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Help[Opinions] Emily
I love the name Emily and I know it's been pretty popular over the past few years, but I still love it. Anyway, I was looking at my fave names and their meanings and I saw that Emily (according to this site) means "rival". Now that did put me off the name a little, since I'm very into name meanings, but I just love this name! I've looked at other baby name sites and other ones say that Emily means "industrious" and "admiring". I've also looked Emily up in baby name books, one of them being a rather old book and they too mostly say that Emily means "industrious". Anyway, my question is, What does Emily mean? What is the most common meaning that others have found? Also, if I really love it, should I just consider using it in the future anyway, since "rival" isn't an overly bad meaning?
Thanks in advance for any comments and help.
Thanks in advance for any comments and help.
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Replies
Emily is such a nice name. I don't get caught up in the meanings of names when naming a child. Chances are, when people meet Emily, they won't know the meaning of the name, and if they did - who cares? The meaning doesn't effect the child's personality. My motto: nothing should stop you from using the name you love.
-Lissa Hannah-
As soon as tradition has come to be recognized as tradition, it is dead. - Allan Bloom
-Lissa Hannah-
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Emily is very sweet. It is very popular but I'm not really concerned about popularity. I grew up with a popular name. I went to school with 6 other Cristina/Christina's and none of us cared, we thought it was cool having the same name. :)
Emily means 'industrious' that is what I always find on name sites. Like Popularity, meanings are not a concern of mine either.
:)
Edd: July 27, 2005
Emily means 'industrious' that is what I always find on name sites. Like Popularity, meanings are not a concern of mine either.
:)
Edd: July 27, 2005
This message was edited 2/16/2005, 3:34 PM
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Etymology
I, too, have seen various meanings for Emily. The "industrious" one seems quite popular, and "eager" and "admiring" both are quoted fairly often.
However, this site is correct 99% of the time in my experience, and in this case it's right. From http://snipurl.com/4o8t (a respected online Latin dictionary):
"aemulus -a -um [emulous , rivalling]; in bad sense, [jealous]. M. or f. as subst., [a rival], esp. in love."
and
"Aemilius -a -um [name of an old patrician family at Rome]. Hence adj. Aemilianus -a -um , [relating to the 'gens Aemiliana'; a surname of Scipio Africanus minor]."
Despite its overuse, I still do like Emily, though it's not one of my favourites anymore. If you love it, I think you should disregard the meaning...I'd worry more about how common it is.
~ Caitlín
"Blue tinted individuals who go about armed to the teeth and quoting twelfth-century poetry are not easy to comprehend." ~ Lloyd Alexander
I, too, have seen various meanings for Emily. The "industrious" one seems quite popular, and "eager" and "admiring" both are quoted fairly often.
However, this site is correct 99% of the time in my experience, and in this case it's right. From http://snipurl.com/4o8t (a respected online Latin dictionary):
"aemulus -a -um [emulous , rivalling]; in bad sense, [jealous]. M. or f. as subst., [a rival], esp. in love."
and
"Aemilius -a -um [name of an old patrician family at Rome]. Hence adj. Aemilianus -a -um , [relating to the 'gens Aemiliana'; a surname of Scipio Africanus minor]."
Despite its overuse, I still do like Emily, though it's not one of my favourites anymore. If you love it, I think you should disregard the meaning...I'd worry more about how common it is.
~ Caitlín
"Blue tinted individuals who go about armed to the teeth and quoting twelfth-century poetry are not easy to comprehend." ~ Lloyd Alexander
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yeah and..
It's really not such a bad meaning. It's just subtle. I mean, the name was probably bestowed on the clan by someone else who considered them a recognizable rival, not just pathetic imitators. My guess is, since it became someone's name, it was probably intended as the kind of slight that is actually flattering -- the fact that they went by the name meaning "emulous" implies that they had enough status to bear the name in good humor. I think of it that way because names with "bad" meanings were not infrequent on ancient Romans of high status, and they were borne with self-conscious dignity. Claudius and Cicero (who is said to have had a chickpea-like wart on his nose), to name a couple.
- chazda
"I don't want to look like a loser for the rest of my life!" ~ Georgia Ford, on needing a signature
It's really not such a bad meaning. It's just subtle. I mean, the name was probably bestowed on the clan by someone else who considered them a recognizable rival, not just pathetic imitators. My guess is, since it became someone's name, it was probably intended as the kind of slight that is actually flattering -- the fact that they went by the name meaning "emulous" implies that they had enough status to bear the name in good humor. I think of it that way because names with "bad" meanings were not infrequent on ancient Romans of high status, and they were borne with self-conscious dignity. Claudius and Cicero (who is said to have had a chickpea-like wart on his nose), to name a couple.
- chazda
"I don't want to look like a loser for the rest of my life!" ~ Georgia Ford, on needing a signature1
It's beautiful but ruined by overuse. Apart from just being tired, an overused name is very impractical, especially in school, college, the workplace ...
____________________________________________________________________
"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true."
♥Elinor♥
____________________________________________________________________
"You are never given a wish without also being given the power to make it true."
♥Elinor♥
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