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[Opinions] Algernon
What are your feelings on Algernon? When I was seven or eight, I read a Beverly Cleary book (forget which one) where Beatrice and Ramona were going to have a new brother. Their parents had decided on Algernon "Algie (Al-jee)," and I remember falling head over heels for it back then. I was an awesome namenerd as a little kid :P Anyway, they ended up having a girl and naming her Roberta, which made me greatly disappointed because I found Roberta to be ugly back then (and still do.) But Algernon has stuck with me, and it almost has a sort of childhood nostalgia attached to it now. I don't like the nn Algie though, because that's how we pronounce Algae in America and it's all I can think of.
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I like itComplete with nn Algy.It just appeals to me in the same way Montgomery, Araminta, Tarquin etc do, the 'frightfully posh' sort of names. I just love them (as well as the expressions on my family's faces should I actually use them).
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I loved Ramona when I was little! Wonder if that's why I love the name Beatrice so much now.
I don't remember the books well now, just that I loved them. So, my first thought of the name Algernon is the book Flowers for Algernon. I don't think it works very well as a fn for a child in the U.S. Perhaps I'm just not gutsy enough. I would love to meet one. Just not nn'd Algie!
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My 17yr old brother is obsessed with this name atm!He's been going on and on about the name Algernon, because he loves the book The Importance of Being Ernest! He's very much a literature person and reads books and poetry all the time. When I read the post I laughed, because as I said, he's been talking about this name a lot. I must admit that I'm not a fan of it though.
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I know one...I have a friend who's name is Algernon J... (don't remember middle name at the moment) and a last name. He goes by the nickname of AJ.I think it's a pretty neat name.
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That's such a coincidence that you brought that name up! I just heard it for the first time ever yesterday in the children's book "Algernon and Other Cautionary Tales" by Hilaire Belloc. That book was... strange, and I think the name is strange too, but it's growing on me.
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I find something ridiculous about it. It just sounds ridiculous.
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Flowers for...Amazing book, but I only think of the mouse when I hear the name.
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It's sounds like an allergy med, to me
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The Importance of Being Earnest.That's the first place I heard it, so it makes me think only of that character. The sound of it isn't bad, but the meaning is kind of weird. And I don't like Algie at all. Like you said, it sounds the same as algae.
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I used to like Algernon myself when I was a first interested in names. I do think the Algae issue makes it very problematical in the USA. I think perhaps in modern times Grennan, one of the surnames based on Algernon, might work better for an American boy. :)
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I have an uncle Algie (not short for anything). I'd love to see a little Algernon.
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I don't really like it. I remember that book, but not well. I just remember a Roberta. Instead I think of Flowers for Algernon and, while it's a good book and all, I don't want my kid's name associated with a mouse.My boyfriend likes this name though.
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I'd completely forgotten aboutFlowers for Algernon. No, I don't care for that association either.
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Love itI associate Algernon with the character in "The Importance of Being Earnest." Chic, witty and just a little naughty.I'm in the U.S. too. I should have the same aversion to the nn Algie, but my love for the 1950's version of "Being Earnest" overrides the algae thing. (Technicolor Oscar Wilde is to die for.)
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I love that movie! :-)
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Oh man, I have to see that! I love Oscar Wilde but haven't seen any movie adaptations :)
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It stars Michael Redgrave, Vanessa and Lynn's father, as John Worthing. Edith Evans' Lady Bracknell is the best I've ever seen.http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044744/You must, you must, you must.
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