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ArchivesSome of you need to accept not every name has a “meaning”
This is especially true for invented and modern names. I know someone who named their daughter Ahleesi. They made up a name because they liked how it sounded. Yes, it has similarities to Khaleesi, which means something in a fictional language, and Alicia, which has roots in Adelaide, but does that mean it shares a meaning with either of those two names? No, nor that it was even a variant or inspired by those names.
Take, for example, Jaylen. This invented name sounds like a mixture of Jason and Allon. Does that mean it means healer and oak tree? No, because none of those syllables mean anything on their own.
I also heard of a boy names Breadson. Does this name mean “son of a loaf of bread?” I sure hope not.
If there is evidence of the name appearing, or being a few letters off from a name found in census records, etc. I think that’s a good case for an established meaning, as we can’t always ask the parents. But not all parents choose names based on meaning. And I see too many names assigned a false meaning.
Take, for example, Jaylen. This invented name sounds like a mixture of Jason and Allon. Does that mean it means healer and oak tree? No, because none of those syllables mean anything on their own.
I also heard of a boy names Breadson. Does this name mean “son of a loaf of bread?” I sure hope not.
If there is evidence of the name appearing, or being a few letters off from a name found in census records, etc. I think that’s a good case for an established meaning, as we can’t always ask the parents. But not all parents choose names based on meaning. And I see too many names assigned a false meaning.
This message was edited 3/14/2023, 4:00 PM
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I'm not at all sure why you say that 'some of us' hold these opinions, or why we should take you seriously when you lay down the law unnecessarily. Or even necesarily. It is not appropriate behaviour.
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I'd like to add, though, that very few names actually have "meaning" in the sense we normally use that word. When people talk about the "meaning" of a name, they are usually referring to its etymological origin. The etymological origin of other words is NOT the same thing as their "meaning" -- it's what some word in the distant past from which the modern word is derived meant, which is not the same thing. Only names recently created from dictionary words like Destiny or Cherish have "meaning" in the normal sense.
None of the modern names ultimately derived from Old German Adelheidis actually MEAN "nobleness" today. You cannot replace the word "noble" in a modern sentence with Alice or Alicia or Adelaide and have it make sense. When we say that a name "means" its etymology, we are actually using the word "meaning" itself with a different meaning than it usually has!
None of the modern names ultimately derived from Old German Adelheidis actually MEAN "nobleness" today. You cannot replace the word "noble" in a modern sentence with Alice or Alicia or Adelaide and have it make sense. When we say that a name "means" its etymology, we are actually using the word "meaning" itself with a different meaning than it usually has!
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That is true, but many modern names have no etymological origin, and instead were made up based on melodic sound that the parents liked. It makes me shudder when I hear someone say something like, “I named my child Breadson. It means ‘gift from God.’” and there is no etymological evidence for that.
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I dislike made up "meanings" as much as the next namenerd, but putting together common elements do create a meaning for a name. Yes, Bread with the element -son would technically mean "son of bread." Jaylen is the combination of the names Jay + Lynn and thus would take on the meaning of whatever name Jay was derived from (Jason or James for instance) and the element -lynn (meaning lake). So for instance, "to heal" and "lake." I don't think that now means you can come up with some flowery meaning from those elements such as "his name means healing lake." That just doesn't make sense.
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OK; and the fact that you have that reaction is a fact. But on these boards, since it is your opinion about what other people do, it belongs on the Opinions board. And it is still imappropriate to accuse the members of this site in general of sloppy and unscholarly thinking.
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It’s not an opinion. You know what is an opinion? You deciding what is “inappropriate.”
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