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Help[Opinions] English names with unfortunate meanings (Edit: thank you for the replies!)
I considered posting this in the Writing Room, but that room isn't seeing a whole lot of activity so I figured I'd post it here. Anyway, I'm looking for a masculine name of English origin / use that has an unfortunate meaning - one that would be known by someone reasonably educated in Victorian England.
So far, the three I've come up with are Claudius / Claude ("lame, crippled"), Mallory (literally "unfortunate"), and Cecil ("blind"). But I don't think any of them feel right. Can anybody come up with any others?
EDIT--Thank you, everyone, for your replies! Thanks to feedback regarding names with both unfortunate meanings and associations, this is the main list I have so far:
Uther
Cain
Herod
Tarquin
Azazel ("scapegoat")
Esau
Ahab
Ananias / Annas
Haman
Amnon
Abiram
***
Please rate my personal name lists:
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/117507
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/109399
hwww.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/132018
http://greens-end.myminicity.com/
So far, the three I've come up with are Claudius / Claude ("lame, crippled"), Mallory (literally "unfortunate"), and Cecil ("blind"). But I don't think any of them feel right. Can anybody come up with any others?
EDIT--Thank you, everyone, for your replies! Thanks to feedback regarding names with both unfortunate meanings and associations, this is the main list I have so far:
Uther
Cain
Herod
Tarquin
Azazel ("scapegoat")
Esau
Ahab
Ananias / Annas
Haman
Amnon
Abiram
***
Please rate my personal name lists:
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/117507
www.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/109399
hwww.behindthename.com/pnl/69381/132018
http://greens-end.myminicity.com/
This message was edited 7/31/2020, 6:51 PM
Archived Thread - replies disabled
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Replies
Talbot springs to mind
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I've never seen the problem with Claudius/Claude, Malory and Cecil. They have acquired other meanings over the centuries, and in the case of Claudius and Cecil, the Romans themselves weren't bothered, so why should we be? The important meanings are the current ones; I hesitate to refer to Victorian society as having pop culture, but that's what I mean. The name of a current criminal, an unpopular politician, the villain in a popular novel or play ... try some of the bad guys in Dickens, like Uriah.
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I'm just getting to the replies now - and thank you for this post, because it raised good points. The character in question would've been born in the early 1870s, and David Copperfield would've come out 20 years before, so Uriah would make sense in that respect However, I'm thinking the character's mother would actually have similarities to Uriah Heap and his mother, so not only might it be too on-the-nose but the mother (who hates her son's existence) might not choose it herself, since she made her choice out of bitterness.
Thinking about Victorian literature, outside of Dickens, got me thinking about Moby Dick and Captain Ahab. The whale took his leg off, so he is single-mindedly pursuing the white whale to its end, a fanatic at the end. And then that got me thinking about the Biblical Ahab, an emasculated king who let his "ungodly" queen lead Israel (at least, that's how conservative Christianity seems to regard the situation). So I'm wondering if it would be best to choose the name of an unfortunate Biblical character.
Thinking about Victorian literature, outside of Dickens, got me thinking about Moby Dick and Captain Ahab. The whale took his leg off, so he is single-mindedly pursuing the white whale to its end, a fanatic at the end. And then that got me thinking about the Biblical Ahab, an emasculated king who let his "ungodly" queen lead Israel (at least, that's how conservative Christianity seems to regard the situation). So I'm wondering if it would be best to choose the name of an unfortunate Biblical character.
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It could work in two ways. Familiar to Victorian people, certainly; and also some people really used to just open their family Bible at random and use the first name they found of the right gender. Which might have been on Melville's mind too ...
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Agree
Victorian education focused a lot on Shakespeare and the Classics, so Nero or Claudius would be a good choice.
I imagine it would be very frustrating to be named Jack at one point. Depends when in "the Victorian" times you're looking at, it was a long period.
Victorian education focused a lot on Shakespeare and the Classics, so Nero or Claudius would be a good choice.
I imagine it would be very frustrating to be named Jack at one point. Depends when in "the Victorian" times you're looking at, it was a long period.
This message was edited 7/31/2020, 7:08 AM
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True, except that you would have been nicknamed Jack rather than named it: the chances were overwhelming, anyway.
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Cameron, crooked nose
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The meanings of Claudius/Claude and Cecil are both derived from Latin, so an educated Victorian would definitely be aware of them, even if they weren't interested in names as such.
Failing that, would a name with negative associations do? I once named a villain Ananias, which in retrospect was a bit (a lot) heavy-handed. But, to go classical again, for instance, Tarquin (which is occasionally used as an English name) was the name of a family of early Roman kings including a tyrant and a rapist.
Failing that, would a name with negative associations do? I once named a villain Ananias, which in retrospect was a bit (a lot) heavy-handed. But, to go classical again, for instance, Tarquin (which is occasionally used as an English name) was the name of a family of early Roman kings including a tyrant and a rapist.
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I feel like I should've known the history of Tarquin (particularly the fall of the Roman monarchy and rise of the Republic); regardless, thank you for reminding me!
I actually kind of like Ananias for the character, too (and Annas).
I actually kind of like Ananias for the character, too (and Annas).
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Well, there’s Uther, which means “terrible”, Morfin which means “cursed” and Frigidian which means “cold”, though I’m not sure if those would fit in Victorian England.
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Ooooh, I really like Uther for this character! In Arthurian legend Uther Pendragon uses magical disguise (via Merlin) to sleep with Igraine, so it's fraud and a story Victorians would've been familiar with. Thank you!
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