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HelpSpecific questions about Linnaea/Linnéa
Linnéa, while not one I talk about very often, is one of my favourite names, and it would be honouring someone with a very similar name in my family if I were to use it. However I've been thinking more and more about its origin and I'm wondering if I should be put off by it or not. The name derives from the name of the linnea flower, which the botanist Carl Linnaeus named after himself. However Linnaeus had some questionable ideas about race which I won't delve into too much, but in his Systema Naturae he essentially used race to create value judgements on what he perceived to be the four "types" of human... All quite grim and certainly problematic and outdated.
So, my questions:
1) Had you heard of Carl Linnaeus and/or Systema Naturae before reading this post? If yes to either, were you aware of the ideas on race that were presented by Linnaeus/his work?
2) Are Linnaeus' beliefs reason enough to not use Linnaea/Linnéa?
3) What do you think of Linnaea/Linnéa? Do Linnaeus' views affect your thoughts on the name?
Thanks!
So, my questions:
1) Had you heard of Carl Linnaeus and/or Systema Naturae before reading this post? If yes to either, were you aware of the ideas on race that were presented by Linnaeus/his work?
2) Are Linnaeus' beliefs reason enough to not use Linnaea/Linnéa?
3) What do you think of Linnaea/Linnéa? Do Linnaeus' views affect your thoughts on the name?
Thanks!
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
Thanks for answering, everyone!
I've decided to keep Linnéa on the list!
I've decided to keep Linnéa on the list!
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1 Yes, I'd certainly heard of both! As for his ideas on race, I'm pretty sure he shared them with most if not all white Europeans of his time. So it seems harsh to pick him out for criticism. He was just doing what scientists do - systematising his data - in the context of his society.
2 No. He wasn't being deliberately unpleasant; just trying to do science. We can't expect him, or anyone, to share our ideas long before they existed.
3 I dislike the name, which seems flimsy and trying too hard to be pretty-pretty. But if you like it, then use it!
2 No. He wasn't being deliberately unpleasant; just trying to do science. We can't expect him, or anyone, to share our ideas long before they existed.
3 I dislike the name, which seems flimsy and trying too hard to be pretty-pretty. But if you like it, then use it!
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1) Had you heard of Carl Linnaeus and/or Systema Naturae before reading this post? If yes to either, were you aware of the ideas on race that were presented by Linnaeus/his work?
Yes I've heard of Carl Linnaeus, as a Swede it's impossible not to. I wasn't aware of the race thing though.
2) Are Linnaeus' beliefs reason enough to not use Linnaea/Linnéa?
No, it's not. Check the Swedish popularity charts. It's a common name, and one persons believes shouldn't put you off from using the name you love.
3) What do you think of Linnaea/Linnéa? Do Linnaeus' views affect your thoughts on the name?
I'm not really a fan, I think it's way too common. It's used as a family/honoring name in one branch of my family though.
Yes I've heard of Carl Linnaeus, as a Swede it's impossible not to. I wasn't aware of the race thing though.
2) Are Linnaeus' beliefs reason enough to not use Linnaea/Linnéa?
No, it's not. Check the Swedish popularity charts. It's a common name, and one persons believes shouldn't put you off from using the name you love.
3) What do you think of Linnaea/Linnéa? Do Linnaeus' views affect your thoughts on the name?
I'm not really a fan, I think it's way too common. It's used as a family/honoring name in one branch of my family though.
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I had never heard of Carl Linnaeus or his Systema Naturae, though I don't exactly follow botany that closely.
I think if his beliefs bother you and are closely associated in your mind with the name, then yes that would be reason enough not to use the name.
I think the name Linnaea sounds lovely, but I'll admit learning about its origin does taint the impression of it somewhat.
I think if his beliefs bother you and are closely associated in your mind with the name, then yes that would be reason enough not to use the name.
I think the name Linnaea sounds lovely, but I'll admit learning about its origin does taint the impression of it somewhat.
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I think it's fine. Linnéa is just a flower name and most people won't even think of Linnaeus if you spell it that way.
As for Linnaeus, most people will just think "taxonomy person / that one guy who invented latin names" and not really think beyond that. He's way more famous for classification stuff than for being racist.
Honestly the worst association I have with Linnea is that it was the name of someone who was killed by an axe murderer in the early 2000's or something... idk why I remember this but I was in a hotel with my parents when a news story about an axe murderer came on the TV and for some reason I remembered the murder victim's name which was Linnea. I still like the name though.
As for Linnaeus, most people will just think "taxonomy person / that one guy who invented latin names" and not really think beyond that. He's way more famous for classification stuff than for being racist.
Honestly the worst association I have with Linnea is that it was the name of someone who was killed by an axe murderer in the early 2000's or something... idk why I remember this but I was in a hotel with my parents when a news story about an axe murderer came on the TV and for some reason I remembered the murder victim's name which was Linnea. I still like the name though.
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Yes, I'm aware of Linnaeus and his racist views. He's also the first person I think of when I hear the name Linnea. Of course, I'm a massive nerd and most people won't have those associations. Linnaeus is also better known for his taxonomy (still used today) than his racial politics, so race won't be the first thing people think of if they've heard of Linnaeus. All in all, I think Linnea would be a fine name to use, especially since most people won't be aware of the issue you mentioned at all.
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1) Yes, I've heard of Carl Linnaeus, but no, I wasn't aware of his ideas about race.
2) They wouldn't be to me because it seems like an obscure connection. If the connection seems strong to you, then I'd say yes.
3) No, his views don't affect my perception of the name. It's a pretty flower. The name seems a bit bland to me, but I don't dislike it for other people.
2) They wouldn't be to me because it seems like an obscure connection. If the connection seems strong to you, then I'd say yes.
3) No, his views don't affect my perception of the name. It's a pretty flower. The name seems a bit bland to me, but I don't dislike it for other people.
This message was edited 10/21/2017, 4:51 PM
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1. Yes to all of the above.
2. Not in my opinion, since I would say most people wouldn't think of him the first time they heard the name.
3. I love it, but prefer it as Linnea without the accent. No, they do not.
2. Not in my opinion, since I would say most people wouldn't think of him the first time they heard the name.
3. I love it, but prefer it as Linnea without the accent. No, they do not.
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1. Yes and yes.
2. No.
3. I think it's a nice name that refers to a flower.
I don't think you are wrong at all if it bothers you too much, to use Linnea. I understand why you feel that way. But it wouldn't bother me, at least not in this case. Here is my perspective.
The political ideas of Linnaeus are irrelevant to a person named Linnea today. To me the name Linnea refers to a flower, not to Linnaeus the man and all his ideas. Just like Zinnia refers to zinnias and not to Johann Gottfried Zinn or any of his ideology. (Zinnias were also named by Linnaeus, along with some 9000 other plants)
I have a neighbor named Linnea and (despite my being aware of Linnaeus's 18th century ideas) if it had ever crossed my mind that her name was like an occult expression of her parents' acceptance of white supremacy, I would suspect myself of incipient dementia. It'd be paranoid.
I think it's highly likely that the vast majority of educated Swedish men in the 18th century, who gave it any thought at all, would have shared or at least accepted Linnaeus's ideas about human races. Their ignorance about human races reflects what was typical for their time and society. Even if you didn't know for sure that Linnaeus, in particular, had expressed ugly ideas about race ... it would still be virtually guaranteed that thousands of the botanical Latin names we use today would have been assigned by some other European man who was as ignorant about race, and would have been willing to express similar ideas. Because they were accepted in that time and place, generally.
Old ideas can't reach into the present and threaten us through names. Linnea flowers can be cultivated and enjoyed and called linneas by people of all races, without there being anything weird about it. Alexander Graham Bell was a eugenicist who thought that deaf people should be exterminated. Eugenics used to be allied with evolutionary science, and anti-eugenics was considered a religious anti-science point of view. Into the 20th century even.
2. No.
3. I think it's a nice name that refers to a flower.
I don't think you are wrong at all if it bothers you too much, to use Linnea. I understand why you feel that way. But it wouldn't bother me, at least not in this case. Here is my perspective.
The political ideas of Linnaeus are irrelevant to a person named Linnea today. To me the name Linnea refers to a flower, not to Linnaeus the man and all his ideas. Just like Zinnia refers to zinnias and not to Johann Gottfried Zinn or any of his ideology. (Zinnias were also named by Linnaeus, along with some 9000 other plants)
I have a neighbor named Linnea and (despite my being aware of Linnaeus's 18th century ideas) if it had ever crossed my mind that her name was like an occult expression of her parents' acceptance of white supremacy, I would suspect myself of incipient dementia. It'd be paranoid.
I think it's highly likely that the vast majority of educated Swedish men in the 18th century, who gave it any thought at all, would have shared or at least accepted Linnaeus's ideas about human races. Their ignorance about human races reflects what was typical for their time and society. Even if you didn't know for sure that Linnaeus, in particular, had expressed ugly ideas about race ... it would still be virtually guaranteed that thousands of the botanical Latin names we use today would have been assigned by some other European man who was as ignorant about race, and would have been willing to express similar ideas. Because they were accepted in that time and place, generally.
Old ideas can't reach into the present and threaten us through names. Linnea flowers can be cultivated and enjoyed and called linneas by people of all races, without there being anything weird about it. Alexander Graham Bell was a eugenicist who thought that deaf people should be exterminated. Eugenics used to be allied with evolutionary science, and anti-eugenics was considered a religious anti-science point of view. Into the 20th century even.
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Thank you for such a great answer, Mirfak! I only recently found out about Linnaeus' ideas on race in the middle of a lecture and it was a little jolting for me as I quite liked the association between Linnéa and botany and had no idea about anything else!
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Excellent, thorough post. I agree, and I hope the OP finds it useful.
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I'd never heard of him. I was vaguely aware that the Linnaea flower was named after a person but not who it was or anything about him.
Uhhh okay. It's never a connection I'd make and it's a connection very few people would make, and the small minority who might would still think you named your daughter after a pretty flower and never make any negative judgments towards you or her because of it. There are names with much more prominent bad associations that get used by plenty of people without a second thought. But I still understand why you're concerned about it. You're overthinking, but I tend to overthink things too, so I understand. It's more about the icky feelings you get thinking about the unsavory origins of this name than of actual judgments others would make.
It's alright, I've never liked the sound of it much. I like that's botanical. And the stuff about Carl Linnaeus does't exactly endear me to it.
Idk if any of this is helpful, sorry!
Uhhh okay. It's never a connection I'd make and it's a connection very few people would make, and the small minority who might would still think you named your daughter after a pretty flower and never make any negative judgments towards you or her because of it. There are names with much more prominent bad associations that get used by plenty of people without a second thought. But I still understand why you're concerned about it. You're overthinking, but I tend to overthink things too, so I understand. It's more about the icky feelings you get thinking about the unsavory origins of this name than of actual judgments others would make.
It's alright, I've never liked the sound of it much. I like that's botanical. And the stuff about Carl Linnaeus does't exactly endear me to it.
Idk if any of this is helpful, sorry!
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Yes, you're right, it's the icky feeling! I'm trying to figure out my own feelings about the whole thing, I guess.
And of course your answer is helpful!
And of course your answer is helpful!
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