman Fynn Theo Kyrie Grayson (b) Everleigh Skyla Scott Titan Zuriel Jairus Inesza Aeris-Lyllian Zyan Titus Zyanya Quetzalcoatl Sheizen Maddux Maddex Zalea Axyl Revel Maddox and Matteo (twins) Eleese Viviya (I can so see this catching on.) Masen and Mycah (twins) Sarasa Wren (g, love this!)
EVie: I think the X on the left closes it rather than the plus in the right corner. This tricked me also!
I know of a Gannon, but he was born before Legend of Zelda I think. I wish I knew him well enough to ask about his name! I would think the similarity to cannon appeals? re: Hyde: I don't think Jekyll and Hyde would be my first association. I would assume it was used just as a surname. iirc one of the characters in That '70s Show was called (by his surname) Hyde. Would Mystique be Misty+Unique? This is a fun game! Tally R: Wow! I'd be interested to hear a little about the demographics of your area. I guess you posted only the interesting names though right? Assuming that's not a representative sample of the area..