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ArchivesRe: Fruity names
in reply to a message by Anneza
I don't think that Cheryl and Cherie have anything to do with Cherry and so aren't "fruity" at all.
Cherry, on the other hand, is already well-established as a given name in the USA and was way before any of the others.
Berry turns up as a male name in the USA because in most American accents it's pronounced the same way as Barry, and so is seen by some parents as just an alternative spelling for Barry.
I've seen more than one example of both Peach and Peaches used as given names for girls, and there is a British author who calls herself Plum Sykes, though I believe that's a pen name and not the name her parents gave her. But I don't see "fruity" names becoming a big new fashion; just one of the hundreds of different ways parents are creating new names in the modern culture where giving children "unusual" names is more and more desired.
Cherry, on the other hand, is already well-established as a given name in the USA and was way before any of the others.
Berry turns up as a male name in the USA because in most American accents it's pronounced the same way as Barry, and so is seen by some parents as just an alternative spelling for Barry.
I've seen more than one example of both Peach and Peaches used as given names for girls, and there is a British author who calls herself Plum Sykes, though I believe that's a pen name and not the name her parents gave her. But I don't see "fruity" names becoming a big new fashion; just one of the hundreds of different ways parents are creating new names in the modern culture where giving children "unusual" names is more and more desired.
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Replies
Ah-ha! So that's the reason for Berry. Makes sense - I was mildly puzzled by American posters saying they wouldn't use Barry or Harry because they disliked Beary and Hairy until I said it out loud in my attempt at an American accent; and this must be .
I agree that Cheryl and Cherie have got nothing to do with Cherry from a scholarly perspective, but the looks and sounds are so close that I'd be surprised if Cherry didn't get used as a nn for Cheryl especially. But there isn't an oversupply of Cheryls right now. Interesting that Cherry predates the others.
Plum could be a nn for Victoria, I'm told.
Thanks!
I agree that Cheryl and Cherie have got nothing to do with Cherry from a scholarly perspective, but the looks and sounds are so close that I'd be surprised if Cherry didn't get used as a nn for Cheryl especially. But there isn't an oversupply of Cheryls right now. Interesting that Cherry predates the others.
Plum could be a nn for Victoria, I'm told.
Thanks!
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But Cheryl and Cherry don't have the same initial sound. Cheryl has /sh/ as in shop while Cherry has /ch/ as in church. Cheryl was a very common name in my peer group (I was born in the 1960s), and while some Cheryls were called "Sherry," there was never any confusion with Cherry nor was Cherry used as a nickname for any of them. In fact, I've never known a Cherry.
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I've known two Cheryls who used the ch pronunciation, one of them being my cousin and the other uses Cherry as a nn! But, yes, they are unusual.
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