Naming Baby (Him)

After looking at some of the more unusual origins of female names last time, I thought it best to redress the balance by looking at male names. As I stated last time I often roll my eyes, even cringe when hearing some of the names given to the children by parents in the 21st century. Of course this will have been true of every generation.

Normally associated with place names, there are other proper nouns of interest to me. Over the years my research has uncovered details of the origins of personal names. Many have fallen out of use but may well return in the future. There has always been those who use a relevant surname as a christian name - ironically some of the earliest surnames are adaptations of christian names - but it those which began as words which interest me. Some will have been insults, others whimsical, and even a few complimentary.

After female names last time I now turn to the male names and offer a list of examples in alphabetical order.

ALFRED is a true English name and comes from a term meaning 'elf counsel'.

BARRY may mean 'fair-haried' but, if this is the pet form of BARRINGTON, then it refers to 'a troublesome tribe or individual'.

CAMPBELL and CAMERON seem to be increasingly popular choices for male infants. They also happen to be the surnames of two influential British politicans, although this could be coincidental. The former is a term meaning 'twisted mouth', the latter 'one with a crooked nose'.

DARCY is clearly a name from classic English literature. One wonders whether Jane Austen was aware the surname is of French derivation and refers to 'someone from Arcy'.

EDGAR has never been the most popular of names but has hardly ever fallen out of favour completely even with a dated meaning of 'prosperity from the spear'. Should anyone followers of Dickens be considering naming their yuletide child after one of his most famous characters, EBENEZER means 'the helping stone'.

FRASER is also endured over the years. It means 'from a growing strawberry'. And if you think FABIO is a good idea for a modern international name, remember it does mean 'bean farmer'. Also, should you decide to call him after a favourite pet, FANG has the unusual origin of 'pleasant-smelling'.

GILES refers to 'a wearer of goat skin' and GRAHAM 'one from a gravel clearing'.

HAMLET might seem a good idea to devotees of the bard, until we realise it means 'home'. And if you think HARDING sounds like a good surname to turn into a given name, just remember it means 'son of the hard one'.

IRVIN or IRVINE or even IRVING all mean 'water of green' or, should you be a fan of Gershwin you might want to call him IRA which means 'alert' (and to quote a t-shirt from yesteryear remember "Be alert, England needs lerts").

JACOB is a timeless biblical name gaining in popularity despite a meaning of 'following after'. If you were raised on Disney's Aladdin you might not want to call him Jafar as it means 'small stream'. And whether you spell it JADEN, JAYDEN, JAIDEN, JADYN, or any other 'creative' spelling, this is a name I had personally found quite pointless even before I discovered it had been invented during the 1930s and has no etymological value whatsoever.

KAI seems to be astoundingly popular at present. It is said to mean 'from the sea', (although as anyone from Birmingham will tell you it is something which operates a lock).

LEE means 'a clearing', although if you want to be really clever and name the poor thing LEGOLAS after the Tolkein character, be aware it means 'leaf'.

MARK might seem a decent dependable name - it comes from Mars and thus means 'warlike'. And MELVIN might not be a good idea either, it comes from 'bad settlement'.

NIGEL is surely a dependable name, although 'coming from clouds' might not support that image. NARCISSUS might seem clever - it's from Greek mythology, surely nothing can be wrong here - but does mean 'numb or sleepy'.

ORVILLE was a real person's name until some irritating green duck puppet became known by this name - not a particularly appropriate name for green waterfowl as it means 'a golden village'. And forget the Greek mythological figure ODYSSEUS, has a name meaning 'to hate' so perhaps not a good choice.

PAUL might not want to hear his name means 'tiny,' when he grows up.

QUENTIN and QUINCY share of an origin of 'fifth'.

RALF or RALPH have an origin of 'wise as a wolf' (depends upon one's point of view, I suppose).

STANLEY began as a place name meaning 'the stony clearing'. And forget thinking naming him SHERLOCK will give him a good start in the intellectual stakes, it means 'blonde'.

TODD uses an old word for 'fox'. While TARZAN might evoke thoughts of strength and speed, Edgar Rice Burroughs knew what he was doing when he gave his hero a name meaning 'white-skinned one'.

UTHER may seem a good idea, Uther Pendragon was the father of King Arthur, yet consider its meaning of 'terrible or abhorrent'.

VAUGHAN or VAUGHN will not only prove a challenge when it comes to writing his name when the poor blighter starts school, he also may object to a name meaning 'the small one'.

WILBUR comes from 'wild pig'. And while WILLIAM is, quite literally, a 'strong' name, WILL-I-AM refers, rather ungrammatically, to something hidden from just about everyone until after death.

XAVIER was about the only English(ish) name I could find, this name means 'new home'.

YVES was the best I could find and the French equivalent of YORK, both meaning 'yew tree'.

ZEB, short for ZEBEDIAH, was the best I could find. However the meaning of 'God lends' does not explain what is being loaned or at what cost.

I did ask a very few couples whether the father or mother had influenced the name and discovered the mother is by far the more influential in naming the child. Personally I listened to every suggestion and vetoed every single one, then offered my own ideas which were accepted quite quickly.

Naming Baby (Her)

I admit I roll my eyes, even cringe at times when I hear some of the names given to babies. I know I'm not alone. Personally I think parents should think of the school years of the child - recently heard a mother calling her daughter Ocean and my first thought was "does she make her feel sick". Recently a storyline in The Archers saw a character toying with the idea of naming her new baby Mowgli and, following the voiced disapproval of both grandmothers, resorted in a naming ceremony dubbing it Mungo - which still didn't go down particularly well.

Of course this will have been true of every generation. I used to work with a woman named Gay. Once popular (for both males and females) it is easy to see why a young baby would not be named such in the modern age. Today there is a whole generation of young ladies known as Kylie, a name which became commonplace when their mothers' were glued to the actress (later singer) appearing in Neighbours. Such is nothing new for earlier the name of Tracy did not become popular until the big screen successes of actor Spencer Tracy.

Whilst I would be associated with place names, there are other proper nouns of interest to me. Over the years my research has uncovered details of the origins of personal names. Many have fallen out of use but may well return one day. There has always been those who use a relevant surname as a christian name - ironically some of the earliest surnames are adaptations of christian names - but it those which have some etymological interest which attract me. Some will have been insults, others whimsical, and even a few complimentary.

Beginning with the female names I offer a list of examples in alphabetical order.

ANDREA would seem to be a quite normal name. It comes from the Greek and means 'manly', something which would not bother Andreas in Italy, Romania and Albania where Andrea is a male name.

BARBARA comes from the Greek and is the female version of 'barbarous' and hence means literally 'barbarous woman', although this should be understood as 'foreign woman' as, to the Greeks, anyone not a Greek was a barbarian.

CECILIA and CHLOE are two seemingly inoffensive names, these mean 'blind' and 'green' respectively. Incidentally for those who think CHELSEA is a good idea, they might like to know it means 'landing place for chalk'.)

DEBORAH would seem innoccuous enough, until we learn it is from the Hebrew for 'bee'. I also noted DELILAH meant 'flirtatious', prompting me to think "Why, why, why Delilah".

ELEANOR means 'pity'. Judging by the lyric to Eleanor Rigby, I think Sir Paul may have known the origin.

FAYE or FAY means 'fairy' (I instantly thought she would be good for washing dishes).

GEORGINA is clearly the female equivalent of George. The female form thus means 'earth woman' as in 'woman of the soil' rather than in the sense of a deity.

HAILEY actually began as a place name and effectively means 'woodland clearing, woodland clearing'.

IO is increasing in popularity, probably as a result of the space programme with this being a moon of Jupiter. Unfortunately this came from the Greek for the girl loved by Zeus but loathed by Hera, thus the god turned her into a heifer to protect her from his jealous wife, and the name does mean 'heifer'.

JADE and the name conjures up images of the stone. However it was also once used to refer to 'a woman regarded as disreputable or shrewish'.

KLAUDIA or CLAUDIA comes from a term meaning 'lame'. Incidentally those who named their daughters Kylie all those years ago may not have known it meant 'boomerang' while another modern offering Kia means 'go well'.

LEA and LEIA have several sources but the earliest is probably Hebrew meaning 'cow' (I wonder if George Lucas was aware of this?). Incidentally the increasingly popular Leena (probably only a variant spelling of Lena) comes from the Arabic for 'palm tree'.

MATILDA and a name which fell out of favour in 15th-century England as it was more often used as a euphemism for a prostitute. Of course this had been forgotten by the time it returned, maybe as a result of the song Waltzing Matilda.

NINA is most often a shortened form of many other names. However it is also a Quechua word meaning 'fire' (inspired by a passing fire engine at the time of birth and/or conception?)

OPHELIA is ultimately from the Greek meaning 'help'. Possibly worth mentioning that Oprah was not her given name, she was named Orpah which was constantly mispronounced and stuck - it means 'back of the neck'. (Parents who could see far into the future, apparently.)

PHILIPPA, clearly the feminine form of Philip, is of Greek origin and means 'lover of horses'. (Not even tempted.)

QUEENIE and only because it was the only one I could find and with obvious meaning. (All I can hear is the ending of Now I'm Here.)

REBECCA or RACHEL, both biblical names and from Hebrew meaning 'tie' and 'ewe' respectively. Here 'tie' is used in the sense of 'married to or associated with', although the literal meaning would have been 'cattle stall'.

SHANIA, increasing in popularity through singer Shania Twain, it comes from Native American meaning 'I am coming'. Saffron, another of increasing popularity, comes from a word meaning 'yellow'. (Jaundiced, perhaps?)

TALLULAH, the most famous being actress Tallulah Bankhead who popularised the name, comes from a Native American word meaning 'terrible'. (Never saw her act.)

ULRICA began as a female Scandinavian name meaning 'wolf power'. I have no idea what a female wolf is called. Nor do I know what a 'female bear cub' is called other than it is the meaning of the name URSULA.

VANESSA is really a cheat as there is little to choose from. It is quite interesting as it was created by writer Jonathan Swift, a pet name coined for his friend Esther Vanhomrigh and pieced to together from both her names. (Incidentally ESTHER is a Persian name meaning 'star'.)

WENDY is, like VANESSA, a created name and much more recently. First appearing in the 1904 play Peter Pan by J M Barrie, it was adapted from his childhood nickname of 'Fwendy-Wendy'. Hence perhaps it could be said to mean 'friend'.

XENA has been popularised by the television warrior princess. However her name comes from the Greek meaning 'stranger, foreigner'.

YVETTE is the feminine form of YVES, a French name and thus meaning 'the female tree tree'.

ZIA is thought to come from the Arabic for 'splendour' but in Italian zia does mean 'aunt'.

To address any suggestion of sexism I shall cover male names next time.