Kind of fussy and prim, but I could see myself liking it more in the right context, ie: on a person I actually knew or in a combo where it really popped.
Part of what my dull my potential enthusiasm is that I
love Thomasa and Thomasin as feminized forms of
Thomas; there's little room for
Tamsin for me in that niche. Plus it loses the long O, which I like of that name family.
Other downsides: the potential nickname
Tammy (though nicknames aren't impossible or even difficult to avoid, I think) and the tragic connotation of
Tamsen Donner and the story of the Donner-Reed party. Not everyone knows her by name, I'm sure, but the party's story is popular and incredibly grim.
I can see it going along with other names that have a proper, straight-laced feel. Respectable and kind of Victorian. Like
Constance,
Agatha,
Josephine,
Edward,
Theodore, or giving your kid the entire name of a historical figure a la
Benjamin Franklin Surname or
George Washington Surname.
This message was edited 6/4/2010, 1:52 PM