View Message

[Opinions] Cinderella
Thoughts on Cinderella?
Archived Thread - replies disabled
vote up1

Replies

Ella is fine. On an actual person? I’ll pass.
vote up1
if the fairy tale didnt exist this would be such a cool name
vote up1
Just no, not on a real person.
vote up1
Ok on a pet, terrible on a person. If you say of someone they’re a Cinderella it implies being neglected and exploited.
vote up1
Isn't it a nn in the fairy story? Ella, working as a housemaid and cleaning the fireplaces, becomes Cinder Ella. I dislike Ella, which seems very uninteresting, and Cindy has been used for many more domestic pets than humans in my experience. I'm not sure that the message of the Cinderella story is very encouraging: be downtrodden, let people dominate you and don't show any initiative, and perhaps you will be rescued by some or other outsider and not by your own efforts. I'd avoid it as a name.
vote up1
Though in the fairy tale the name is a nickname and not her original given name, Cinderella was never called "Ella" in the story until 1997. Most versions until recently never told you what Cinderella's original name was. Here is a link to the column I wrote on Cinderella in March 2016. (Personally this is my favorite column of all those I've published.)https://omaha.com/lifestyles/cinderella-her-real-name-like-her-shoe-is-lost/article_0754423b-19ce-5614-b6c4-1440c518342b.html

This message was edited 2/26/2023, 11:45 AM

vote up1
To my deep regret, I can't access your Cinderella article without signing up for a subscription I don't want and wouldn't use. Oh well. If I understand you correctly, it seems that the -ella suffix was more a female marker than an independent name. Which got me thinking: apart from Hansel and Gretel, fairytale characters tend not to have names, just identifying markers. Little Red Riding Hood; Goldilocks; Little Bo-Peep ... or their names had a meaning that is mostly forgotten, like Lucy Locket and Kitty Fisher. Very interesting: thank you!
vote up1
Yes, "Cinderella" was created as the version used in translations of French author Charles Perrault's version of the story, where her name was "Cendrillon". If you send me an email address in a private message, I can send you a copy of the column as an attachment.
vote up1
Received in good order, and read with incredulous delight! Scholarship with the lightest of touches. Thank you.
vote up1
You are most welcome, :)
vote up2
In the Italian version her real name is Lucia, and Cenerentola is the nickname the stepsisters give her.
vote up1
This is probably a recent Italian version, as in the original Italian version her name seems to have been Zezolla.
vote up1
A five-year-old Disney fan might think seriously that this would be a good idea. It isn't.
vote up2
It's outrageous (OTT fantastical) but pretty and fun. I like it as a middle name. Not enough to use. But anything goes as a middle name. Christmas is an example of something I consider comparably OTT but would be willing to use.I think Cinderella would be less fun as a first name, but it does have easy NNs like Cindy and Ella.

This message was edited 2/24/2023, 9:00 PM

vote up1