View Message

[Opinions] Tennessee
What do you think, does Tennessee have any merit as a name in your eyes? Thanks! :)

This message was edited 2/1/2022, 2:35 PM

Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up3

Replies

I guess it sounds more like a name than some states, but it isn’t as name-y as something like Montana, Nevada, etc.
vote up1
None.
vote up1
*snaps fingers like Tennessee Ernie Ford*
It has flair, and I like it as the name of a state. As a first name, it feels stagey like someone trying to break into the country music genre.
vote up2
*googles reference* I think you’re right, very stagey!
vote up1
Well, it is stately. :DI like how it sounds, the woodsiness of it, and that it's got some flair yet seems mellow, but also it's silly: it didn't start out as a personal name, and no one even knows what it means.
vote up4
I love the sounds. I prefer it on a boy.
vote up2
I really do like it! I have a cousin named Tennessee, and I think it works well for her.
vote up2
No. There are a few states in which I don't necessarily mind it as a name. Dakota, Carolina, Indiana, Georgia, Virginia, maybe Alaska. But Tennessee isn't one of them. Plus that old "you're the only 10 I see" joke.

This message was edited 2/2/2022, 8:15 AM

vote up3
Leave it to Tennessee Williams. It's a one-person kind of name, like Siouxsie or Madonna.
vote up3
I have a GP type affection for it. I would never use it and perhaps even roll my eyes if a celebrity were to use it, but I definitely think it has charm.
vote up2
I wouldn’t be shocked to meet a little Tennessee. My first thought is the song Tennessee by Sugarland and the Tennessee in the song is female. However as others have mentioned there is also Tennessee Williams so it could work on a boy or girl.
vote up2
No merit in my eyes. Perhaps slightly better than Gauteng or Middlesex.
vote up2
Not really unless you’re Tennessee Williams, whose real name it wasn’t anyway.
vote up2
I have always loved it on a girl.
vote up1
No, not at all
vote up1
I think Tennessee works as a given name. I do prefer it for girls rather than boys, as in the name of the famous 19th century feminist Tennessee Claflin:https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/claflin-tennessee-1846-1923The names of almost all the American states have been used as given names on occasion, by the way. Vermont Connecticut Royster (1914-1996) was an editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was named after his grandfather. His great-grandfather, a North Carolina farmer, had named his sons Arkansas Delaware, Wisconsin Illinois, Oregon Minnesota, Vermont Connecticut, and Iowa Michigan; and his daughters Louisana Maryland, Virginia Carolina, and Georgia Indiana. (This family would of course have been born in the middle of the 19th century.)
vote up3
Thank you for all the information! Vermont has a pretty nice ring to it, in a mid-19th century kind of way.
vote up2
It's rather interesting. Dakota, Nevada, Arizona, Indiana and Florida are more usable, but Tennessee has a historical and country vibe I like.
vote up2
Super interesting to me that you think Florida is more usable! Have you seen it used before?
vote up2
I've seen it used in records.Eta: I searched Florida as a FN on findagrave, and there were over 7,000 results. Most of them looked to be born in the latter half of the 1800s or in the early 1900s, around when Flora and Florence were popular. There were some double place name combos like Florida Virginia and Florida Buenavista.Tennessee in comparison had about 4,600 results as a FN.

This message was edited 2/2/2022, 11:53 AM

vote up3
Thanks for the additional info! :) Buenavista is funky.

This message was edited 2/2/2022, 3:34 PM

vote up1
Hmm, not really. But it's a nice Flor- name. I also like that it means "flourishing; blooming" in my language.
vote up2
I actually like it! While I've not particularly enjoyed the Tennessee Williams plays I read, he's a fascinating figure and a worthy namesake, IMO.
vote up4
I agree, I think the literary association really benefits the name.
vote up1